TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS
MAKES STUDENT ENGAGEMENT A TOP PRIORITY

TPA STUDENT ASSOCIATE BIANCA WUGOFSKI NAMED
2012 UT STUDENT EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

In the three years since Director and Associate Dean Kathy Panoff took the helm at Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin (TPA), aligning with the mission of the University and student engagement have become the top priorities of the organization.

In January 2010, TPA established a Student Engagement Office to manage this campus-wide initiative, which includes a comprehensive Student Employment Initiative, focused on recruiting, mentoring, and evaluating all students; Hook ‘em Arts, the official student organization of TPA, which creatively promotes TPA performances to the UT campus; $10 student tickets for all TPA performances; and the opening of The Loft, a student social and performance space on the 6th floor lobby of TPA’s flagship venue Bass Concert Hall.

With students comprising nearly 40% of TPA’s audiences, the organization enjoys the highest student attendance of any university performing arts center in the country. Ten thousand $10 tickets for ALL students were subsidized last season thanks to Texas Inner Circle membership, corporate sponsorship, and contributions to TPA’s Student Ticket Fund.

TPA currently employs over 100 University of Texas students in positions across the organization and students make up 25% of the volunteer usher corp. TPA offers paid intern positions in areas such as marketing, communications, lighting, sound, costume design, set building, accounting, and more. In January 2012, four undergraduate and two graduate students mentored by members of the TPA production staff were awarded multiple prizes at the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology Regional Conference including the Oscar Brockett Excellence in Design Award.

Recently, TPA student employee Bianca Wugofski was selected as The University of Texas at Austin’s “Student Employee of the Year”. A junior in Finance and Marketing, Bianca was chosen out of 5,000 student employees university-wide. She received a cash award and will represent the University and Texas Performing Arts at the National Student Employee Association’s regional and national competitions.

PRESS CONTACT:
Gene Bartholomew
512.471.0632
gbartholomew@TexasPerformingArts.org

Download the Student Engagement press release – PDF 50KB