‘i thought it meant something different’: Music students issue apology after supporting performance-based funding

Lenny Frankel, staff

The Faculty of Music Students’ Organization (FMSO) is issuing a formal apology following its vocal support of performance-based funding.

“I thought it meant something different,” said organization senior stick and fourth-year oboist Howard Foley. “It’s just sort of a difficult concept to understand.”

“We’ve got the performance programs here at the faculty, and we just figured that performance-based funding meant that we’d get funding on a per-performance basis. It seemed like a pretty decent situation,” he said.

The association took to Instagram to voice its support of the funding system.

“We at FMSO know that the issue of performance-based funding has been a contentious debate for many at the university, but we wanted to make clear that we’re in favour of it,” the statement read.

“From all of us at the faculty, we encourage you to come to our recitals and performances, and we’re grateful that any disciplines in our faculty will receive more funding from the government.”

Shawn Carver, a thirdyear student who specializes in voice, but is not in performance, responded in the comments.

“What about the rest of us?” he asked. “Performance isn’t the only concentration, even though they may think it is.”

Before answering any questions, Carver made clear that, yes, he is a tenor. He then said that he had never heard of the funding system before the association’s post, and did not check to see whether the executives had a proper understanding of it. He was under the impression that FMSO “knew what they were talking about.” ernment is toying with, which, if implemented, would allow the province to disburse funding to institutions based on metrics like graduation rates and labour market demands.

Now that he gets it, Foley is concerned about whether or not the faculty of music will stay afloat if performance-based funding is implemented.

“Our degrees aren’t exactly employable,” he said. “But we have fun, and that’s what counts.”

<img src=”hoome/wp-uploads/photos/2033/01/01/ student-1205828932893427.jpt” alt=”students standing in front of university building holding instruments following funding concert performance last month”> stress.

After discovering what performance-based funding is, Shaffer is considering switching to the faculty of engineering, even though she’s “never taken a math class in her life.”

“Silly me, I guess,” he said. Foley said he “just [doesn’t] really read the Ivory Buffalo or any news, for that matter.” Therefore, he was not informed of the fact that performance-based funding is a post-secondary funding system that the provincial gov-

Other faculty of music students have since reported that “Howard Foley is lying” about the idea that music students have fun.

“I think I could do it,” she said. “I’m built different.”

Second-year music education major Summer Shaffer said that, even though this is her first year in her declared major, her hair is going grey from the ivorybuffalo@themanitoban.com