placeholden

I'm not sure where to put this, or what it even is. By resigning my position during a time that budget cuts were already announced, I probably forfeited my right to rally support at an institutional level. For some reason, though, I feel like I need to share my opinions with people. I guess the internet has made megalomaniacs of us all. 

I feel like those of us who CHOSE to leave voluntarily rather than wait around to be laid off have been unfairly scapegoated for the loss of positions, when it was precisely this lack of security that led us to leave in the first place. 

As many of you are now likely aware, two Music department faculty members resigned during the past few weeks. Now that the decision is official by CWC that neither of these positions will be refilled, there are no longer enough faculty to offer a music degree to future students.

When I arrived at CWC just four short years ago, I was blown away. I was surprised that a place so small and remote could have such a tremendous culture. It seemed that everyone, from the highest level administrators to the newest hire in the custodial ranks, felt like they were part of something special and couldn’t wait to tell me about how great it was to work here. I am shocked at how dramatically things have changed in just a few short years.

I remember as a junior faculty member, it was not uncommon for people to extol the virtues of the institution based on things that made us unique. Qualities you could get at CWC that were not available anywhere else. CWC was a place where every student mattered, and our extremely low staff/student ratio was proof that we cared more for students than we did for convention. You could tell by talking to students that they felt it too, and I proudly shared with prospective students and parents how special the culture was and how much they could grow by being a part of it.

Now, unfortunately, the opposite is true. We are regularly barraged with presentations and meetings that detail how much we are missing the mark as an institution. Reminders are given about how unqualified our faculty are, how overstaffed we are as an institution, and how other community colleges in places we’ve never been are doing it so much better.

While it was stated by administrators that CWC will “maintain all current programs academic and non-academic,” this doesn’t exactly ring true in the area of Performing Arts. After losing 60% of combined faculty positions in Music and Theatre, there is no way that these degree programs will survive the next few years without adequate faculty to recruit and instruct incoming majors. So to suggest that CWC will “maintain” these programs seems to be sophistic and disingenuous considering the long-term implications of removing a majority of the faculty members formerly responsible for instructing these classes. Without the ability to offer a degree, the institution loses the ability to recruit traditional students of high talent, and these programs become solely dependent on community members to participate. Wordsmithing aside, there are two full-time Music faculty positions that don’t exist anymore. Call it what you will, but these are jobs that don’t exist anymore.

Often, difficult decisions must be made in dire financial situations. The fact that this sometimes cannot be avoided is not lost on the staff members who fostered the culture that was so appealing to many employees. Although all three professional associations (Classified Staff, Professional Staff, Faculty) expressed a willingness to accept furloughs and other reductions in compensation, these offers were overlooked in favor of reducing positions.

Our once-proud culture is under siege. Under siege by a placeholder administration filled with people who are actively seeking other jobs while cutting the jobs of people that they hardly know. The culture of selflessness and inclusion that was once trumpeted by employees has been replaced by one of competition, inadequacy, and fear. All the while, newspaper articles make the situation seem hopeless, that it’s solely the economy that is responsible. The unwillingness to consider pay cuts makes this stance seem incredibly unlikely. It seems to be painfully obvious at this point that these staffing reductions were already a desire of the administration, and the economic downturn was merely the Trojan horse that hid the axe. By the time that the community turns on CWC, and is no longer willing to provide support, the people that made these decisions will be gone, leaving the community to pick up the pieces. People don’t forget things like this, especially when mill levies and bond issues are on a ballot.  

Windsor

First stop on our whirlwind tour is Windsor, the home of the "official" residence of the queen, Windsor Castle.

Windsor Castle in the distance. Unfortunately, since our flights arrived in staggered groups and ours was one of the latest, there is no time to take an "official" tour. ALWAYS time for lunch and coffee though. 

Anybody who wants to talk about how different things are in Europe need only look at this picture to see how alike we really are. Everywhere there's something beautiful that people really want to see, there's someone there thinking..."I SHOULD SELL THEM SOME RIDICULOUS CRAP!!!!"

More ridiculous crap that nobody needs.

Windsor Castle in the distance.

En route

The alarm (one of several, as I am a notoriously heavy sleeper capable of slumbering through shockingly loud noises) ripped me from my slumber at 2:03 A.M.. It seemed unfair that we would need to depart Cheyenne at 3 O'clock for an 11:15 flight, but I suppose the needs of the many our weigh the needs of the few. We loaded onto 4 big yellow school buses in front of the Plains, and the journey was underway!

The "hurry up and wait" mentality of large group travel was never more evident than our DIA experience, where we stood in a single file line OUTSIDE of the Delta ticketing area (at 5 AM) and advanced to the counter, one flight group at a time. As one of 3 staff members on flight group #8, this would be my home for a few hours.

