2023-2024 Transfer Program Audit Report FALL

PROGRAM QUALITY – TRANSFERABILITY: 
1. Discuss how your department determines that the courses offered are still viable and relevant? 

BBCC Music courses are modified to meet constant changes in music, which includes ever changing trends, artists, technologies and so on. The music faculty continually examines and analyzes music as it exists in contemporary and historical contexts. This informs instructional methods and content. In addition, the music faculty attends conferences, investigates current research, learns about technologies, and annually upgrades music gear to meet technological changes, which are all applied to music classes. 

Further, transferability is reviewed by looking at offerings at other Washington Community & Technical Colleges; plus, CWU, EWU, and WSU. This informs BBCC music offerings and adjustments that need to be made to courses. Additional courses in music technology and entrepreneurship would add to the breadth of music courses offered and modern forms of music making. BBCC Music courses fulfill humanities requirements, offer a variety of course types for students interested in music at various skill levels. 

If some of your courses are not transferring to universities as you expected, what information and/or assistance do you need to help you resolve these transfer issues? 

All currently offered music courses do transfer to CWU, EWU, and WSU. One suggestion would be to change the History of Rock & Roll to the History of Popular Music, which would betteralign with CWU and EWU designations. 

2. Does course curriculum satisfy DTA requirements? How do you know? What needs to change? 

Music courses meet DTA requirements and fulfill transfer requirements for students that complete the DTA. In addition, music courses fulfill Running Start Fine Arts requirements at MLHS, OHS, SLHS, EHS, RHS, QHS, and other schools. In addition, Jazz History, Rock History, & World Music fulfill BBCC diversity requirements. 

3. Please construct a table to show all courses offered by your department and how they transfer to CWU, EWU, and WSU. Identify any courses that do not transfer or transfer as general electives.

*Includes all active music courses. 

ADVISING RESOURCES:
1. Please review your department catalog and website information. Is the information current and accurate? What changes need to be made or would you like to make to better assist students? Submit catalog changes with this report. If you need to make changes to the bigbend.edu website, you will need to submit a work order in the Kace system (where BBT and Advising Map work orders are submitted) in the Communications area to arrange for website changes.

The music website looks good and is up to date, but does not include industry connections (this may not be needed based on current offerings). However, as the music department adds music entrepreneurship, recording, and technology courses, this will be more relevant. 

2. Has your department developed advising resources/maps to assist students majoring in your discipline or in a related field? Please describe these advising resources/maps. Have you considered developing transfer resources (such as four-year advising maps) for students intending to transfer to CWU, EWU, or WSU and major in your discipline or in a related field? How could BBCC assist you in developing these resources?

No. BBCC music follows and is part of the DTA map. In addition, there is no music major degree offered at BBCC; so, advising maps specific to music are not needed. Students that plan on majoring in music are advised to take specific courses, which will best transfer as a music major. In addition, there are music courses in the catalog that need to be retired. 

SCHEDULING:
Please review your course offerings and enrollments over the last three years as well as the FTE information for your department.

3. Discuss how the scheduling for your courses has been evaluated. Describe how scheduling has been altered or maintained to meet the needs of other programs or populations of students.

The music course schedule is determined prior to each quarter in collaboration with the dean to ensure optimal times. Ensembles and instrumental courses are offered later in the day to avoid peak course times, work hours, and other potential conflicts to make courses available to more students. This includes MUSC 115/116 (Group Piano), MUSC 134 (Group Guitar), and MUSC 260 Percussion Ensemble. Likewise, musicology courses (Music Appreciation, History of Jazz, History of Rock & Roll, and World Music) are typically offered during peak times to best accommodate students’ needs. 

4. Has this program considered providing other options for offering the program content; such as, online, hybrid, nights, competency-based, weekends, etc? Discuss. 
a. If yes, what is being considered and why? 
b. If no, is this something that should be considered and why/why not? 

BBCC Music courses are offered in a variety of formats, to include: Online, hybrid, and face-to-face.

5. Discuss future plans for annual scheduling based on this audit review. Please share how annual scheduling will need to change to meet future student needs as well as any department needs you have identified with respect to instruction.

