Karen & Kevin are Calling the COVID Shots at Music Colleges
advice and WARNINGS for the class of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic
Safety First
Even now, with a second wave of COVID-19 cases on the rise, university music departments are still frantically searching the conflicting, indecisive & highly-controlled research for ways to justify in-person rehearsals — likely in order to retain their unstable programs & funding options — all while students across the country are being forced to sign waivers in case of virus contraction. Upon re-opening, further emails went out blaming the student body (rather than the administration) for a “lack of responsibility” because some students were not following new protocol.
Universities are now taking punitive measures against students — including but not limited to suspensions & loss of funding if they meet in a gathering of 10+ people that is not sanctioned by the university, as well as lowering grades or withdrawing students from courses if they are not attending the severely dilapidated courses during a crisis.
Here’s a novel and terrifying thought: what if all this “disease prevention” just… doesn’t work?
Question Everything
Wouldn’t transitioning entirely to online music learning — perhaps focusing for a semester or two exclusively on projects pertaining to digital rehearsal & performance collaborations, electronic recording & composition, technological editing & engineering, business & public relations management, etc. — be much safer and more economical through funding universal technology rather than all the research, sanitation & space reallocation?
Isn’t this an opportune time to make use of the growing surplus of fresh and highly capable talent that is graduating into a jobless wasteland?
Even with the current and emerging challenges of video meetings, isn’t there some way to make students feel like their tuition is worth the price while engaging them in the music teaching process?
Ideas like these are an asset, many of which have been around for a while now — were they really not presented in any board meetings?
Or are current legacy faculty more concerned with ensuring their own personal security at another expense of their students and graduates?
Risking even just one college student is not worth whatever type of capital it might bring the school to have in-person meetings. Musicians need to know how to do business using a computer anyway, and the established generations will likely need help keeping up with incoming students’ rapidly advancing digital proficiency.
Trust Your Gut
A few words to the wise music student:
- Take the semester off to practice gaining “real-world” experience — especially virtual collaboration, content creation, lessons & teaching/assistantship experience — while this virus cools down. That’s what music jobs are really looking for anyway, especially if you don’t have the right connections.
- Spend the year ( if you can ) honing your musical craft, studying the rapidly changing music industry & business models, and applying for any sources of grant or competitively sourced funding you can find & afford to apply for. There are some that have no entry fee, but they’re relatively rare.
- This pandemic is the perfect time with the perfect rationale for a “gap year,” and increasingly desperate college music programs will readily overlook the hiatus period & perhaps even admire the decision.
When the departments undoubtedly cancel classes once these mistakes rise to the surface by blaming students for both spreading and avoiding the disease, departments might then be able to justify keeping the student aid money the CARES act is supposed to protect.
Do not let the current education panic for funding con you into a program that might jeopardize the health and safety of your family & friends. Your future music career and potential medical debt will thank you for it.
