Klarinet Archive - Posting 001346.txt from 2000/10

From: rgarrett@-----.edu
Subj: Re: [kl]your post
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 03:56:59 -0500

At 09:26 AM 10/28/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>Something which has yet to be addressed directly amidst all of the
>other good points: money. 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?

Admissions departments often do everything they can to lure a student - and
that often means stretching the facts on some issues. We have had our
shares of difficulties, but I think our admissions director is always
trying to be up front with a student. For many schools though, it is
really a problem.

>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?

There is no question that the admissions departments treat the university
as a business.....which it is in a sense. The best places are those that
you never think that it is a business!

>College students -- 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.
[SNIP]
>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?

According to our provost, the students pay tuition to attend the school and
the school hires faculty to service the students. That's always a tough
thing to hear - especially when you are dealing with a couple of students
who always want things a certain way. But there are, fortunately, many
ways of handling those issues. Regarding the student expecting to sit
higher for paying the tuition.......most of those students are on music
scholarship - and they are told where they qualify to sit. If they want to
sit higher, they can achieve a higher level. That's the way it was when I
was in school too, so I don't have a problem with that approach.

>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?

Know that, unless there is a learning disability or problem with the
teaching, most of those situations never occur. They are a rare occurence
- but the schools I have contacted via telephone during the last week
(that's why I knew about Augustana by the way Sue!) all have had this
problem at one time or another and have valuable information for how they
have dealt with it. I have found the problem to fairly rare.

> 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.

Luckily, I believe our faculty are working to be on the same page in this
area. The school is pretty good about doing the "right" thing. In that
sense, faculty and students can consider themselves fortunate!

Pretty good post Neil.

Sincerely,
Roger Garrett

Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director, Symphonic Winds
Advisor, IWU Recording Services
Illinois Wesleyan University
School of Music
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
(309) 556-3268

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