Overall, music courses are offered in multiple formats (hybrid, online, & face-to-face). This variety of options for students works well. As a side, the hybrid format seems to provide a good option for students that want to meet on campus, but need a little more flexibility. 

TRANSFER PARTNERSHIPS:

6. Provide information about how this department is involved in building and/or maintaining specific partnerships/relationships with one or more of our three transfer institutions (WSU, CWU, EWU). List and identify the partners/transfer institutions, describe the relationships that have been established, and what is planned for the future to establish better connections with our transfer institutions.

Full-time BBCC music faculty has established connections with music faculty at CWU, ESU, and WSU. This includes an established line of communication with specific instructors in each institution's music department to collaborate on musical endeavors, answer BBCC specific questions, and maintain a solid relationship. Likewise, this allows BBCC music instructors to stay current with changes. 

For the future, articulation agreements in specified areas of music that go beyond the DTA, such as applied courses or music technology courses, would be good to consider. 

CAREER GUIDANCE:
7. How does your department provide career counseling with information on employment trends, wages, and opportunities to assist students plan their education? What resources do you need to assist you in providing career counseling information to your students and advisees?

This is done on an individual basis in an advising session and informally when students come to the BBCC music office to ask about a career in music. Since the full-time BBCC Music Faculty is an active professional musician, there is a good amount of guidance that can be provided. Further, the fulltime BBCC music faculty has worked in a variety of areas in the music industry to include: Musicperformance, music education, music publishing, music composition, and music administration. In addition, BBCC Music has connections with area musicians and universities to guide and direct students interested in pursuing the study and a career in music. Time at music industry conferences, such as NAMM, might be a good resource to provide current information and changing trends in the music industry. 

PROGRAM QUALITY – INSTRUCTION: 
1. Select all methods that are used by your department to integrate the academic knowledge and skills of your students and ensure that they are taught with the same coherence and rigor as all other students. 
Please provide short descriptions of each selection.

Interactive musical activities to understand theoretical, practical, historical, cultural, and other elements. 

PROGRAM QUALITY – STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA: 
Please use the student achievement data provided to discuss and review how successful students are within your classes. Please use the Overall Success Rates and Course Success Compare tabs in the About BBCC Tableau workbook to gather the data for the courses in your department. These workbooks can be found on the Institutional Research & Planning page in the Portal.

2. Are there certain classes with student success rates below 75%? Within your courses, what achievement gaps do you observe within underrepresented groups taking your courses? Which of these gaps are you focusing your efforts on and what are your next steps? How does this student achievement data intersect with your assessment efforts?

• The only student success rate below 75% were in MUSC& 105 in Spring of 2020-2021, However, subsequent quarters showed a rise in student success, which were over 77%. Interestingly, Spring quarter success rates tend to be between 4% and 12% lower than Fall and Winter quarters.
• Regarding achievement gabs with historically underrepresented groups (HUG), student achievement tends to be lower in the Spring quarter, but it is above thr 75% threshold with the exceptional of Spring 20-21, which showed HUG achievement rates at 67% and A&W (Asian & White) students at 71%. However, both groups were 77% or higher in all subsequent quarters.
• The gap that the music department is focusing on is improvement of student success rates in Spring quarters; hopefully, this can be raised to the level other quarters among all groups.
• Of course, there has been a rise in student achievement each subsequent spring, but it has still not reached the success rates of the Fall and Winter, but these numbers are going up.

3. Please describe what you are doing as a department to increase student success, especially within courses that exhibit low success rates or that indicate achievement gaps exist for some student groups? How are you closing the loop to see if your efforts have made improvement or not? What further steps do you plan to pursue?

The stage will be to look at and event survey students to determine what might be causing this shift in student success rates during the spring quarter. To close this loop, BBCC Music is looking at student attendance, focusing more on course objectives (prioritizing this point), building class/college connections (ensuring students feel like they are essential to the course), and relevance (putting more emphasis on pertinent music). For example, as an HSI some additional music, discussions, projects and lectures have been added, such as the topics/music listed below.

• • Rock History & HSI: Chicano Rock
  • World Music: Beyond Mariachi
  • Guitar: Latin Pop & Traditional Spanish Music

4. Are there additional insights you have observed when looking at student grade data within courses? Please highlight one or more of these observations.

