Before leaving on sabbatical next semester, Dean of Conservatory Robert Dodson offered many suggestions at a Conservatory faculty meeting regarding the College’s upcoming strategic planning initiative.

Dodson said he wanted to prepare the Conservatory for the 21st Century by incorporating the spirit of the Conservatory in Oberlin’s mission statement, continuing the one-on-one nurturing between teachers and students, and bolstering financial aid.

“The College’s mission statement in the course catalog is lacking a mission,” Dodson said. “We need to consider where Oberlin will be in a decade.”

He stressed the difference between the Colege and the Conservatory.

In the Conversatory, “we are primarily concerned with writing new music and learning old music.”

Dodson stressed the importance of strengthening the Conservatory’s one-on-one teaching structure.

“How are we going to convince people that you can’t just teach a thousand violinists over the internet?” he asked

One modernization that has helped increase Conservatory applications increase by 20 percent this year is a common internet application with several conservatories, including the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute.

Though Dodson acknowledged Oberlin’s financial setbacks, Dodson said that he would push for more financial aid and Conservatory building improvements.

I could ask for $10 million to build a new Conservatory facilities, but there is only so much you can do in this climate,” he said.

While Dodson said he was willing to “pit a Conservatory graduate against any communications graduate any second Sunday,” he expressed concern that others would question the Conservatory lack’s of participatin in the College community at large.

“Where does social engagement factor in the Conservatory?” asked Dodson. “How do Conservatory graduates change the world?”

Dodson encouraged all Conservatory faculty to attend two retreats in February to discuss the College’s strategic planning and goals.

“The documents created over these retreats will shape the direction of Oberlin College for the next ten years.” Dodson said.