Departmental Distinction
Senior music majors, upon nomination by a music faculty member and a two-thirds majority vote of the Music department faculty, are eligible for departmental distinction in Music and will be advised of this fact by October 1 of their senior year. After receiving nomination, senior candidates wishing departmental distinction must complete an Application for Departmental Distinction in Music (available in the Music Office) and return the application to the Music Office by November 15.
Distinction candidates are required to do a special project in their major area of emphasis to ultimately earn distinction. Examples of projects include: a full recital (Performance and Church Music); a major paper (History-Literature); a substantial composition (Theory-Composition); a student teaching portfolio (Music Education). Exceptions to the typical distinction project will be considered by the Music Department faculty. A music faculty member must approve the project and serve as project advisor.
The deadline for 2007-2008 Distinction projects is Sunday, April 27, 2008. For each senior project, the department chair will solicit three faculty members who will serve on an evaluation committee. The committee does not include the project advisor. Each member of the committee assigns a letter grade to the project and forwards a recommendation and comments to the music faculty. A two-thirds majority vote of the music faculty in favor of granting distinction is required. Students who are planning to pursue departmental distinction are advised to take all required music courses for a grade.
