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ADA – East Central University’s Department of Music received confirmation of Music Program Accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), it was recently announced.

The accreditation is for 10 years and places all music programs in all degree plans in good standing with the accrediting agency.

“Accreditation can be a very arduous process, but necessary in order to portray program strengths as well as weaknesses that may need attention. All music faculty members participated in the accreditation process and did a fantastic job,” said Dr. Mark Hollingsworth, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and former Music Department Chair.

New standards were addressed in the accreditation process and ECU was and has been prepared to tackle the challenges.

“One of the new accreditation standards that needed to be addressed this time was how we inform our students and faculty on health and wellness issues, pertaining to music, such as auditory health, vocal health and muscular/skeletal health,” Hollingsworth said. “We developed a link on the ECU website to take people to several informative sites concerning this issue and faculty introduced new topics of health and wellness into their music classes.”

The ECU Music Program has been accredited by NASM since 1996. Founded in 1924, NASM is a national organization of schools, conservatories, colleges and universities containing music programs with approximately 647 accredited institutional members. It establishes national standards for undergraduate and graduate degrees in music.

The process of the recent accreditation, which began in 2012, involved an extensive self-study, a site visit and several responses to action by the NASM Commission on Accreditation.

“In the final letter to ECU, NASM commended the institution for its comprehensive responses and extraordinary efforts clearly evident in its application,” said Hollingsworth.

-ECU-

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