Theatre arts students began rearranging their schedules when they found out that Tony Award-winning actress Betty Buckley was teaching a class here this fall.

“I thought, ‘I’m there,’ ” said senior Caitlin Glass after hearing about the offering. “I dropped an elective to take this class, and I would have juggled my other classes if I had to.”

Buckley’s special topics course focuses on the role of meditation in actor training. She’ll teach a second class in the spring.

The Fort Worth native has performed on Broadway, off-Broadway and in London’s West End. She received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Cats and has appeared in many other shows, including Gypsy, Sunset Boulevard and Pippin.

Well known for her role as Abby Bradford on the series Eight Is Enough , her other TV credits include Cagney and Lacey, L.A. Law and HBO’s Oz. She’s also appeared in numerous lms and has produced eight compact discs that showcase her singing talents.

“The fact that she is giving her time to work with our students is just great,” said Theatre Arts Department Chairman Kim LaFontaine. “With the rapid growth in our department, her timing is excellent. We look forward to a long relationship with her.”

Buckley’s father, Ernest Buckley, earned his Ph.D. from UTA in 1972 and taught here from 1970 to 1983. He was the director of the Center for Environmental Design Research and the Construction Research Center. Her mother, Betty Bob Buckley, is a 1983 UTA graduate.