Winter 2010 Advising information

Priority registration for Winter 2010 courses begins on Nov. 2!   It is IMPERATIVE that you enroll for winter class ABSOLUTELY ASAP!  Finding spaces in classes, especially outside of the Music Department, will be even more difficult than for fall.  In the effort to complete your enrollment quickly, get your advising done as soon as possible.  Even if you have holds on your university account that prevent you from enrolling right now, you can still do your advising right away.

All students new this year and who regularly complete advising with Dr. Johnson should  sign up for a group advising session at PA-113, next to Dr. Johnson's office door.  See the Advising Guide for preparation information and the dates available for advising.  Space is limited at each session, so sign up now.   Download the Group Advising Form in rtf format [rtf] (or download the advising form in pdf format), fill it out as instructed, and bring it to your advising session.  If your sheet is complete, and you have no questions, your advising session will take at most 15 minutes!  Group advising sessions for Winter 2010 are on:

• Tuesday, Oct. 27, 12:20-1:30 pm in PA-127
• Sunday, Nov. 1, 3:00 - 5:00 pm pm in PA-127 (Daylight Savings starts this day!)
• NEW:  Nov. 3, 12:20-1:30 pm in PA-127

• CANCELED:  Saturday, Nov. 7, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm in PA-127
• CANCELED:  Sunday, Nov. 15, 1:00 - 3:00 pm in PA-127
• NEW:  Nov. 17, 12:15-1:30 pm in PA-127
• Tuesday, Jan. 12, 12:00 - 1:00 pm in PA-127

Returning students may contact your usual music faculty advisor for advising.  However, he or she may not be as available as you would like.  All music faculty members have extra or new teaching this year.  As a result, you may struggle to find a convenient time for individual advising.  Over the next year or so, the department will phase out individual advising in favor of group advising, so you may as well make the transition now.

Career Advice

The following link, provided by the Music Educators National Conference, is an excellent source of information regarding various career options in music:

_{MENC Careers in Music}

Of particular value is MENC's "dictionary" of music careers, a description of jobs in teaching, performance, business, therapy, law, arts management, and many other areas:

_{MENC Dictionary}

As you might expect, the MENC site provides excellent information about preparing for a career in music education. However, it also provides information for students interested in developing a performing career as free-lance musician, a soloist, a conductor, or a member of a large ensemble such as a military band, symphony orchestra, or opera company. The site even offers sound advice about preparing for careers in various parts of the music industry or for the continuation of music study at the graduate level.

In addition, CSUSB music majors and minors should consult closely with their music faculty advisors for information about specific coursework, and special opportunities such as internships or summer workshops and festivals, that will best prepare them for their intended career paths. Students not yet assigned to an advisor should contact the Music Department chair, Dr. Todd Johnson.

Assignment to a Music Advisor

New music majors are assigned to a music faculty advisor by the department chair,  Dr. Todd Johnson. All full-time faculty members participate in advising as assigned, and, when possible, a student is matched with the faculty member most expert in the student's specific degree emphasis. This allows a student to get the most effective advice and help in preparing for his or her career interests.

The Music Department places a registration hold on all declared music majors at the beginning of each quarter. The hold insures that each student consults in detail with his or her assigned advisor before selecting classes. An advisor's signature on a  Music Major Advising Form (PDF, 20 kb) (available in the Department of Music Main Office, PA-111) is required before the departmental secretary, Ms. Lisa DeMarco, can remove the hold. To set up an advising appointment students should contact advisors at least two weeks before priority registration begins for an upcoming quarter.

Degree Roadmaps

Degree roadmaps for music majors are plans for what courses should be taken in what order, depending on a student’s chosen degree emphasis. Each music majors should carefully follow his or her roadmap. Deviation from the order and distribution of courses in the roadmap for a particular emphasis may result in unsolvable conflicts between course meeting times or unreasonably heavy course loads in a given quarter. Those difficulties may delay a music major’s planned date of graduation. The Music Department is not responsible for accommodating the graduation plans of a music major who does not follow his or her roadmap.

Music majors who transfer to CSUSB should make a special effort to follow recommended degree road maps. In scheduling classes and designing it’s curriculum, the Music Department has made a commitment to serving the specialized needs of transfer students. However, transfers student come to CSUSB with a wide variety of transferable music course work, so it is impossible to perfectly accommodate the needs of every transfer student. Each transfer music major should make every effort, in close consultation with a music advisor, to closely follow his or her roadmap.