Many of us as Music Education students have heard from various professors or other sources about MENC: The National Association for Music Education and it’s collegiate division, CMENC. But often times we are not told the benefits of joining this organization other then that it will help us. Help us how? This is the question Music Ed Majors and most any other student these days wants answered. Before we are willing to find out what we can do for something we first want to know what that something can do for us.

What is CMENC?

CMENC is the designation for the collegiate chapters of the MENC organization. As a member of CMENC students should strive to help be a driving force in their department, school and community. Much like MENC itself most states will have a divisional level above the individual college chapters. For more information about your particular state it is recommended you contact your State Collegiate Chairperson.

What will CMENC do for me?

This will sound generic at first but, it will make you a better educator if you allow it to do so. Member benefits include subscriptions to periodicals such as the “Music Educators Journal”, “Teaching Music” and “Journal of Research in Music Education” as well as many others that are offered online through the MENC website. Other material benefits also include a 25% discount on other MENC resources as well as a “special introductory” rate for your initial MENC membership during your first year of teaching.

Networking and Job Search

You never know who can help you in the future and as a member of MENC you will be provided with full access to the Members Only section of MENC’s website. This area provides opportunities to not only talk to other majors in the Future Teachers Forum but also provides development and networking possibilities through the rest of the member forums. Additionally, membership includes access to MENC’s online Job Center, where there are many listings of available positions nationwide.

Conferences

While online forums have made the world a smaller place, MENC also holds national, division and state conferences that usually offer CMENC members discounted registration rates. As a matter of fact, MENC offered completely free registration to CMENC members to their Music Education Week that just recently took place in Washington, D.C.! The conferences are the best opportunity to get face time with people in our profession and learn from some of the leaders in our field who are willing to share their thoughts and ideas with us. This also provides an opportunity to meet some of your fellow Music Ed majors from across your state or the country.

Topics in the conferences can vary and include anything from additional teaching techniques and development to technology and its benefit in the music classroom. While at my last state conference, I was given the opportunity to meet Robin Hodson who just recently left Avid/Sibelius but at the time trained us in many of the benefits of Sibelius and how it could make the teacher’s job much easier.

Your Chapter

Along with the networking opportunities and these conferences, your chapter will hold regular meetings at your college/university. The meetings will include discussion on how to build the chapter itself, the program and it’s presence in your community. Always remember that as an educator your surrounding community will be your greatest resource as they will often dictate what you can and cannot do within the school and your program. Using these meetings to bring in guest speakers or organize events are a great way to get your name out there and see what you and your chapter are made of. Also, your chapter could have the opportunity to do small “master classes” at local schools, which gives you the opportunity to further your education outside of the classroom. The classroom is a great place to begin our education, but what we do with after that will determine what kind of educator we are.

Remember that this is the profession you have chosen and as such you probably have a major interest in it. MENC and CMENC provide you the tools to better yourself in a field that you have already shown interest in being a part of. CMENC can provide a chance for you to meet those who can help you learn, as well as a chance to have your voice be heard.

What if my school doesn’t have a chapter?

If your school doesn’t already have a CMENC chapter, first check with other schools in your area or state. They can assist you in contacting your State Collegiate Chairperson who is the advisor and coordinator for all of the chapter advisors in their state. If you want more information, please visit MENC’s Main CMENC Page, which includes tons of resources and information on CMENC. Additionally, you will need to speak with your department about getting a chapter advisor and go to MENC Collegiate: Getting Your Chapter Started page on MENC’s website to learn the steps to getting your chapter started. If your school already has a chapter and you are not a member, speak to your chapter advisor or president, and sign up to be a member here.