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General Departmental Policies
1.00 Purpose of the
Department of Music
March 8, 2005
The Department of Music at Midwestern State
University is dedicated to helping all students who participate in its
programs reach their potential. Toward that end the Music Program has
adopted a mission which is defined by four broad statements of purpose:
1. The Department of Music makes a strong commitment to
the liberal arts by providing all students with varied and significant
classroom experiences and performance opportunities.
2. The Department of Music prepares music students with
the Knowledge, skill, attitude, and appreciation necessary for them to be
successful as professional music educators and performers.
3. The Department of Music provides music students with
a wide range of educational and musical experiences which encourage
continued professional growth.
4. The Department of Music serves as a center of
musical excellence to its constituency—the school and the surrounding
community.
The department’s statement of purpose also supports the mission statement of
the University from the MSU Strategic Master Plan:
Midwestern State University affords quality higher education for the people
of the State of Texas and is dedicated to the principle of academic
excellence and productive scholarship. It offers a general education which
provides the foundation for its students’ specialized studies as well as the
basis for a lifetime of personal growth. It serves the intellectual and
cultural needs of the people and is a resource for future development of the
region.
The Department has adopted eleven objectives which relate directly to the
statements of purpose:
1. LIBERAL ARTS. To encourage music students to broaden their
lives through studies in the liberal arts and sciences.
2. ACADEMICS. To provide essential and complementary academic
music courses to assist students in their performance concentration.
3. MUSICAL LITERACY. To develop skills in music theory and
music history that enable the student to articulate his or her music
knowledge and to share it with others effectively.
4. MUSCIAL MATURITY. To develop in each student the critical
judgment needed to achieve the highest possible level of performance and to
assess his or her skills and achievements in light of a realistic career
choice.
5. PRIMARY PERFORMING AREA. To equip students with the
highest possible quality of instruction in their performance areas,
providing technical facility, musicianship, knowledge of repertory, and an
awareness of new trends in literature.
6. AESTHETICS. To develop in students an understanding of
music as an art and a appreciation of various styles of music.
7. RECRUITING. To maintain a constant and aggressive program
of student recruitment and retention aimed at increasing the size and
quality of the program.
8. ADVISING. To provide our students with sound guidance,
according to their interest and aptitude, into a suitable course of study
which will best prepare them to enter the job market successfully.
9. EVALUATION. To examine continuously and to be sensitive to
the changing vocational needs of students and to recommend appropriate
changes to meet these needs.
10. OBLIGATION TO THE UNIVERSITY. To provide the university
as a whole with general courses in music and performance opportunities which
will instill a greater understanding of music as an art form.
11. ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY. To provide the community with
performances, recitals, concerts, and music productions, and to develop a
growing audience for music in the community.
The department has adopted specific goals and assessment procedures for
those goals to which assessment procedures are applicable that will
accurately reflect the success with which we are achieving the desired goal.
The assessment of goals and such as written exams and juried recitals. The
backbone of evaluation is specific assessment procedures which relate
directly to stated goals and objectives. These are:
Goal 1. Students who complete the baccalaureate degree
program in music will achieve the highest possible level of skill I their
primary performing area. Study in the primary performing area shall continue
throughout the degree program and successful completion of the senior
recital. As a part of each semester’s enrollment in the primary
performing area the student will perform a juried recital at the completion
of every academic term before the faculty of the student’s major area. The
recital will demonstrate knowledge of the literature appropriate to the
major performing area, with special emphasis on pedagogical literature.
During lower-level study in the primary performing area, the student must
attain a 3.0 grade-point average in the primary performing area for
consideration of advancement to upper-level standing. Students must
maintain a 3.0 grade-point average in the upper-level study in the primary
performing area to advance to the senior recital. All music majors
will perform a senior recital that demonstrates that highest level of
achievement. The recital will be graded by the music faculty of the
students’ major area(s).
Goal 2. Students will acquire keyboard skills adequate to the
individual musician’s needs. Music majors must pass a proficiency exam
in keyboard skills (prior to the senior recital) that demonstrates skill
adequate to the musician’s needs in score reading, analysis, theory,
accompanying, and sight reading.
Goal 3. Music graduates in the first year of employment
and/or graduate school will compare favorably in their knowledge and skills
with colleagues in their field. The Department of Music will forward a
comprehensive survey to graduates during the first year after graduation to
determine the success in applying for employment and/or graduate school. The
survey will include the opportunity for graduates to make comments about the
music program in regard to direction and reaction to the level of education
they received.
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TX 76308, (940) 397-4267
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