Klarinet Archive - Posting 001329.txt from 2000/10
From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] A curricular issue (promises, promises)
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 12:26:02 -0400
Thanks for starting the thread, Roger. It's interesting to a lot
of people, doubtless especially for the younger lurkers on the list
who are contemplating the entire college music major issue as they
make their ways through high school.
Something which has yet to be addressed directly amidst all of the
other good points: money. Over the course of 12 years, I've attend-
ed four different large universities (yet somehow managed to get only
one degree out of it all!). An annoying aspect that I remember when
applying to each of them was the two-faced reversal of attitude be-
tween the recruiting vs. admissions stages. When you're a prospect-
ive student, school administrations salivate all over you: "Please,
oh PLEASE come to our school! We WANT you! You'll be SUCH an asset,
and we have SO much to offer you!" And then, after you've checked
the "yes" box on the admissions letter and mailed it back in, all
you get in return are insistent letters, informing you of the tui-
tion payment deadlines. What happened to all those ego strokes and
promises of an exciting and enriching educational experience? When
they called me an "asset" in those starry-eyed recruitment letters
and brochures, did they mean it in terms of my academic talent, or
in terms of the Net Present Value of my future cash flows to the
institution? God how I hated Finance 101, but universities have
finance departments too, just like for-profit corporations, sitting
around figuring out ways to maximize the short- and long-term growth
of their endowments and tuition income.
College students -- music students included -- don't just show up on
campus, study for a few years, and get a piece of paper at the end.
They pay money -- lots of it -- for the privilege of sitting in a
classroom and being told what to read, what to study, and what to
absorb. Naturally, it isn't quite the same as when a business owner
hires an accounting firm to audit his books, but there remains an em-
ployer/employee dynamic between the student and the university. De-
fining this dynamic is critical to a complete perspective on the cur-
riculum issue we've been discussing. Who, I ask, is "working" for
whom when the music student sits in his theory class, or the clari-
net major plays her 2nd clarinet part in symphonic band? The rela-
tionship between the student, the university, and the money that ex-
changed hands in order for that relationship to come into existence
...must be understood in order to deal with the issue of music majors
vs. non-majors in music department ensembles. It's both a matter of
philosophy, and a matter of dollars & cents.
Every school is different. No two institutions have mirror policies
on how they define their obligations to students after tuition has
been paid. But they are still OBLIGATIONS, no matter how they're
defined. Just like when the corporation hires an outside account-
ing firm to audit its books: it is up to that corporation to choose
the accounting firm which will do the job that needs to get done.
(1) Is the accounting firm competent? Reputable?
(2) Are they independent? Objective?
(3) Do they have deep pockets, so that I can sue them if they screw
up and issue an erroneous opinion on the financial health of my
company, causing a mass exodus of investor capital and a plummet
in our market cap?
These are the kinds of questions that corporations ask when deciding
who to hire to perform their annual accounting audits. It's critical,
because they only get one shot at an audit each year, and the quality
of that audit has dramatic implications throughout the organization
and its future existence. When music students are in the process of
shopping around for schools to attend, they must include in their list
of questions: "What are the school's policies regarding access to per-
formance ensembles?" Will I, as a music major, be guaranteed the vital
ensemble experience necessary to develop my overall musicianship? I'm
going to school precisely to become a better player and a better musi-
cian. Is it acceptable to me that a non-major, who happened to take
lessons since jr. high school, might displace me in symphonic band?
Am I willing to pay $15,000/year, knowing that such a risk is built
into the agreement between myself and the music school? If I were a
corporation, would it be acceptable for my accounting firm to stipu-
late an indemnity clause in our contract, such that I could not sue
them for destroying my company's financial reputation via a faulty
audit?
Since each school is different, no assumptions can be made about what
the prospective student is "purchasing" by enrolling at a given uni-
versity. You need to find out ahead of time.
So what "should" those policies be? I don't think these prescriptive
issues can be boiled down to a black & white response. Students' needs
differ from one person to the next. Some students want the kind of open
competition that exists at schools where ensembles are available to all
students of the university, regardless of academic major. Other students
want assurances that they will always be given precedence over non-majors.
This latter scenario, by the way, does not doom the student to mediocrity
for a lack of open competition. The fact that universities cater to both
of these models -- and many hybrids -- is a good thing, not a bad one.
It's precisely because people are so different in their desires and learn-
ing styles that diversity in policies is also desirable. Some people want
their private teacher to be a cold and ruthless tyrant, constantly pounding
their ego into the ground and knit-picking every tiny issue of technique and
musicianship to death. Other players prefer a teacher with a warm, tender,
supportive demeanor -- a "friend" -- who will provide regular encouragement
while gently nudging them in the right direction. Desires and learning
styles span the spectrum between these extremes. There is not one "best"
model of a private teacher, and there is no single best policy for univer-
sity music departments when administrating access to performance ensembles.
Every model is the best one for the right kind of student. The burden rests
entirely upon the student to obtain the necessary facts -- to enroll in the
music program which satisfactorily suits their needs.
When we begin to focus and collapse the diversity of offerings that exists
across the many available music programs, the opportunity for every student
to acquire the education best-suited to them individually...shrinks as well.
I think it's great that you're examining your school's policies, Roger. And
hopefully a clear philosophy will emerge, allowing the many prospective music
students in the country to make an informed decision, with a clear understand-
ing of what they can expect if they enroll at IWU. What remains after the
policy has been finalized, is for the administration to ensure that it is
actually carried out and enforced, lest the issue of integrity and trust
become a problem. It already is across many programs nationwide (let's not
delude ourselves). No matter what IWU's administration decides, do what you
can, Roger, to make it unambiguous and binding. If prospective students can't
count on getting exactly what they pay for, then the nature and wording of the
policies themselves are irrelevant.
-- Neil
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