After finally obtaining a boarding pass and conducting head check #3 for the day, it was on to the penetration chambers (some call it TSA) and a train ride to concourse C, where we would do more head counting, and more waiting. Luckily I have 2 adults in my group and I group of 4 inseparable high school classmates, so my head counts are significantly easier. After a healthy breakfast of yogurt, granola, fresh fruit, and a muffin at the Timberline Grill w/ Michele L., I was energized for more waiting and an uneventful flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul.

From the A.M.:

Minneapolis/St.Paul, long one of my favorite airports, even after being marooned there on my first trip with Wyoming Ambassadors of Music in 1998, did not disappoint on the "wow" factor. It still has a relaxed feel, great food, and concourses that feel much more like an upscale shopping mall than a factory for moving people from point A to point B, but they've also added something new since the last time I flew out of MSP over 5 years ago....

IPADS!!!!!!

The international terminal has added iPads at all of the tables and barstools free for anyone to use. I would estimate there were probably 500 in all. Not only does this provide weary travelers with a place to connect, unwind, and kill time, but they are all connected to credit card readers and food ordering software, so a person can literally sit on their ass, order food, pay for it, and go back to playing angry birds...all without a semblance of inertia-breaking forward momentum. 

A & A are mesmerized by the glowing display and have fallen under its spell.

Made it!

Several hours on an airplane, more hurrying up and waiting, and we are finally here. Many of the staff have been numerous times, but the students are awed.

Hopefully they'll keep that same sense of wonder.

Wheels touch down at Heathrow. 

Two thumbs up to NOT being crammed on a plane anymore.

What!?!? Those crazy Limeys are driving on the wrong side of the road.

Michele is less than amused by all the picture taking.

Bus coordinator Aric is a man with a mission. And a really ugly shirt. Oh wait...I have one of those too. Picture NOT forthcoming.

Cheyenne Day 2

Day 2 of rehearsals has come and gone. Another long day filled with "hurry up and wait" moments. Really impressed at what all the groups have done in just a short amount of time! This should be a great tour.

The choir gets down to a Celtic arrangement of "Amazing Grace."

The concert band, featuring a very talented Euphonium section, rehearses UW Professor David Brinkman's "Legend of the West."

"Legend of the West" in Performance!

Big travel day tomorrow. The bus departs Cheyenne at 3:00 AM!!! Time for bed.

Wyoming Ambassadors of Music: Rehearsal Day 1

The tour is now (almost) officially upon us, as our 5 performing groups have begun rehearsing in preparation for our departure on Saturday morning. Things are going well, with a few expected snags...but there are always snags when you're trying to coordinate something of this magnitude. This year, the Wyoming Ambassadors of Music will be presenting performances by the Concert Band, Orchestra, Choir, Jazz Band, and Swing Choir. The jazz band and swing choir actually started rehearsing yesterday, but I wasn't in town yet, so as far as I'm concerned it didn't actually happen. (If a saxophone is playing in the woods with nobody around, is it still out of tune?)

I'm not actually playing this time around, since I've been chosen to manage the percussion section. I'm not too broken up, though, because I've made this trip before, lugging a large saxophone halfway across the world. I'm actually somewhat excited at the prospect of actually being able to walk around with just a backpack and not have to worry about whether my expensive instrument is actually going to make it through rounds of baggage handlers in one piece. So far, we've done part re-assignment, sectionals, photocopying, and a mock-through of the teardown for the entire percussion section, which will be followed by another complete setup tomorrow morning. Necessary? Probably not. But I know that I'll feel better knowing that every person understands what is expected of them and what their roles are BEFORE we get to London. Being a performer is MUCH easier than being a teacher, but it's been good practice for me. 

Some highlights from Day 1. Naturally, I haven't obtained photo releases from the members of the group, so I have tried to feature only non-descriptive large group shots and photos of staff members. I've been involved in academia long enough that FERPA still rules my brain. 

The lobby of the Historic Plains Hotel in downtown Cheyenne. Legend goes that the hotel is  haunted by the ghosts of a young man who was tragically slain on his wedding night, along with his prostitute, and trigger-pulling wife. Funny how those last two generally don't get along very well. 

A cute little dog. Does it have anything to do with the trip? Not really.  I just like dogs. 

The choir, focusing intently. 

This year's choir features (at varying instance) guitar, banjo, fiddle, and HANDBELLS!

Choir director Pat Patton getting everything he can out of his ensemble. 

Christine Dunbar explains the nature of the universe to her young orchestra. That, or something actually related to the music. On second thought, it might be the latter. 

More orchestra. 

The band takes direction from Dr. Belser. 

Pictures can be deceiving. To the untrained eye, passion can be confused very easily for fury. Trust me...he's not angry. 

Tour director Gary Gasser gets his pulmonary workout for the day.



Well, that's it for the day. More pictures tomorrow (hopefully). Another long day ahead.