The issue was referred to the committee by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at its Oct. 1 meeting after receiving a request for counsel on the issue from Provost Thomas E. Headrick. Headrick told FSEC members that while he was "very strongly inclined" to endorse the proposal from the department to "plan the future of the department" without music education as part of the curriculum, he wanted advice from the FSEC before making a final decision.

The music department recently voted 15-2, with three abstentions and two faculty members not voting, to no longer offer a bachelor's-degree program in music education. Undergraduates who want to pursue careers as music teachers would have to earn a bachelor of arts degree in music and be certified in music education through the Graduate School of Education. (See related story below).

The issue of music education has been a divisive one within the department, Headrick and several senators said, with music educators from outside the university weighing in on the issue, many through opinion pieces published in The Buffalo News.

FSEC members split 10-6 on whether to refer the issue to the Academic Planning Committee and what specific charge, if any, to give to the committee. Some senators felt that there clearly had been "full and complete consultation" among the department faculty and between the faculty and the dean on the matter and there was no need for the senate to get involved. Others felt that it was important for the senate to ensure that proper procedures had been followed, especially when such a decision could have a broader impact on the university than just at the departmental level.

"I think we owe it to the faculty to be sure that there has been adequate consultation and that they, in turn, can articulate that to the university community. That is an important part of the process," said Faculty Senate Chair Peter Nickerson, professor of pathology.

Jack Meacham, professor of psychology, noted that it would be difficult for the senate to review every proposal for reorganization within the university at the "disciplinary or content level," adding that he trusts those types of decisions are best made within departments. But it is appropriate, he said, for the senate to consider whether the way in which such decisions are made within departments are "fair with respect to our colleagues, our students and with respect to process."

Meacham said the Academic Planning Committee should focus its discussion on the process of how the decision was made, and not get into "trying to micro-manage" the affairs of the music department.

Herbert Schuel, professor of anatomical sciences, said he thought the committee should address both the process and substance of the decision. "A major concern to me is if the music education program is terminated in the music department, that its function be set up in a meaningful way elsewhere (in the university)Š," he said.

Thomas Schroeder, associate professor of learning and instruction, said there must be a mechanism for the committee to go beyond "merely whether the right votes were taken at the right time." It is not a question of micro-managing the department, he stressed, but rather of whether opportunity will be provided somewhere in the university for students who want to become music teachers.

Martha Hyde, associate professor of music, said she believed that due process was followed in the department's decision, but asked that if the matter was referred to the Academic Planning Committee that the panel be given a time limit on deliberations. "The destruction is going on with all aspects of this debateŠand there's more distortions and more community involvement; it can be very hard to work in that department," she said.

President William R. Greiner agreed that swift action was needed from the senate. The group "is on the verge of really getting intoŠissues that colleagues of ours have worked on for a long, long time; very divisive, very difficult (issues). For the senate to string this out without probable causeŠI think simply is unconscionable."

The senate's role is to advise, Greiner added. "Here we have a department and a dean and a faculty that worked very hard on a planning effort and I think there ought to be a presumption of regularity hereŠ," he said.

The issue was referred by resolution to the Academic Planning Committee without a specific charge from the FSEC, but setting a Nov. 1 deadline for a report.