1 July 2006
To:
Linda Beath, Associate Vice President
Undergraduate Studies
From:
Marji Morgan, Dean
College of Arts and Humanities
Re:
2005-2006 Program Review, Music
I write to provide commendations and recommendations as part of the program review process for Music.
These remarks are based on the Department’s Self-Study and the external reviewer’s evaluation, and take
into account college mission and resources.
Although Dr. Peter Gries wrote the Self-Study, Music faculty contributed to its content, particularly to the
Long Range Plan for the Department. It is an impressive document–one that suggests faculty are thinking
long term, have a clear understanding of departmental strengths and weaknesses, and have a detailed plan
for how the Department should develop in the future. Their ideas were both reinforced and to some
degree challenged by Dr. David Tomatz, who did a comprehensive review and provided very helpful
recommendations for how to transform an excellent Department of Music into a premier one.
COMMENDATIONS
The Music Department was commended repeatedly for the expertise and commitment of its faculty.
Their academic credentials are outstanding and they perform and conduct regionally and in some cases
nationally and internationally. The faculty is also very committed to outstanding teaching and to creating
a supportive environment for students. As Tomatz pointed out, “Students describe a wonderful
environment of openness, trust and comradeship between students and faculty.” The Chair does many
things to foster this environment, including having many department gatherings in his home and attending
nearly every music event of the year. His dedication is extraordinary.
The quality of individual performances by students was judged to be very good to excellent, and the
ensembles were rated excellent. Student ensembles are regularly invited to perform at regional, national
and sometimes international venues. The success students have in finding teaching positions and
placement in distinguished graduate programs is very impressive.
Music faculty and staff serve as outstanding ambassadors for the Department and CWU as a whole. That
is, they have a presence in schools and at public events throughout the state and region, reflecting well on
Central.
Music staff were found to be extremely competent and diligent. The Music Department has more budgets
and generates more paperwork by far than any other department, and everything runs smoothly and
efficiently due to the extraordinary capabilities of the staff.
Page 2 - Music
On the whole, the undergraduate and graduate degrees were found to be well structured. These degrees
were reviewed and judged to meet the standards of the National Association of Schools of Music.
The facilities in the new music building were considered superb. Faculty make a special effort to use the
latest technology in all phases of instruction.
The Department is to be commended for its long range plan. It reflects serious thought, careful planning,
and a set of shared values that helps to explain the cohesiveness found in the Department.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The external reviewer offered many suggestions that should help the department, college and university
take the Music Department to an even higher level of excellence than it has already attained.
More Ambitious Long Range Plan: It is sometimes true that a strength is also a weakness, and that is the
case with the Department’s Long Range Plan. It is a plan focused on how to enhance what is, rather than
one that adopts new thinking in order to move the Department to a higher level, so that it becomes
something better and even qualitatively different. Dr. Tomatz believes that the Department is ready to
move from a small school department to a premier one. In his words, “The Department of Music is now
positioned to become a premier music school that will be a window of light into the entire University
community.” One aspect of the new thinking calls for the Department and University to have the goal of
moving the Music Department to a new level.
Development: Another component of the new thinking involves fundraising. Although the Self-Study
identifies many resource needs, it does not once mention the importance of development. A strategic
development plan is essential for a premier Music Department, and will be key if the Music Department is
to move forward. Scholarships to recruit and retain the very best students are the Department’s single
most important need. Tomatz suggests that it is time to build a Friends of Music Society, and I agree.
Catherine Scarlett, the new CAH Development Officer, and I look forward to helping the Department
build such a Society.
New Faculty Positions Needed: In addition to attracting the best students it is also important to attract
high quality faculty. There are several important areas where new faculty positions are needed. It is
important to buttress the academic component of the music program by adding faculty in music theory
and music history, two key areas of any undergraduate and graduate curriculum. In particular, a Ph.D.
music theorist and Ph.D. music historian should be added to the music faculty as soon as resources are
available. The composition position left vacant by Mark Polishook might soon be turned into a tenuretrack position for a specialist in music theory/composition.
Improve Advising: Although students find the Music Department to be nurturing and supportive, they do
not find the advising system to be satisfactory. Dr. Tomatz suggested that the Department find ways to
improve advising, and I know that a new system has already been devised and will be put in place this fall
2006. The Department is to be commended for acting so promptly in this area, as effective advising is
essential for maximizing student performance.
Streamline Curriculum: In order to maximize resources and deliver programs as efficiently as possible
every effort should be made to streamline curriculum. Dr. Tomatz’s comment about the “disproportionate
number of professional education courses and credits” in the music education
Page 3 - Music
curriculum suggests that it’s time to re-evaluate this curriculum. The large number of professional
education courses explains why there are only 12 credits of applied study in the music education
curriculum–a figure way below the national average. A committee of CEPS and CAH Associate Deans
and Faculty should be formed to review the music education curriculum as soon as possible.
Staffing: Although the current staff are outstanding, there are not enough of them to meet the needs of
faculty and students. In particular, lack of full-time support in the office is a serious problem. Every
effort should be made to turn the half-time office position into a full-time one, and in fact this request was
made in the recent CAH budget request. Small funding is also needed to provide more student help in the
afternoons and evenings for concerts and recitals. For example, an effective ticketing system is now
impossible because adequate funds do not exist to pay people for selling and collecting tickets.
Enhanced Adjunct Support Along with enhanced staffing Dr. Tomatz identifies an enhanced adjunct
budget as an important immediate need. This enhanced budget is important in order to meet the needs for
applied study, particularly among music minors and music majors taking applied study in a secondary
area (mostly in piano and voice). This past year such students experienced severe cuts in applied study
because of insufficient funding in the adjunct budget. As soon as it is feasible, more funding for applied
study should be provided to the Department.
PROCESS
The reviewer provided little feedback on the review process itself. There seemed to be enough time for
him to meet with all faculty members in various group settings and also to experience student
performances. I think the very well prepared self-study also gave him very useful material to work with
during the review. My only suggestion would be for the university to encourage all departments
undergoing review to have a retreat, and to provide some funds for this type of activity. It would ensure
that all faculty participate in the self-study process, particularly in the thinking about future directions and
goals.
SUMMARY
The quality of the music faculty, students and staff is outstanding, and the Department is a hugely
important asset to the University and the region. As Tomatz indicated, they have earned our support, and
every effort should be made to enhance funding for both the immediate and long term needs outlined in
the review. But as is true with all other outstanding Music Departments, faculty and the Dean’s office
must give serious attention to generating resources through fund raising. This does not necessarily need
to involve additional work and performances, so much as thinking creatively about how what students
and faculty are already doing can become a foundation for fund raising. Most importantly, the
Department, College and University must recognize that the CWU Music Department can become a
premier one, and we should set this achievement as a goal and do everything we can to make it happen.