FROM THE CURRENT UNDERGRADUATE MUSIC EDUCATION CLASS AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY:

As students attending one of the best programs nationwide for Music Education, ranked #1 in the state of New York and #6 in the United States, we are intimately familiar with the successes and failures of New York University’s Music Education program. We recognize the negligence and ignorance with which the NYU administration has treated our program. On November 1st, 2022, we received an email from the Music and Performing Arts Professions (MPAP) chair Dr. Marilyn Nonken notifying us that our program was immediately undergoing a pause in admissions and a “periodic curriculum review.” With no information on the intention of the review or reason for the pause, we undergraduate students released a signed letter demanding the reopening of admissions. When nothing changed, alumni of our prestigious program released a letter demanding answers. Three months later, we have received no clear information regarding why admissions is paused or what spurred the curriculum review. Instead, our adjuncts and students have continued to be ignored in our pleas that the committee evaluating our program involve and communicate with the people who are directly affected by their decisions. 

This petition is a response to NYU’s negligence in handling their Music Education program. This was not our first action, but rather the culmination of disappointment at the mistreatment of our program and incessant exclusion of student voice from the decision-making process.

Out of respect for the quality of education for Music Education students, the value of our degrees, the work environment for Music Education faculty, and the future of music education, we demand transparency and inclusion throughout the admissions pause and curriculum review. Those signing the petition request the six following courses of action to begin:

1. A statement guaranteeing that students will receive institutional recommendation for our NYSED teaching certification upon the successful completion of our degrees. While we, the students, have been promised that our degrees will be unaffected by the decision to pause admissions, we have no guarantee that our certification track will be unscathed. Currently, NYU follows the Pathway: Approved Teacher Preparation Program, which prepares students to receive our PK-12 Initial Teaching Certification with an institutional recommendation from NYU. This specific certification track is one of the most enticing aspects of NYU’s Music Education program, and why many students decided to invest in this institution. To complete this pathway, we must study under a university approved by New York State, and “as containing the studies required for certification as a New York State educator.” Upon the completion of this study, the approved institution submits a recommendation for the student, but changes to curriculum threaten to disrupt this process. We committed to NYU with the promise of preparation for certification alongside the successful completion of our degree and we expect NYU to fulfill this promise for us and future NYU music educators. 
2. To ensure that decisions made regarding the future of the NYU Music Education program are representative of those directly involved in the program, we demand that at least one current adjunct faculty member with K-12 school teaching experience and at least one current NYU Music Education student be added to the working group - nominated by current students. NYU’s Music Education courses are primarily taught by adjunct faculty members, yet not a single adjunct faculty member has been included in the working group that seeks to change the curriculum our adjuncts implement. We implore the university to add an adjunct faculty member to the working group and fairly compensate them for their time so they may represent our shared program. The impact of these uninformed decisions have and will continue to harm students, faculty, alumni, and the field of music education for years to come. We refuse to remain silent as the NYU administration and working group make decisions that will directly impact students and adjunct faculty without collaborating with said students and faculty.
3. Dr. Nonken and the NYU administration must schedule biweekly meetings with students and adjunct faculty members and inform them of the contents of the working group’s meetings. This will ensure that those directly involved in the program are both informed about and involved in decisions that will directly affect them. As the active tuition payers of this institution, we, the students, have the right to know about the recommendations the working group submit and how they will impact the Music Education curriculum. At these meetings, we expect to be informed on any changes we can expect to the curriculum in the future as well as access to recordings of meetings or written minutes. We demand the opportunity to give feedback on said changes.
4. A written statement assuring the reopening of applications in Fall 2023 and admission of a freshman class for Fall 2024, graduating in Spring 2028. Our student letter released to administration on November 15th already details how depriving current students of an incoming freshman class will harm the progression of our curriculum. Though students and faculty have proven they can thrive in the face of adversity, to deprive the program of students is to deprive it of the one resource it cannot go without. By rendering NYU Music Education nonfunctional, the administration has tainted the legacy of a nationally renowned program and endangered its longevity. By committing to reopening admissions, NYU will prevent further damage to the program and its reputation and begin to restore student confidence regarding the quality of our education and the value of our degrees.
5. We request a timeline detailing the committee’s intended course of actions. We have yet to receive a statement detailing either the goals of the curriculum review or what prompted it. As tuition-paying students, we are the primary consumers and funders of the Music Education program. As such, we are entitled, at minimum, to an explanation of why these changes are occuring. A concrete, written and documented timeline with specific dates will help alleviate our concerns that these changes are happening with very little research or planning. 
6. We request written answers to the following questions:
   What are the goals and intended outcomes of the curriculum review?
   What benefits will current students receive from the admissions pause?
   How will current music education instruction (teaching students in grades PK-12) be sustained?

We request that a clear and truthful response to this petition is released to music education students by March 6th, 2023.  To reiterate, this statement should include a detailed written timeline for the curriculum review process complete with goals as well as the answers to the questions listed in #6 above. We will follow up with NYU administration if we do not hear back by this date and will continue to publicly share the information we receive with local music education organizations and stakeholders, including but not limited to National Association for Music Educators (NAfME), New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA), the Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze institutions, and NYU alumni. 

If New York University continues to dismiss and neglect the concerns of its consumers, the harmful effects will further accumulate beyond the students and music education landscape in New York City and globally in music education. These decisions have already impacted the stability of other MPAP programs within NYU, as seen with the cancellation of the Wind Symphony ensemble (which deprives music students of ensemble credit). The news of this issue has already spread beyond the program with an Inside HigherEd article and the widely-circulated alumni letter. The NYU Music Education Class of 2022 achieved a 100% placement rate into excellent jobs, yet administration is disregarding the opportunity to continue this high achievement by denying the program an incoming class. Additionally, any drastic changes to our program risks losing our AAQEP Teacher Education Accreditation. If the people reviewing our curriculum are uninformed in their decisions, our degree will only continue to lose value and deprive New York State of an invaluable cohort of educators. What is at stake is not simply the population of our program, but our future careers. 

We write this petition with a passion and dedication to the Music Education program at New York University. However, we have been continuously disappointed, harmed, and lied to over the course of the past few months involving the decision to pause this deeply necessary program. We continue to demand transparency in order to prevent further harm and begin to rebuild our program to serve its students.

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