December 7, 2007 - President Rozanski Announces the Establishment of the Westminster College of the Arts
To the Rider University community,
I am pleased to announce the establishment of a new college – the Westminster College of the Arts – integrating and extending Rider’s commitment to the fine and performing arts on its Lawrenceville and Princeton campuses. In development over the last two years, the new college reflects the guidance and contributions of many faculty, staff, administrators, students, Trustees and alumni.
The Westminster College of the Arts is composed of two divisions: Westminster Choir College and the School of Fine and Performing Arts, the latter building on the existing Department of Fine Arts. Westminster Choir College will continue to offer the programs historically associated with the Choir College: Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in sacred music, music education, theory/composition, voice, piano, and organ. It will also continue to offer a Master of Music degree in choral conducting, as well as Master of Music Education and Master of Voice Pedagogy degrees.
Located on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus, the School of Fine and Performing Arts currently offers a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts with tracks in dance, music, theater and art. Beginning in the 2008-2009 academic year, the School will offer a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Music in Music Theater. A Bachelor of Arts in Arts Administration is also being planned for fall 2008. New students accepted into these programs will live and study on the Lawrenceville campus. Students currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Music and the Bachelor of Music in Music Theater programs on the Westminster campus will continue their studies in Princeton.
A five-year program offering Bachelor of Music in Music Education and a Master of Arts in Teaching degrees includes study in both of the new College’s divisions. Plans are under way to offer additional degrees in arts therapy, acting, visual arts and music production over the next five years through the School of Fine and Performing Arts on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus. Plans are also being developed for facilities enhancements to support arts programming on both campuses. They are being carefully designed as part of the University's campus master planning process and will be funded through support from alumni, friends and regional art patrons. Similar planning for transportation between the campuses is in progress.
Establishing the Westminster College of the Arts allows us to extend the benefits offered by Westminster Choir College’s merger with Rider in 1992. It integrates Westminster’s highly regarded music programs in Princeton with our distinguished fine arts programs in Lawrenceville in dance, music, theater and art. The College will strengthen Westminster’s historic mission of preparing talented music students for careers as music leaders and nurture and challenge the artist within all students, preparing them to contribute more fully to an ever-changing global society.
Robert L. Annis, dean and director of Westminster Choir College, will also serve as dean of Westminster College of the Arts. Patrick Chmel, chair of Rider’s fine arts department, has been appointed associate dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts and Marshall Onofrio continues as associate dean of Westminster Choir College.
Provost Donald Steven, Dean Annis and I remain deeply committed to carrying on the legacy and founding principles that have been at the heart of Westminster for 80 years. The new Westminster College of the Arts creates a future that both maintains these important values while extending them to students throughout the University, offering them broader options as they pursue their educational goals. The new college is firmly grounded in a continued commitment to the standard of excellence that is the hallmark of the Westminster and Lawrenceville programs.
Sincerely,
Mordechai Rozanski
President
