Music Department Gets NASM Seal of Approval Again
The Cal Poly Music Department is pleased to announce that it has been “re-accredited” by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). Our first accreditation was five years ago, and we were especially proud since we had been told that only approximately 5% of music programs receive full accreditation on their first attempt. However, as a “new” member of NASM, we were due for reevaluation during the 2008-09 academic year.
Having gotten even smarter in the intervening years, this time we formed a steering committee to shepherd our efforts; chaired by Alyson McLamore, the committee consisted of Meredith Brammeier, India D’Avignon, and Druci Reese. (The gender uniformity was strictly coincidental; no conclusions should be drawn about “how things get done.”) The many months of preparation began with the development of an extensive self-study. All members of the full-time faculty helped shoulder the responsibility of examining virtually every aspect of our program: our mission and goals, our facilities and libraries, our curriculum and outreach, our admission policies and retention efforts, our finances (an especially fun chapter to write: just ask Terry Spiller!), our publications (such as the document you are reading right now), as well as our faculty and staff. The final study came in at some 469 pages!
The fun part came in May 2009, when two NASM evaluators—Richard Green (Miami University, Ohio) and Amy Lynn Barber (DePauw University, Indiana) came to campus for a site visit. A highlight was the outstanding student recital presented by our vocal and instrumental performers, who ranged from freshmen to seniors. The full NASM Commission reviewed our self-study and the visitors’ report this past November, and voted to continue our program “in good standing.” The best part of this achievement? We will not have to produce a new self-study for another ten years!
Our NASM evaluators
Amy Lynn Barber and Richard Green