Music degree for graduates to be offered

A Master of Music Education degree is expected become available for graduates this summer at GCSU.

There have been demands for a Master of Music Education degree from GCSU students and the surrounding community for some time now.

“Everywhere I go, people ask me when are we going to get the Master of Education degree,” said Dr. Patti Tolbert, graduate coordinator.

Only six schools in the state of Georgia currently have this degree.

Lindsey Hughes, a music therapy major, said she believes the program is needed at GCSU.

“I think it will really benefit students who are music education members to be able to concentrate on different levels of teaching by getting their masters at GCSU,” Hughes said.

Tolbert said many local teachers feel as though they are not fully qualified to teach music because there are currently no undergraduate programs for music education degrees locally.

“(I) thought it would be good to have (this degree) in this area,” Tolbert said.

According to Tolbert, one concern the Georgia Board of Regents had before approving the degree was funding. Concerns included the amount of funding that would be required from the university, book upgrades in the library and many other resources, including faculty.

However, no money will be needed for more faculty members because there are five qualified music education faculty on campus. All of the current music faculty members have taught in public schools and have the experience to handle the new classes, Tolbert said.

Tolbert said funding that will be required for book upgrades has already been designated.

There are three components in the masters program: the research component, the music education content component and the elective component.

The music department plans to begin with the research step of the 33-hour or 36-hour curriculum.

“We hope we designed it so that it is relevant material for teachers to use in their classes and also prepare those that want to go on to the doctorate level,” Tolbert said.

Music education major Mallory Brock said she believes the program will help her get the education that she wants.

“The masters program is perfect for me to be able to concentrate on a certain level of music that I will end up teaching,” Brock said. “I think it will make me a better teacher in the long run.

Some work will be online for the teachers who live farther away and can’t make it to campus after a full day of teaching. Most classes in the fall will be night classes to allow teachers and students enough time to get to class.

Now that the degree is almost in motion, advertising will be the final step to make students on campus and teachers off-campus aware of the new degree.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 3 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry