Dean Mark Parker Named to Music Leadership Post
Mark Parker, Ann Hundley Hoover Chair and Dean of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music, has been named to a three-year term as chairman of the National Association of Schools of Music Region 9 and to the association’s national board of directors. NASM administers the highest level of accreditation a music school can receive in the United States.
Parker becomes the first Oklahoma City University representative to be selected as NASM chair. He has been regional vice president since 2007, and assumed office at the annual NASM conference, held in Boston Nov. 19-23.
The association provides a national forum for the discussion of concerns relevant to the preservation and advancement of standards in the field of music in higher education. Region 9 is comprised of 81 accredited colleges and universities in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Nationwide, NASM has accredited 630 schools.
NASM was established in 1928 with 32 schools as charter members. Oklahoma City University’s music program was approved as an accredited NASM member in 1944, becoming the first school or department on the OCU campus to receive national accreditation.
Parker specializes in building arts education partnerships between academia, corporations, and communities on the local, national, and international level and is an authority on using collaboration and technology to enhance creativity.
