This is the "official announcement" (via email) about the Instrumental Program at DSU being cut:
I am sending this email to students ( that we are aware of) who participated in band or received a Kingsmen Annual Scholarship recently. This spring the university made a decision to go in a different direction with regard to offering DSU students an opportunity to participate in an instrumental music activity. This decision and new direction was based on several issues.
1. Decreasing participation by students in the current instrumental/band program
Participation in this scenerio is being judged from the outside, Dr. Knowlton isn't present at the band rehearsals. Rehearsals being located in different locations throughout the years due to the ability of the Dakota Praire Playhouse of being rented out to outside groups equaling more $$ for the univerisity. I believe our numbers from last year are holding steady maybe they are overall down from when Dr. Knowlton first became president in 2004. Also, when was the number of students a quantitative measurement in determining funding? We have several clubs with small memberships below 40 students. Maintaining membership lists are not a requirement for the University Here's a list
Student Senate
KDSU (radio station)
Art club
Computer Club
Council for Exceptional Children
Dakota State Trojan Rhythm
Delta Mu Delta
Drama Club (Fear the Turkey)
DSU Gaming Club (Unconfirmed)
Health Information Management Club
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
Martial Arts Club
Math and Science
Phi Beta Lambda (Business Club)
Respiratory Care Club
SDEA
Student Activities Board
Student Ambassadors
Students in Free Enterprise
Trojan Times
Every sport except for football. The budget does make a distinciton between men and women's so they are separated.
In addition, participation is NOT monitored in required courses. Many graduate classes have fewer then 10 students. I went through many of my master level classes with only "4" people.
2. Budget issues (DSU needed to make some strategic cuts due to cuts at the state level)
You might have some merit with this one but lets examine the fact that you are willing to hire someone to direct the proposed "pep band" or that we also have other faculty openings open on campus. I have seen public testimony given on South Dakota public broadcasting that David Chicoine, President of South Dakota State University hasn't dismissed any staff due to "budget cuts". And they are a much larger university then we are.
3. Finding a place where more members of the DSU and larger community could hear and appreciate the musical performance of our students.
What is wrong with the Dakota Playhouse? It seems like a large enough venue for our Student Convocations that we have each semester and seats over 700 people. What is the matter with performances at games or in the Trojan Center? The Jazz Band even used the Underground as a performance area where Dr. Tad Perry, former Board of Regents Executive Director came and watched.
4. The provision of a band experience that would encourage more participation and also provide the opportunity to “reimburse” students for their participation
Dr. Knowlton, you are arguing it both ways. If you are going to "reimburse" students, how can you not afford the program to begin with? I think an explanation of how band is funded should be explained. You see Band, Drama, and Chorus are unique in that there is both a club and academic side them. The academic side, is the salary of the Directors which is funded through the fees taken in by students who have taken the class for credit. The credit can be used for the Music Minor taken by Ed and non-Education majors. It would also be a good recommended class to take if you are a DAD (Digital Arts Degree) student with an audio production specilization. The actual purchase of sheet music and DSU owned instrument (not the instruments owned by the students) repair is paided for by GAF or General Allocation Fund dollars. The General Allocation fund dollars are based on enrollment. And guess what? Enrollment at Dakota State University has continually been going up in recent years. The fee itself has increased from $24.00 per credit hour to $24.17 giving an 22 GAF funded organizations a total amount available for allocation in FY10 at $608,190.00 up from $575,123.00 in FY09. The GAF commitee (composed of members of the Student Senate and Faculty) allocated $6,400 to the instrumental program. No other programs that are currently on the GAF budget are on the chopping block to get cut.
5. The recognition that without music majors on campus (not part of DSU’s Mission) that sustaining a “traditional” band program is very difficult
This purely opinion. How do you define a "traditional" band program. Some band programs have ensembles, trios, duets. Some programs have marching bands, pep bands, rock bands, orchestras, etc. Some bands have electric guitars and electronic keyboards, some have triangle players and a string section. I would just like to point out that ALL South Dakota State Universities have a concert band. That's one link we have in common. You do say "Major" but you ignore the fact that we have a "minor". In fact, our minor is pretty important because of the Dakota Corp Scholarship program. Here is a critical need of the State of South Dakota taken from the state website, "Teaching K-12 music, special education, or foreign language in a public, private, or parochial school."
How is the removal of the band program helping the Digital Arts major or the Music Education student?
There were other issues that were a part of this decision and not all can be shared at this time.
Its kind of hard to argue with this statement because it is so ambiguous but let me just say that if it is a personnel issue, why cut the Concert and Jazz bands completely? Why not let the students run the program or bring in another staff member to help out? What about a Woodwind ensemble as opposed to a Jazz Band?
Personal Note: I never got this email from Dr. Knowlton about this and I've been with the band for over 7 years, is he paying attention to the actual number of students involved? It's a good thing I've been paying attention to facebook.
Posted at: 09:41 AM | Add Comment
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