CEPC Green Sheet 06/07-10

At the April faculty meeting CEPC will move the formal approval of a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Music double-degree option for St. Olaf students.

Proposed double-degree policy:

  • Students must meet the application requirements for both the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degree programs.
  • Students engage in professional study in music and study in the liberal arts, leading to both Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees.
  • The duration of the double-degree option may vary among disciplines but will be less than the sum of the durations of both degree programs if undertaken separately. For most students, pursuit of a double-degree option will require five years of study. It should be noted that in a few cases (notably when the BA graduation major is in the natural sciences) completion of all requirements in five years may not be possible.
  • Students pursuing the double-degree option may choose any of the four Bachelor of Music graduation majors (Church Music, Music Education, Performance, and Theory/Composition) and any of the Bachelor of Arts graduation majors except Music.
  • Students shall meet the requirements for the BA graduation major and BM graduation major, as well as the general and comprehensive graduation requirements for the two degrees. The final two years of coursework in pursuit of the degrees must be spent in residence. A minimum of 43 full course credits must be completed with the last 17 full course credits earned through St. Olaf.
  • Students required to continue study in a fifth year to complete two degrees are eligible for continuing financial aid from St. Olaf College.
  • A double-degree student may elect to graduate in two different semesters, one with each degree, but must meet all requirements for the degree and the graduation major within that degree before the diploma for that degree will be awarded.
  • Graduating double-degree students receive two diplomas, one for each degree.

Rationale for the motion:

In reality, the double-degree option currently exists but is not referenced in college literature other than on p.19 of the academic catalog. The nature of the strong liberal arts program, which is a hallmark of St. Olaf College, and the existence of the professional degree in the Department of Music create a distinctively effective environment for nurturing study in music and the liberal arts. Michael Kyle and Kathy Ruby have indicated that Admissions and Financial Aid could accommodate a student pursuing a double-degree even if it results in a fifth year of study. With this proposal, the Music Department hopes to enable college material such as the catalog and Admissions brochures to state the nature of the double-degree program more clearly, thoroughly, and visibly.

When external reviewers visited St. Olaf as part of the Music Department's review of its piano program in 2001, they expressed surprise that St. Olaf did not make the double-degree option more evident. It has been a successful option for students to pursue at other colleges, conservatories, and universities for decades. Since the double-degree option is technically already possible at St. Olaf, the principal reason for requesting its formal approval is to render it more visible in the college catalog and Admissions materials, thus serving both current and prospective students. A significant number of prospective music students each year express an interest in undertaking the professional degree program while completing more coursework in the liberal arts than can be accommodated under National Association of Schools of Music guidelines without also pursuing a liberal arts degree. Prospective students have reported choosing institutions other than St. Olaf because of the visibility of the double-degree option at those institutions, and the perception that a double-degree program does not exist at St. Olaf. Furthermore, institutions such as Oberlin and Lawrence make perfectly clear in their admissions materials that the institution will support with financial aid students who pursue a double-degree, even if it involves a fifth year of study. This is now also true at St. Olaf but we appear to be discouraging students from such a course of study by obscuring this option. The music department respectfully suggests that the reason St. Olaf to date has not made the double-degree more visible to prospective (and matriculating) students is not a result of educational policy to the contrary but simply the fact that no one has previously advocated raising its profile.