School, Again
 

Well, I'm going back to school.

Why, you ask? Because academia sucks, that's why.

No matter how much work I do, no matter how many albums or tours or whatever I play on, I will never be able to advance beyond my current rank as Assistant Professor unless I have the letters behind my name.

Rather than take the long, legitimate road (getting a doctorate of composition from USC, or somewhere similar) I'm taking the shortcut. I'm getting a Masters of Music in Commercial Music from a local state school, which basically means I show up, taking some classes that I could probably teach instead, play some jazz standards at a few recitals, and get my ink.

In the academic world, the phrase that matters is "Terminal Degree", meaning the highest degree available in a specific field. There's no such thing as a doctorate in commercial music, so in my field the MM will count just as much as a PhD would. Instead of 6 years of hard work, I'll be done in 16 months.

There is one thing I'm actually looking forward to. Professors never get to do anything like "student teaching", where you observe someone else's classroom and learn from their experience. Getting to be a student and watch how another prof teaches these concepts will be helpful, I think.

Anyway. I'm a pretty much "meh" about the whole thing. It will be nice to have the ink, and to move up the ranks. The higher you go in academia, the more you make and the less you have to actually do. At the very pinnacle are the guys making $120k/year and teaching one class. That's the goal!

16 months sounds like a very reasonable investment for the return. So you'll keep teaching where you are, attend classes at a different school in the offtime, and then magically get paid more at the job you already have? Or will you have to shop yourself around for a full professorship somewhere?

it's the other way around - if I don't have it, there's no way I can advance. If I do have it, my advancement is possible, but it's based on portfolio and work, not the degree itself. It's not an automatic thing.

Just a key that you can try to open a door with. Good luck SM.

How do you like teaching in higher edu? My department professors have been prodding me to get my master's in some historical field of study and go down that path.

With a master's degree, at best you'll be an academic serf teaching courses on an adjunct contract. If you're serious about wanting to do it, you need a PhD.

(In history and related fields, a master's is not considered a terminal degree as it is in smoothmoniker's situation.)

Oh, and read this.

I've read that essay a bunch of times, and love it every time.

Yes, my little corner of academia is an idyllic little world all its own. I love being in a field that is actually relevant, where we are judged by whether or not our graduates can actually make a living in their chosen profession. It's immanently practical.

When they decided to build a commercial music program, they decided to go out and hire people who were actually making a living in the industry. Part of my employment contract for my faculty position is that I still make records, still perform live, and they give me all the flexibility I need to make that happen. They want us teaching students how things actually work in the industry now, not how things worked 20 years ago when we left the studio world for a classroom.

However, when our little world has to interact with the rest of academia, it SUUUUUUUCKS. Academia is the last remaining vestige of the feudal system, with petty fiefdoms, serfs, power plays, a ruling elite, attendant vassals, an arcane system of ranking and privilege - it's bizarre. Those of us who still make a living in the real world just stare in wonder at how it all works.

This is one of those cases where we have to bow to whims of the larger University. I was hired on as a professor without even having a degree (well, I have a master's in philosophy, but that doesn't count for anything) based entirely on my portfolio, who I had played with, what I had played on. That was all that mattered.

But in order to advance in academic life, I have to go before a committee of other faculty members from other disciplines, and they are incapable of understanding anything other than peer-reviewed journal articles, publishing contracts, and conference presentations. I can sit in front of them and say, "I played keyboards on the nation-wide promos for 'The Amazing Race'" and they would stare blankly down at their checklist, with no clue which box to put that in.

But they understand the phrase "Terminal Degree". If I have that, then they know that it's ok to take me seriously.

Bah. It's all so petty, and endlessly political.

In my experience you get politics wherever you work, I think it's these annoying things called human beings which are to blame. If we got rid of them I'm sure the world would be a better place.

Don't forget to tell them it's OK to make you king, 'cause you've already got the palace and the queen.

Academia being what it is, I predict it won't last long... Back in the day if you were teaching (classical) music performance at the college level, a list of orchestra and recital gigs was just dandy, preferably with a master's degree. But even by the time I was finishing they were pressuring my teacher to get a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) if he wanted to stay on the faculty. IMO it's even more of a union card than a PhD. I expect when you're ready to hang it up and accept your gold watch, your younger colleagues will be muttering about how the #&*( did you get hired without a doctorate.

that must be why I like it - reminds me of my other life as a Princess.

Srsly, I agree with everything you've said up there. Academia is nuttier than circus peanuts and twice as evil. The shimmering patina of a grad. degree no longer holds any allure for me. Bloom off the rose and all that; I see NOW who these people really are: Martin Prince as Oberon. Do you realize that I have corresponded with a man who signs his "e-missives" to me with "more anon," ? I mean, ew.

The fact that it's taken me 6 years to figure out what a complete asshole this guy is - a self-serving snob, a dirty old man, taking me on, no doubt, due to his fucked up notion of noblesse oblige to the poor little middle class- makes me doubt myself in a very real way.

Bri,

If you didn't like me saying "more anon," I wish you would have just said so.

kthxbai

Umm....by 'these people' do you really mean 'that guy' ?

Just askin, 'cause it seems a shame to disregard the whole of academia and the value of a degree because of one rather sad cocksucker.

Exactly what is, "the value of a degree"?
Since you work so hard to get it, what exactly do you get in return?
The self satisfaction of having succeeded in impressing the people smoothmoniker described, enough to welcome you into the club?
The ability to get a higher paying job?

And what do the people that worked hard to put up the money for you to live and go to school. What do they get in return?

All depends on your perspective and goals I guess. The value of a degree to me, is in proving something to myself and opening a door to further study. Oh and gaining recogniton/acceptance from those who already stand where I want to be standing.