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# EXCEL Lab
## Engage Your Entrepreneurial Spirit
The Excellence in Entrepreneurship, Career Empowerment & Leadership (EXCEL) Lab is SMTD’s home base for performing arts entrepreneurship, leadership, and career services. We take a personalized, collaborative approach to professional development by first exploring students’ individual visions and goals, and then connecting them with the resources they need to thrive. Whether you are seeking out a new career pathway or honing in on your competitive edge, EXCEL offers comprehensive access to skill-building, mentorship, and funding to help make your dreams a reality.
The EXCEL Lab catalyzes success for SMTD students and alumni through weekly workshops, 1:1 mentoring, and more than $100,000 in student project and venture funding. Initial funding for the programming was made possible by the Eileen Weiser EXCEL Fund, thanks to a generous gift from the Weiser Family.
Stay up to date about student projects, special guests, and other upcoming activities with the .
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## Mission & Strategic Priorities
EXCEL is committed to providing the resources each SMTD student needs to launch and sustain a life in the arts. We expand the professional development bandwidth of your degree program and support a variety of your needs, from the job search to project management and more. EXCEL is committed to helping each student turn ideas into action, while broadening the spotlight on success so that every member of our community can emerge from Michigan poised to claim their individual leadership potential.
**Our work aims to advance systemic change around practices of arts leadership, management, and entrepreneurship, guided by three strategic priorities:**
1. Fostering community in online environments by elevating a diverse array of student stories and new programming formats that will better serve an increasingly virtual world.
2. Elevating anti-racist agendas throughout SMTD, and developing best practices to situate social and racial justice at the heart of our training programs.
3. Deepening our offerings by intentionally sequencing courses, workshops, and experiential learning opportunities to enrich the potential for budding arts leaders to catalyze change.
“The constant support of the EXCEL department helped us continue with our festival during the pandemic. The suggestions given to us during those hard times were especially helpful, and the support to our SA’OAXACA faculty was an aspect that helped keep the momentum of the festival going.”
Gwendolyn Matias-Ryan
Creator & Artistic Director of SA’OAXACA, SM ’19, Viola
1,094
Students attended an EXCEL coaching session, event, or class during the 2021-22 school year
## Making Big Things Happen
**Do you have a project or idea that will advance the performing arts?**
**Does your chamber ensemble want to go pro?**
**Do you want to organize a dance festival or bring new plays to the stage?**
**Maybe you have an idea for a killer smartphone app that will enhance the audience experience?**
**Whatever your dream, the EXCEL program can help put your ideas into action.**
## Funding Opportunities
### Eileen Weiser EXCEL Fund
The Eileen Weiser EXCEL Fund has supported more than $700,000 in student project, venture, and internship funding to-date. Initially funded by the Weiser Family, EXCEL’s funding programs continue to impact hundreds of students each year.
## EXCEL Enterprise Fund
The EXCEL Enterprise Fund offers micro grants of up to $1,000 for students to support individual or team projects that have significant professional development and community impact. In exceptional cases proposals may be awarded up to $1,500.
## Performing Arts EXCELerator
The Performing Arts EXCELerator is an entrepreneurial fellowship program open to all U-M students with early-stage performing arts ventures as individuals or teams. Interdisciplinary projects involving two or more U-M departments are encouraged. Selected projects receive mentoring and support, and have access to up to $1,000 seed money, with an opportunity to pitch for up to $4,000 in additional funding.
## EXCEL Prize
The School of Music, Theatre & Dance EXCEL Prize recognizes extraordinary excellence in performing arts entrepreneurship, leadership and social impact, and is awarded to a University of Michigan student or student team that has established a standout performing arts venture. Beyond the cash prize of $10,000, the awardee receives mentorship by EXCEL staff.
## Internships
EXCEL connects students to paid internships with partner arts organizations that provide exclusive opportunities to SMTD students. Past partnerships have included the Metropolitan Opera, the University Musical Society (UMS), the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, DanceWorks Chicago, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, the EXCEL Internship Fund provides students with grant awards to cover living and travel expenses incurred through accepting unpaid or underfunded summer internships.
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## EXCEL Immersions
EXCEL Immersions are unique, professional development trips that take students to different cultural centers around the world to meet professionals doing work in a broad range of artistic disciplines. See firsthand what a career in the arts can look like and start building your network by exploring leading arts organizations and engaging with top professionals in the field.
