For music majors, overload credits are frequently a fact of life.

Prior to this change, every credit above the standard course load cost $1,006. This fee will drop to $675 per credit hour starting in fall 2021.

University provost Beth Harville explained the decision and how it will affect the student body.

“Students in these courses earn credits toward graduation and faculty teach these classes as part of their contracted teaching load,” said Harville.

The waivers are also limited; students outside of these two programs have always been expected to pay the full overload fee.

“The overload waivers created an unequal situation where one group of students were able to take classes without paying for the additional credit and instruction time,” Harville explained.

Honors students are permitted to waive 1 credit hour of overload (up to 18 credits in a semester) in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

Overload waivers for music students will be gradually restricted until complete phase-out in 2023:

• 2021-2022: 2 credits covered by overload waiver (up to 19 credits total)
• 2022-2023: 1 credit covered (up to 18 credits)
• 2023 and onward: Music and Honors students can no longer receive overload waivers.

A music student who wished to remain anonymous shared, “I understand why the proposal went through from an administrative standpoint to keep credits even across campus, but they need to understand that many of us rely on music grants and overload waivers to continue our education.”

Activity grants gave music and non-majors the opportunity to relieve some of the cost of college. The grant award varies depending on the student’s first-year audition. To maintain it, a student must participate in two ensembles each semester and demonstrate commitment to developing their musicianship. This change makes the cost of taking them more than the scholarship covers. Additionally, music majors receive a $1,000 scholarship for being part of the department.

“This adds a minimum of one, probably two years to incoming freshmen since going overload is crucial to graduating on time with [Your Drury Fusion],” the student said.

Your Drury Fusion mandates students declare a major in addition to two certificates, or a major and a blend of certificate, second major or minor.

Nikki Pastor, a psychology major and Honors student, had their graduation trajectory directly affected by Fusion and overload changes.

“I had to drop my music major because of the certificate,” Pastor explained. “I’m already done with my Honors classes. If I could have those four [classes] back, I could have completed my music major. Fusion has taken up a lot of my time. I don’t know how much they reduced [course requirements], honestly.”

“Luckily, I don’t have to [pay for] overload yet. I’m at 18.5 hours in the fall. They’re letting music majors ‘ease’ into it,” Pastor continued.

Honors students receive limited perks through the program. There is no scholarship for acceptance into Honors – checking out library books for the full semester and overload waivers are the only benefits.

Drury’s cap of 17 credits a semester is still higher than average. Missouri State University permits students to take 15 regular credit hours with a maximum overload to 18 credits. Washington University in St. Louis has the same 12-17 credits per semester as Drury, with only major-specific guidelines for overload.

Article by Maclen Johnson