Date of Award

1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract

In August 1967, the first doctoral degree in music at Louisiana State University was conferred. Between August 1967 and May 1981, the doctoral degree program in the School of Music at LSU has shown considerable growth, in both number of degrees awarded and curricular offerings. The focus of this study was the evaluation, in terms of quality and effectiveness, of the doctoral music degree program at LSU through an analysis of the responses of its doctoral graduates. A questionnaire was mailed to all sixty-four doctoral degree recipients. Fifty-eight (90.6%) returned usable questionnaires for the study. Items included in the questionnaire were designed to provide information in several categories: (1) employment record, (2) professional activities and affiliations, (3) length of enrollment, (4) program design, (5) course offerings, (6) quality of instruction, (7) grading, (8) the dissertation experience, and (9) physical facilities. In addition, the graduates were requested to provide suggestions for improvement in such categories as advising, course requirements, course offering, grading, examinations, and physical facilities. Among the major findings of the study were: (1) Most respondents were employed as instructors or administrators in music at the college or university level. (2) While all respondents were active members of at least two professional organizations or societies, not many respondents were active in the publication of articles, books, or recordings. (3) The average time required to complete the degree was 5.3 years. (4) Most respondents were satisfied with course requirements and course offerings during their period of study. There was, however, some indication that there was a desire for more specification of subject matter in terms of course offering. (5) Most respondents described the dissertation experience as intellectually enlightening. (6) Most respondents were of the opinion that both the quality of the music faculty and the quality of the doctoral music program were good. (7) The graduates overwhelmingly agreed that improvements were needed in the physical facilities. (8) Examinations were deemed to be thorough and fair by most respondents. (9) Advising in the School of Music was considered very strong.

Pages

214

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.3692

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