Students in the Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts were informed Thursday that the option of taking classes for zero credits, such as marching band and music ensembles, may be taken away.

Ann Clarke, dean of VPA, came to the students’ weekly convocation, a class that every student in the Setnor and Bandier Program for Music and the Entertainment Industries programs must attend, Thursday to inform students that administrators are considering making every class available for at least one credit.

Such a decision would not eliminate those classes altogether, but rather could make it difficult for some music students to include those classes in their course schedule without going over their credit limit.

There are several required zero-credit classes as well other elective zero-credit classes, including 13 different musical ensembles offered in the School of Music. There are 576 students enrolled across those 13.

‘It would be bad for individual students, but it also means the ensembles would deteriorate in quality,’ said Ashley Smith, a junior music education major and member of the Setnor Student Board, a group of students who meet weekly to talk about student concerns.

Smith said that Clarke mainly listed financial reasons for the decision. Taking a class for zero credits doesn’t bring any tuition money into VPA. If students had to take everything for one credit, though, VPA would receive more money from the university.

Clarke and other VPA administrators declined to comment as of Sunday night. Clarke is expected to make a formal statement on the issue Monday.

Thursday was the first time the students formally heard about the proposed initiative, Smith said, although some had already heard from professors. The announcement turned the convocation into an open forum, with students speaking up and voicing their concerns. Dean Clarke was receptive to student concerns, Smith said, but there is still confusion about what is really going on.

Many students in the music program need to take 18 or 19 credits a semester to fulfill their requirements, Smith said. Since some ensembles, like the symphony band, the marching band and the pep band, can be taken for zero credits, students have a chance to enroll in more than one without paying extra Smith said.

Requiring the classes to be one credit could prevent some students from taking as many classes as they usually do. This would also be a problem for the students outside of VPA who participate in musical ensembles, Smith said.

‘It’s a lot of educational value, competitive value,’ she said. ‘Especially when you go out in the real world and look for jobs. They want to see what kind of ensemble you’ve been in and how you’ve done in it.’

Alec Sim, a senior in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and member of the Setnor Student Board, said he has been able to participate in ensembles in the past with a full schedule because of the zero-credit option.

‘A lot of students would really be negatively impacted because they can’t fit it into their schedule,’ Sim said.

Sim, also an assembly member of Student Association, said SA will be working with students to voice their concerns and clear up confusion between students and administrators about the future of zero-credit classes.

The Setnor Student Board is planning to draft a letter stating why they disagree with cutting zero-credit classes. Smith said that while this proposed change is for all schools within VPA, it simply wouldn’t work for the School of Music.

‘The curriculum is set up so fundamentally differently that it’s just not a viable option here,’ she said.

kronayne@syr.edu

Published on February 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm