Graduate Conducting Program Looks Promising
Enrollment Goals Nearly Met
Andrew Exner
Issue date: 12/10/09 Section: News
The centennial year has brought exciting academic progress to Messiah College. The psychology department is ready to close its first semester of its Masters Degree program in Counseling, and the art department will have its final site visit for approval of the Masters in Art Education on December 17. The music department is on the precipice of beginning its program for a Masters in Conducting. So far, enrollment is beyond the initial projections of the music faculty.
According to Richard Roberson, Dean of the School of the Arts, there was a waiting list of about thirty prospective students before the conducting program "went live" a month ago. "To the best of our knowledge, none of those have gone away," says Roberson.
Of these, the nine prospective students have completed the application process to begin classes in January. "This is a busy time of the year, especially for musicians, so they're not all applying right now." Roberson expects to have a full class with 15 students in the January.
"This is beyond our goal…our goal for the first year was to have ten students," says Roberson. If enrollment continues to progress like this, Roberson says that they "might even have to offer two sections" of the class being offered in March.
The conducting program has its greatest appeal for current music educators, some of who will be working on the degree to keep their certification and others who are seeking enrichment credit. "We've structured this degree around those working professionals" says Brad Genevro, one of the administrators of the program. "It's enrolling from a lot of different directions, and that's what we thought would happen," says Roberson.
Amidst the tough economic climate, Roberson and Genevro remain optimistic. "We tried to be conservative about all of our numbers," Roberson says. "If we get just five students in the program each year, we'll break even, so ten is even better." Since the interest in the program already indicates that enrollment will exceed projections, the program should almost pay for itself.
According to Richard Roberson, Dean of the School of the Arts, there was a waiting list of about thirty prospective students before the conducting program "went live" a month ago. "To the best of our knowledge, none of those have gone away," says Roberson.
Of these, the nine prospective students have completed the application process to begin classes in January. "This is a busy time of the year, especially for musicians, so they're not all applying right now." Roberson expects to have a full class with 15 students in the January.
"This is beyond our goal…our goal for the first year was to have ten students," says Roberson. If enrollment continues to progress like this, Roberson says that they "might even have to offer two sections" of the class being offered in March.
The conducting program has its greatest appeal for current music educators, some of who will be working on the degree to keep their certification and others who are seeking enrichment credit. "We've structured this degree around those working professionals" says Brad Genevro, one of the administrators of the program. "It's enrolling from a lot of different directions, and that's what we thought would happen," says Roberson.
Amidst the tough economic climate, Roberson and Genevro remain optimistic. "We tried to be conservative about all of our numbers," Roberson says. "If we get just five students in the program each year, we'll break even, so ten is even better." Since the interest in the program already indicates that enrollment will exceed projections, the program should almost pay for itself.
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