**Previous Immersions**
*  – New York, NY
*  – Chicago, IL
*  (Multidisciplinary Performance) 2020 – London, England
### Coaching Appointments
Current students can use our team  link to schedule a one-on-one appointment with a member of the EXCEL Team.
* Not sure where to start? Complete our  to direct you to the right place.
### EXCEL Learning Resources
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### Dean's Liaisons
The  program is an arts management and leadership training program that places qualified SMTD students with paid work positions in SMTD offices and departments.
### EXCEL Publications
**:** Check out our student-led blog for content focused on current SMTD interests, projects, and more!
### The EXCEL Lab 2022 Annual Report
**Annual Reports:** Explore EXCEL’s impact at SMTD.
## Contact Us
* ****, Chair of Entrepreneurship & Leadership, Director of the EXCEL Lab
* ****, Assistant Director of the EXCEL Lab
* , EXCEL Program Coordinator
**Schedule a coaching appointment** with an EXCEL staff member on our .
Find us on  and !
General questions? Email  and you will be directed to an appropriate staff member.
## You Should Know
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## Social
## Address
School of Music, Theatre & Dance
E.V. Moore Building, 1100 Baits Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2085
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# Global Experiences with SMTD
## Expand your learning to places around the world.
International travel provides transformative life experiences. From performance tours, to collaborations with teachers, artists, and other students, to semester-long study abroad, students advance professional and life skills while also jump-starting their burgeoning careers.
## World Performance Studies
SMTD’s  advocates for performance as a mode of research and as a means of public engagement, centering on underrepresented, non-Western, and diasporic voices, bodies, and acts. We connect – both locally and globally – students, faculty, artists, thinkers, and scholars in order to educate each other about Performance Studies and to promote interdisciplinary and intersectional insights and research methodologies.
## Study Abroad
In the past, SMTD students have spent a semester or an academic year abroad in international study exchange programs at partner institutions, such as the Conservatoire de Paris in France, Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland, Hannover University of Music, and Hochschule für Musik in Germany. Students are not limited to SMTD partners, however.
U-M students may choose to enroll at an institution abroad for a semester, a summer, or an academic year, with the possibility of earning academic and/or performance credits toward an SMTD degree program. Any SMTD undergraduate (non-first year) or graduate student in good academic standing (3.0 minimum GPA) who wishes to pursue relevant studies offered by another institution and desires an outstanding opportunity for cultural immersion and intensive language study is encouraged to apply.
Before applying for any study abroad program, students should consult with their studio instructor/advisor and an SMTD academic advisor to determine if an international education program fits their educational and professional goals and does not interfere with recital plans or ensemble obligations. For those pursuing a dual degree, it is necessary to consult with advisors of both programs to ensure degree requirements remain on track. The studio instructor/advisor can help determine the best time to go abroad as well as help identify coursework and potential performance teachers (for performance majors).
## Travel Stories
### 
## Trinity Laban CoLab in London
An annual, short-term intensive where conservatoire students execute innovative multidisciplinary performance projects.
## Mysore, India
Students spend four weeks engaging with artists and musicians, attending lectures on culture, history, religion, and aesthetics; receiving in-home one-on-one instruction in flute, drums, violin, voice, or dance; taking field trips to ancient sites, temples, and significant monuments of Mysore; and attending performances.
## Cuba
Students in the Jazz Percussion Studio spent a week in Cuba for an intensive music immersion including masterclasses, performances, and a focus on the political and social history of Cuba.
## Seville, Spain
Department of Dance collaboration with Marcat Dance to create an unforgettable education abroad experience in the historical, charming Seville, Spain.
## Johannesburg, South Africa
The Department of Theatre & Drama sponsored a faculty-led student exchange cultural immersion with The Market Theatre in Johannesburg.
## Connect With Us
### Study Abroad
* **Christi-Anne Castro**, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Global Engagement
* **Naira Tumanyan**, Program Manager for Faculty Development and Global Engagement
  734-936-1915
* **Contact the office of Global Engagement**: 
### World Performance Studies
* **Michael Gould**, Director, Center for World Performance Studies
* **Molly Paberzs**, Program Specialist
*  website
* Contact:  or call 734-764-9681