The Oberlin Review
<< Front page News October 1, 2004

Con hires new dean

The Conservatory will appoint Andrea Kalyn of the North Carolina School for the Arts as a new associate dean effective January. She will fill the position vacated by David Stull when he was appointed Conservatory dean last year. Professor Steven Plank has been serving as acting associate dean during the search.

Stull promoted Kalyn as the perfect person for the job because of her strong background as a teacher, scholar and administrator.

“In my current position at the North Carolina School of the Arts, I teach music history and am also the assistant dean of undergraduate and high school programs,” Kalyn said. “I deal with curriculum, accreditation and student issues, so the Oberlin position expands upon those responsibilities and experiences.”

Kalyn has spent significant time in the classroom and feels that this contact with students and faculty provide the basis for much of her administrative work.

She admits it was hard to decide to leave teaching full-time, but believes administration is the area where she can “contribute most significantly to the cause of educating young musicians and furthering the place of art in the world.”

Kalyn also believes that Oberlin represents artistic and educational excellence and the opportunity to work in support of that, with a team of faculty and staff clearly dedicated to maintaining those standards of excellence, was something she had to pursue.

“The Conservatory is a special place,” Kalyn said. “I was impressed by the sense of community, both on campus and in the town. With an international reputation for fostering creativity and excellence, everyone from the students to the dean demonstrates an obvious energy and passion for music.”

Stull feels that her work at the NCSA has been outstanding and he is quite sure her prodigious skills will be of great assistance to Oberlin in the coming years.

Kalyn will assist the dean with faculty matters and the curriculum, including responsibility for the accreditation process, the catalog, honors and awards, the concerto competition and the Young Artists Program. She will also serve as chair of the Conservatory Educational Policy Committee and the Division Directors, among a host of other responsibilities.
 
 

   

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