The most interesting point was the drop in student success in the spring, as this will certainly be an area of focus for BBCC Music courses. 

PROGRAM QUALITY – ASSESSMENT PLAN: 
5. Please review your department’s 7-Year Plan and Course Crosswalk for accuracy and completion. Does the course crosswalk accurately reflect the courses offered by your department? Are all courses offered being assessed once within a seven-year span and are all program outcomes included within your department’s courses assessed at least once during the plan. Update your plan to include seven years moving forward from this year. Submit your updated plan along with the Winter Quarter Program Audit Report.

For the most part, yes. However, there are a few courses that are no longer being offered, such as MUSC 100, which need to be removed from the list and the course catalog.

LAB FEES:
6. Does your department maintain a lab fee account? 
a. If yes, please answer the remaining questions regarding lab budgets. 
b. If no, please skip the remaining questions regarding lab budgets.

Yes and no, as some music classes require a lab fee. 

7. Is the lab account balance adequate to cover consumable expenses? 
a. If no, have fees been reviewed? Why/why not? What is needed to ensure consumables are covered. 

Discuss. (Should this discussion be used to request a fee increase?) If yes, do fees need to be reduced? 
Discuss.

Overall, yes the lab fees cover the costs. However, one course with lab fees does not fully cover all costs,but to keep this fee reasonable, the students fundraise to offset the costs. Other music course fees,such as guitar and piano do cover needed costs. 

8. Is the lab account balance adequate for purchasing needed equipment/technology updates? 

a. If no, do fees need to be increased to help support these? What is needed and what will it cost? How much do the fees need to increase? Discuss. (Should this discussion be used to request a fee increase?)
b. If yes, what will be purchased and when? 
Yes and these needs are typically purchased during the Fall Quarter for immediate needs. Likewise, some items are purchased at end of the Spring quarter in preparation for the following year. BBCC Music keeps some of these supplies on hand for students, as it can take time to get these items. 

TECHNOLOGY:
9. Does your department have the technology available that is needed within courses to prepare students for transfer? Discuss.

For the most part, yes. But there are some shortcomings, which would help improve the quality of students' experiences and current trends in music. 

10. Review your current equipment/technology inventory. Are there equipment/technology purchases that you think that you may need within the next three years. Please discuss equipment/technology where replacement/update is needed or where technology/equipment is obsolete. Have you planned for these purchases within your lab fee account, if you have one? How do you plan to budget for these purchases? 

Audio and visual for classes could use an upgrade, which would include the projector and sound equipment in the large music classroom. In addition, many of our keyboards (synthesizer and electricpiano) are outdated. They still function, but all are at least 20 years old with the oldest being from the 1980s (this one is kind of cool and we should keep it). Likewise, this equipment will begin to stop working or need serious repair in the next year or two. 

In addition, updated sound equipment for specific instruments is needed, such as a more current bass amp (our current primary bass is from the 1970s), guitar amp (current guitar amp lacks effects),synthesizer, and othe essential sound equipment, which would be used in all music courses. 

INTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS: 
11. Provide information about how your department is involved in building and/or maintaining specific internal partnerships/relationships. Briefly describe the partnerships you have been working to develop and what the outcome(s) of those partnerships has been. What are you considering or planning to do in the future?

To function, BBCC music has a number of essential internal partnerships, which include the following (there are more): 

• Art Department Collaboration (painting and design of 50 X 70-foot tarp for BBCC Percussion). This was a collaboration with BBCC Art Instructor Mr. Dustin Regal, BBCC Music instructor Dr. John Owens, music students, and art students.
• BBCC Athletics: Performances at 4 BBCC Men’s & Women’s Basketball games; plus, coordinated gym use.
• BBCC Foundation: Work with foundation to house and raise funds related to music activities.
• BBCC Library: Collaborations with library staff for music class projects and use of equipment.
• Maintenance & Operations: Continually work with M&O for supplemental materials and projects related to music performance.
• Event & Conference Services: Work closely with event staff regarding facilities use and audio/visual needs.
• Advising & New Student Enrollment Sessions: Prove musical “Ice Breaker” activities to kick of multiple NSE sessions.

