Band Instrument Repair student Mike Poulin repairs a clarinet as part of his mock bench test with advisory committee member Bernadette Gonzalez, a Southeast Technical graduate working at Melk Music in Milwaukee. Click the image above to view more photos on Southeast Technical's Facebook page.
“As someone who just finished an undergraduate degree,” reflects Mike Poulin, a student in Southeast Technical’s Band Instrument Repair program, “I wish more schools were like this—not just lectures in the profession, but one-on-one work as well.”
Along with 11 other Band Instrument Repair students, Mike recently participated in a workshop day with the academic program’s advisory committee members. Annually, Band Instrument Repair instructors ask the advisory committee to directly assess students’ skills through mock bench tests. Students are each given a specific set of repair tasks to perform without instructor advice or assistance. An advisory committee member then evaluates the student’s process, tool use and end product via a grading rubric which rates the student’s performance relative to current craft expectations.
“It was nice to get feedback from current techs out in the field who have been doing this kind of work for many years,” Mike adds. “It prepared me for a real-life bench test, which I had last week. Going into an unfamiliar shop and bench-testing was a lot more comfortable because I had practice at school with a current professional.”
Stacy Marshall, a fellow Band Instrument Repair student, agrees that working with the advisory committee is good preparation for life after Southeast Technical. “Since I'm now in job search mode, the mock bench test was good practice for bench tests during interviews.”
Academic program advisory committees are one example of what makes a Southeast Technical education relevant and responsive to workforce needs. Aside from college faculty and staff, advisory committee members may include Southeast Technical alumni who excel in their field and area employers who have a strong interest in hiring skilled graduates. Together, these groups ensure coursework is rigorous and prepares students for employment.
Southeast Technical’s Band Instrument Repair program has a particularly robust advisory committee of talented top-drawer technicians from around the country. While students benefit from the first-hand experience of bench-testing, Band Instrument Repair instructors also gain useful insight into which skills students have successfully acquired and which skills need more instruction.
“We are grateful for an advisory committee that holds us accountable in this way—continually asking us probing questions about what we are doing now, informing us of what we can or should be doing in the future and helping us to shape our students learning so they are as well prepared as possible,” Band Instrument Repair instructor John Huth says. “Their expectations are clear and drive us to be better.”
According to Stacy, the fact that instructors benefit from the advisory committee workshop as much as students do hasn’t gone unnoticed. “As a student, I really appreciate the fact that our instructors are always open to feedback and are continually learning themselves. It shows that they really care about setting us up for success.”
See photos from the advisory committee’s workshop day on Facebook.