Oxford - A new way of accessing recordings of music department concerts is in the offering.

Videos, with shots from multiple angles, is on the way, thanks to a grant from the Miami University Student Technology Fee, administered by the school’s Information Technology (IT) Services.

Submitted by Chris Dudley, marketing assistant for the School of Fine Arts (SFA) and graduate student in tuba performance, the grant allows for the purchase of multiple video cameras to be use for recording School of Fine Arts events.

“The cameras will, more than likely, be used the vast majority of time for music events,” says SFA marketing director Jeanne Harmeyer, “as the department has so many activities and performances.”

In his application for the grant, Dudley points out that with the prevalence of social media permeating today’s communication and the ease of video/audio recording, as opposed to only audio, tapping into the technology to share the department’s activities just makes sense, he says.

The proposal, forwarded in February and granted last week, was strongly supported by music department chair Judy Delzell, who wrote in her letter to the grant selection committee that not only will the videos be crucial in keeping with marketing trends for the department, but that they will “allow current students to assemble a more meaningful and comprehensive portfolio and thus make them more competitive in performance competitions and other juried activities.”

Harmeyer concurred in her letter of support, adding that Miami’s “prospective audience of students and parents are eager to see how our students are engaging in their art forms. In the culture of liberal arts institutions, our marketing needs to show the development and use of critical thinking skills, and these videos will help immensely.”

The cameras are expected to be purchased during the summer and put into use at the beginning of the fall semester.