2023-2024 Transfer Program Audit Report SPRING

PROGRAM QUALITY – ASSESSMENT: 
We are required by our accrediting body, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), to document our assessment of student learning activities. Specifically, we are expected to assess student learning in our programs, to design and implement changes in our teaching intended to improve student learning, and to use further assessment of student learning to measure the impact of those changes on student learning.

Please review the assessment work you did over each of the past three years and then respond to these questions.
1. Based on your prior assessments, what were the issues (problems) that you were trying to address in an effort to improve student learning?

In music courses, assessments focused on students’ ability to recognize and perform a variety of musical styles, such as blues, popular music, folk melodies, classical, and jazz. This is a core component of musicology and performance-based classes. In addition, music assessments looked at students’ ability 
analyze, discuss, and defend the connections between music and cultural, social, historical and political elements, as it related to music discussed in class and their own music/musical experiences. 

2. What changes did you make in your instruction and/or program to address the problems identified in the question above?

Students improved their understanding, ability to demonstrate musical concepts, and defend their position related to musical elements. However, the ability to refer to or recall key sources to support these claims needed to be strengthened. In response, guiding questions were added to courses, which focused on a select complicated questions that were discussed. These complicated questions challenge students to dig deeper into the content, strengthen relevance, and defend their assertions. Further, interactive musical activities were added to increase students’ understanding of musical elements (form, scales, context, etc.). 

3. After implementing your changes, what impact did the changes have on student learning? How do you know/What did the data tell you?

Once changes were made, students did improve their understanding. Specifically, complicated questions related to key concepts allowed students to better demonstrate their understanding, provide more depth, and connect course concepts to their own music. Likewise, interactive musical activities provided experiences that enhanced student understanding of music concepts by making music (especially in musicology courses)

4. What are the implications for your academic program or department? (What are your next steps now?/What will you do to close the loop?)

The largest implications are to ensure that musicology courses integrate interactive musical activities and complicated questions into student experiences in face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses. 

 

PROGRAM QUALITY – OUTCOMES: 
5. Did your department invest in technology or equipment used to improve content delivery or student performance? If so, please describe the purchase and the impact it has had on content and/or student performance.

Yes, BBCC music department added instruments for guitar, piano, and percussion courses. In addition, this equipment is used in musicology courses (Music Appreciation, History of Jazz, History of Rock & Roll, and World Music). These have been integrated into all music courses, which adds to BBCC students’ musical experiences and understanding. Specifically, classical guitars, synthesizer, up-to-date percussion, and other instruments have been purchased to improve students’ musical experiences at the college. 

6. Please provide examples of any innovative projects, initiatives, or state-of-the-art equipment undertaken in the last year. Please describe and include links to any social media posts and/or press/media coverage, if applicable.

Percussion equipment is used by BBCC Percussion and musicology courses (Music Appreciation, History of Jazz, History of Rock & Roll, and World Music). Some links of this equipment in use are available on the zBBCC YouTube page, which the percussion ensemble regularly contributes to: 

My Drum (2024): 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4d1ZjHkdSg&list=PLyZwN9avhwaVUXPqRGdHH7dvoAyO1Jmuo&ind
ex=4

Sugar: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4d1ZjHkdSg&list=PLyZwN9avhwaVUXPqRGdHH7dvoAyO1Jmuo&ind
ex=4
 
Heavy Metal Space Odyssey: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeuwX6QmutU&list=PLyZwN9avhwaVUXPqRGdHH7dvoAyO1Jmuo&i
ndex=3
 
In addition, music students provide Mini Music Demos, which show mastery of musical skills in BBCC’s online music classes. Links to these projects are not available, as they are housed in Canvas and part of the students' grades. 

Further, here are links to some social media posts that focus on technology and performance, which all use the aforementioned music gear. 

Guitar (using new C3M Cordoba Guitar): https://www.facebook.com/bbccmusic/videos/420044057508707
BBCC Guitar Ad: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=880736924070647&set=a.454388926705451 
BBCC Guitar Ad: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=857180566426283&set=a.454388926705451 
BBCC Drum Fest Ad: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=825318216279185&set=a.454388926705451
Show Tarp: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=810898957721111&set=a.454388936705450 
Extreme Drum Camp: 
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=691655439645464&set=a.454388926705451 
Kids Music Camp (BBCC Students Teach): 
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=507438154733861&set=a.454388926705451 

7. What was the most successful or noteworthy development with respect to program quality and/or program improvement this year?

