Performance Juries & Final Exams

PERFORMANCE JURIES
The performance jury is the equivalent of a final exam for a student's applied area of study each semester. Juries in the major applied areas, required of music majors and minors, are held during Final Exam week. Scheduling is done by individual sign-up.

All applied music students must take a jury examination at the end of each semester. Students may be exempted from jury examinations only if they have performed a recital in fulfillment of degree requirements.

Approximately 10 days prior to exams, sign-up sheets are posted on the appropriate applied faculty doors (usually the head of the area, such as brass, woodwinds, voice, etc.). Specific content and length of each student’s jury is determined by the applied area. A panel of area faculty members serves as the evaluating group; each member registers a grade for the performance and the results are averaged together. The final jury grade is weighed as one third of the current semester’s final applied studio grade.

Failure to meet expected standards in a jury can result in probationary status for one semester at the end of which significant improvement must be demonstrated. If standards are not sufficiently met, dismissal from the applied area and reduction or elimination of scholarship support are considered by the appropriate area faculty member.

(Also see UPPER DIVISION ADMISSION REQUIREMENT)

FINAL EXAMINATIONS

Final examinations for all courses in the Glenn Korff School of Music follow the scheduling of exams listed in the current semester’s University of Nebraska-Lincoln Schedule of Classes. By action of the UNL Faculty Senate, “ Final Examinations for full semester classes are to be given only at the regularly scheduled time as published in the official Schedule of Classes or at another time during finals week, mutually agreeable to all concerned.” Students should be wary of capriciously succumbing to peer pressure if asked to vote for a change. Altering an exam time can result in the student being deprived of adequate study and preparation time. Take care to avoid inadvertently voting yourself into a scheduling predicament. This is particularly the case if the exam is moved into Fifteenth Week (the last week of classes). The only examinations that may be given during Dead Week are laboratory practical exams, make-up or repeat exams, and self-paced exams.

Check the final exam schedule early in the semester (before the eighth week of classes). In the event a student is scheduled (as published in the official Schedule of Classes) to take three or more final examinations in a single day, the student should refer to: FINAL EXAMINATIONS POLICY in the current Schedule of Classes.

UPPER DIVISION ADMISSION REQUIREMENT

Requirements for Continuing Study Toward a Music Degree

Music majors are required to demonstrate adequate skills in applied music, before continuing toward completion of a BM, BME or BA degree in music. The following prerequisites are in place to secure this requirement.

Applied Music - UPPER DIVISIONAL QUALIFYING JURY

Music majors must pass the Upper Divisional Qualifying Jury to be admitted into 300-level applied music. The UDQJ is usually taken in the fourth semester of applied study.

Part I - Basic Skills
Faculty evaluate the student’s minimal capabilities, including the ability to sight read and perform scales and arpeggios, to determine if the student may continue as a music major.

Part II - Musicianship
Faculty evaluate the student’s performance to determine if the student may continue as a music major.

 

Evaluation

The UDQJ is judged PASS/NO PASS, with Pass meaning that the student’s basic musical skills and musicianship are judged to be at least minimal for his/her instrument. The jury members in each area use a “general consensus” approach in determining the Pass/No Pass. A no-pass on the UDQJ indicates an interpretation by the faculty that the student has not completed the minimum requirements for the UDQJ resulting in a formal grade of INCOMPLETE. The student has two additional juries to remove the incomplete by passing the UDQJ. Following a pass, the student is permitted to register for 300-level applied music. If the student does not pass, the one-year time limit on the incomplete will expire, and the grade to reverts to a D or an F. The student may continue to register for applied study at the 200-level (maximum of two semesters) until the incomplete is removed. If the student passes the re-take before the beginning of the 2nd week of classes, he/she is permitted to register for 300-level applied music for that semester. (Note: A re-examination is scheduled only during the first week of classes following a semester in which the UDQJ was failed or during regularly scheduled jury times at the end of a semester.)

The status of music major is provisional pending a satisfactory completion of the UDQJ. The result of the UDQJ is validated on the UDQJ form with faculty signatures and filed in the Music Office.


Additional BME Requirements: Admission to Music Teacher Education Program
Admission to the Music Teacher Education Program is a prerequisite for a music education major to enroll in any 300 or 400 level music education courses. Admission is competitive and enrollment is limited. Admission requires meeting all of the following criteria:

  1. Completion of at least 42 credit hours with a minimum 2.5 GPA.
  2. Completion of MUED 201 and MUED 244 with a minimum grade of  C and MUED 297 with a Pass.
  3. Documentation of proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics through successful completion of a basic skills examination that meets the Nebraska Department of Education competency requirement.
  4. Completion of all 100-level Applied Music required by the BME degree.
  5. Completion of MUSC 266, MUSC 266A, and MUAP 232 (or piano proficiency).
  6. Completion of a personal and professional fitness self-disclosure form and formal criminal history background check (fee required). (Undertaken during MUED 201 and MUED 297.)
  7. Successful completion of a screening interview and digital portfolio review with music education faculty. (Undertaken during MUED 244.)