WestConn and NVCC tackle music teacher shortage

Two schools sign agreement to make credit transfer easier in music ed program

DANBURY, Conn. (June 15, 2006) — The presidents of Western Connecticut State University and Naugatuck Valley Community College signed an agreement on Tuesday, June 20, that will make life easier for students who want to teach music.

Music teachers are in high demand and positions are often difficult to fill because of a shortage in the field. With the new agreement, students at the community college who follow a schedule of classes worked out by the two schools will be able to transfer all their credits from NVCC to WestConn in the music education program. WestConn and NVCC are the only public schools in Connecticut with such an arrangement.

“It’s a model of what we should be doing,” said WestConn President James W. Schmotter. “That’s why it’s so exciting.”

“It draws upon the strengths of two strong institutions,” said NVCC President Richard L. Sanders.

Often, transferring students lose credits because the school they are moving to does not accept every class at the previous school. That costs the students time and money.

The agreement is similar to other agreements between the two schools that allow nursing and business management students to start at NVCC and finish at WestConn.

Such partnerships often benefit non-traditional students returning to the classroom after a stint in the workforce, or students who must work many hours while attending school.

Lynne Clark, WestConn dean of the School of Professional Studies, said transferring students will now be able to concentrate more on their education and less on the mechanics of the move.

“The transfer agreement will provide a seamless transition for NVCC’s music students into WestConn’s music education program,” Clark said. She credited the work of NVCC music faculty member Richard Gard, and Wesley Ball, WestConn’s BS Music Education coordinator, for working out the agreement by making the necessary curriculum changes to “ensure the success of NVCC music students in WCSU’s Music Education Program.”

Gard worked two years on the project.

“It builds my program because it gives my students a destination,” Gard said.

NVCC has one of the most comprehensive two-year music programs in the state. It is the only two-year college in Connecticut that offers a complete course catalog for a music major, including four semesters of music theory, four semesters of ear training, conducting, chorus, gospel choir, concert band, jazz ensemble and guitar ensemble.

NVCC students who follow the new agreement will be able to transfer 70 to 74 credits to WestConn.

WestConn estimates that its bachelor of science in music education program supplies 70 to 80 percent of the music teachers for Connecticut’s public school systems.

NVCC students who complete the necessary credits also must pass a performance audition required of all juniors in WestConn’s Bachelor of Science in Music Education degree program.

Also attending the signing in Schmotter’s office were Patricia Bouffard, NVCC dean of learning and student development; Elena Rusnak, NVCC fine arts program coordinator; and Dan Goble, WestConn music professor and coordinator of the jazz program.

For more information, call the WestConn office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.