Regarding music ensembles, the percussion ensemble grew and is playing more complex music, was recognized at WGI Regional Champion, played at BBCC Basketball Games, Community Events, hosted drum camps, toured local schools, and had a very successful all day drum festival (workshops, performances, and the Mega Drumline). 

The BBCC Guitar ensemble has also increased in size and was featured at their own concert at Mason’s 
Place. Further, they are playing more intricate music in the classical, Spanish, rock/pop, and blues styles. 

8. What were the most significant challenges (e.g. funding, enrollment, performance, staff retention or turnover, equity, etc.) encountered in the last year? How could BBCC assist in addressing these challenges?

A good deal of BBCC music equipment is out of date, inadequate, or missing. In response, the music department has been requesting select equipment each year to update gear and respond to ensemble growth. The continued support of these music purchases will allow the program to continue growing and moderninze the music department. 

FACULTY/STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
9. Please provide brief descriptions and dates of professional development in which you and members of your department have participated in the last year. 

This year BBCC Music Instructor Dr. John Owens went to the Percussive Arts Society International Conference from November 8-11, 2023. 

New College in High School music instructor Kylie Youngren participated in interactive music course training in April 2024. 

10. What was the most successful or noteworthy development with respect to faculty/staff retention and professional development this year?

In depth world music workshops at the Percussive Arts Society International Conference were applied into courses, which was most useful in the History of Jazz, World Music, Music Appreciation, and Percussion Ensemble. 

11. Select the methods employed to provide professional development opportunities for faculty/staff. Provide a brief description of each selection. 

K-12 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS:
12. Does your department provide opportunity for College in the High School or CTE Dual Credit with area high schools? 
a. If yes, list the classes and the schools: Yes, Music Appreciation
b. If yes, could these offerings be expanded? How? Music appreciation seems like the best option for CiHS and music. 
c. If no, is this an area that can be developed? How?

13. Provide information about how your department is involved in building and/or maintaining specific external partnerships/relationships with K-12 schools and the communities in our service district. What K-12 partners are you working with and what communities are you working in? What was the most 
successful or noteworthy development with respect to high school partnerships? What are you considering or planning to do in the future?

BBCC Music has strong relationships with Moses Lake High School, Quincy High School, Ephrata High School, Othello High School, and Moses Lake Christian Academy. These relationships are fostered through visits, tours, clinics, and workshops with music programs. The most successful partnerships are from frequently visited schools, events at BBCC (such as our Drum Fest), and tours featuring BBCC’s music program. 

14. Please describe any outreach events you have participated in as a department. What plans do you have in the future to participate in outreach events with our service district communities?

See number 13; plus, BBCC Music instructor Dr. John Owens and sometimes BBCC music students also participate in high school outreach activities at BBCC, such as open houses and new student enrollment sessions. 

PROGRAM AUDIT SUMMARY REFLECTION/GOALS:
15. What are some key things you have learned about your program/department as you completed the program audit?

One of the challenges of music is that it is constantly changing; yet it is rooted in tradition. The blend requires music teaching, learning, and concepts to focus on established foundations, but constantly changing because of technological, social, and cultural changes. This requires music instruction, equipment, topics, and modes of instruction to be constantly updated. This is one of the most exciting parts of teaching music. 

In response, there has been a great amount of effort in updating musical equiptment, which needs to continue to improve musical experiences for BBCC students. Likewise, teaching methods and musical topics need to be interactive, engaging, contemplative, and relevant. This requires BBCC music instructors to continually adapt and be willing to learn and integrate these changes into music instruction. BBCC music has been increasing its footprint and presence in the community while maintaining academic and musical rigor and quality in both music performance and musicology courses. 

16. What are the primary actions you have taken over the past three years to improve student outcomes in your program/department? Why were you focusing on these things? How do you know you are making progress?

The most important actions include interactive music lectures, complicated questions, and quality of music courses and ensembles, which includes an increase presence of the music department in Grant County. 

17. What goals do you want to accomplish over the next three years to improve your program/department?

Further increase music departments presence in the community. Improve the quality, equipment, and ensembles in the BBCC guitar program.