UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE DIVERSITY PLAN PROGRESS REPORT – 2012-2013
Unit: School of Music
Goals / Strategies/Tactics/Action / Assessment/MeasurementIncrease Student Body Diversity
(by race and gender)
a. Undergraduate student enrollment
b. Graduate student enrollment / Admission to the school and a major in music is based on a music performance audition as well as academic preparation. The school’s admissions staff member is African American and is active in promoting diversity in our student body among all students who meet the admission requirements, including providing financial aid for students. The school is also active in working with Admissions in recruiting minority students who qualify for special university programs. / No response required per directive from d. Whitlock, 5-10-13
Increase Student Success
(by race and gender)
a. Student retention
b. Graduation rates
c. Degrees conferred
d. Credentials conferred / The school admits students who meet admission standards for musical and academic preparation. However, not all students are ready for the intensive experience of being a music major, or discover that available career options are in line with expectations. Consequently, the school does not and should not expect to retain and graduate a high percentage of students who begin the program. At the undergraduate level, the school would like to graduate 65% of the beginning student cohort. At the graduate level, our goal is to retain and graduate 90% of the cohort. / No response required per directive from d. Whitlock, 5-10-13
Increase Workforce Diversity
(by race and gender)
a. Faculty
b. Staff
c. Executive/Administrative/Managerial
d. Promotion and Retention / All African American candidates who may be identified in given searches are invited for interview should he or she meet the minimum qualifications for a position.
In the three tenure-track faculty searches since the last reporting period, the school selected two females and a male to the positions searched. In the only staff member search since last reporting period, an African-American female was selected. / In four faculty / staff searches conducted since last reporting period, three hires are female appointees and, of these three, one is African-American.
All underrepresented minorities by gender and race have been retained and promoted by the school after application and review.
Improve Campus Climate
a. Integration – How your initiatives unite the campus community
b. Workplace Environment – How your initiatives create an environment that is welcoming to all people and in which inclusion and social justice are valued / In the most recent survey of undergraduate students in the school 85% suggested that the prevailing atmosphere of tolerance and diversity was “Favorable-Highly Favorable”. Evaluations of “Unfavorable-Highly Unfavorable” were made by 8% of the respondents. In the most recent survey of graduate students 73% suggested that the prevailing atmosphere of tolerance and diversity was “Favorable-Highly Favorable”.
Strategies / Strategies/Tactics/Actions / Assessment/Measurement
Promote Internationalization/International Initiatives
- Provide opportunities for students to study abroad
- Encourage and enable faculty teaching and research abroad
- Provide opportunities and resources for professional development for staff and faculty
- Develop a strong program for international students
- Attract outstanding international faculty for teaching and research
The school was awarded a USDOE / FIPSE grant for an exchange program with two universities in Brazil. We will have this grant through 2014.
Jazz faculty member Mike Tracy was appointed a Fulbright Senior Scholar.
The student summer grant program has been very successful and for the past four summers has sponsored students for international study / travel.
We enroll international students from Asia, South America, Australia, and Eastern Europe / Russia.
Students from our choral, jazz, and orchestra ensembles are invited and attend events internationally. In 2012 and 2013 some sixty students participated in international events, including events in Cuba, South Korea, Vietnam, Poland and Germany.
The New Music Festival, Grawemeyer Award, Szymanowski collaboration, International Guitar Competition, and participation of our choirs in international festivals have all brought international artists and teachers to UofL to work with our students and in the community.
Faculty members have traveled abroad to teach and perform in many locations including China, Poland, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, and Poland.
The school invited a Japanese scholar in the Baroque composer JS Bach from the University of Belfast to be in residence for research and teaching during the Fall semester, 2012. / These initiatives have been very successful and have provided opportunities for dozens of music students and faculty to travel and study abroad. At present, we are sponsoring as many activities for students and faculty as we can afford.
Ensure Inclusion of Diversity in the Curriculum
- Offer courses that include diversity content on areas such as race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.; increase number of courses required for cultural competency; increase number of internships, coops related to diversity
- Incorporate principles of cultural diversity, global awareness and social justice into appropriate portions of educational curricula, research and scholarship programs and programs in civic engagement
The school continues its sponsorship of the African American Music Heritage Institute and programs for university and public school students. In 2012 this program highlighted the cultural traditions of the Harlem Renaissance. In 2013, the professional woodwind quintet, the Imani Winds, was in residence during AAMHI.
As part of the school’s summer grant program, six students from the school received support to travel to NYC to participate in an extended workshop sponsored by the Imani Winds.
The school continued its support and programming for concerts in world music and included a residency of a jazz orchestra from Brazil, the Orquestra Revelia, that played concerts and presented workshops at UofL and in the region. As part of the annual Jazz Fest event, the jazz division invited Armina Figarova as principal guest artist in residence. / This particular requirement is a strong a requirement for study in addition to music of the Western Canon based on comparisons to other regional programs and the standards of the national accrediting body.
The school budgets funds each year to support the AAMHI and World Music series. Additional funding was supplied to students to participate in summer studies
Promote and Advance Environmental Sustainability
- Promote recycling, energy conservation programs and other environmentally responsible practices
In the 2012-13 academic year the school ceased support for desktop printing and expanded centralized networked printing solutions only. / Recycling bins are placed in all office and public places in the music building.
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Goals / Strategies/Tactics/Actions / Assessment/Measurement
Promote and Advance Community Engagement
- Increase opportunities to facilitate the use of university resources to support existing partnerships and engage new partners to contribute to the educational, social, and economic progress of the community, region, and state.
- Expand service learning opportunities and community internships
Community outreach was extended in the Jazz Studies division through work of Ansyn Banks at the Brown School and through the creation of a new outreach program for high school jazz students coming to UofL for weekly workshops . Additionally, the school began sponsorship of a program for advanced string musicians, the String Academy, under the leadership of Brittany MacWilliams. The piano pedagogy program offers subsidized piano instruction to students at LCCC and the Portland Piano Project.
All music education students in our undergraduate program (95 students) are required to spend 100 hours in service / observation in community-based settings
Additional support was provided to Western Middle School through the permanent loan of used grand pianos to provide equipment to establish programs in the arts there.
The school has engaged with programs at St. Stephen church to promote Simmons College and cooperation between the university and St Stephen. In 2013 the school presented a world premiere at the church of Andre Wilson’s extended work celebrating ML King’s mountaintop speec in a work featuring choral singers from UofL and St Stephen, the UofL Orchestra, and soloists from Uof L and UK. Mr. Wilson is an alumnus of the music school, a local music teacher, and member of the church at St Stephen. / Ongoing assessment and evaluation of the program is based on number of participants and results of instruction as demonstrated in recital, concerts, and performances. Currently, enrollments at Sanders and Atkinson are at 10-year highs.
In our most recent survey of music student activities and questions related to community-based activities, undergraduate students responded to questions concerning volunteer work in the community. Of the 48 respondents, 42% indicated that each had been required to participate in community-based experiences related to their music study. In the second question, 50% indicated that each had volunteered for a community-based experience related to their music study.
Prepared by Christopher Doane, Dean: May, 2013