Born and raised in Kailua, Hawai’i, Randy Wong has administrated music education initiatives deployed across the country via the Music-in-Education National Consortium. He has overseen and managed budgets for programs funded by the US DOE, the NEA, and multiple private donors. An entrepreneur at heart, Mr. Wong always takes a hands-on approach to his work and will persistently strive to meet and conquer all details, large and small.
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
MusicLaunch (www.necmusic.edu/musiclaunch) — View Program Digital Portfolio
MusicLaunch is a weekly (Saturday) community engagement initiative sponsored by New England Conservatory and held at the YMCA of Chinatown Boston. The program follows the YMCA’s commitment to “developing the potential of every child” with its open enrollment (no audition) policy and classes that encourage music literacy from the ground up, starting with singing, solfege, and music reading. Small-group lessons in guitar, band instruments, and recorder are also offered.
- This is a program I started from scratch, as my first initiative after being appointed to Community Engagement Program Manager. I developed everything from the program concept to its structure, pitching it to the YMCA, and staff training. Currently my duties as Faculty Advisor include: curriculum design & planning, recruiting instructors/interns, assembling and conducting program evaluation, fiscal oversight, fundraising, and concert scheduling.
Music-in-Education National Consortium (www.mienc.org)
Formed in 2000 as a confederation of major schools of music, schools of education, arts organizations, and public school partnerships, the MIENC promotes the evolution of music teaching and learning practices, advocacy, research, and policy, so that music can provide its essential contribution to promoting a culture of equity and excellence in every school.
- Budgetary & Fiscal duties: A good chunk of my time was spent managing and applying for grant monies; namely from the US DOE (Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education), the NEA, and the Popplestone Foundation. I worked directly with grant officers to ensure compliance with Federal regulations (e.g. EDAR, OMB A-122). I developed policies and procedures for fiscal and program documentation; wrote annual reports and grant applications; and handled budget- ary items from the miniscule (reimbursement requests) to the major (cost-share reporting).
- Administrative duties: The MIENC had as many as 30 projects spanning 20 schools in 11 states. The personnel on these projects were members of various committees and cohorts, organized by subject areas, grade levels, research questions, domain/discipline, etc. all separated by 4 time zones and different school schedules. On a day-to-day basis it was my responsibility to schedule and facilitate conference calls, prepare reports from those calls, and disseminate those reports across the Consortium. I also planned & hosted at least a dozen conferences and national meet- ings (negotiating venue contracts for lodging, catering, transportation, facility use, technology support; supervising and managing all vendors & logistics, including temp workers & volunteers) in 8 cities.
- Communications and External Relations: Virtually all of the Consortium’s external communications from 2002-2011 (brochures, pamphlets, websites, press releases, Journals, etc.) were products or byproducts of my work. I design, develop, and publish websites for MIENC projects, partner sites, and conferences. I helped to develop and supervised the creation of the MIENC Digital Portfolio System, an online portfolio documentation tool accessible by all MIENC Partner Sites and central to each site’s an- nual report to the Federal government. I optimized MIENC websites for search engines, track their use using tools like Google Analytics, and tweak our marketing strategy appropriately. I supervise the publication and art direction of all print materials (e.g. the Journal for Music-In-Education, brochures, signage), and coordinate distribution with partner sites and libraries.
New England Conservatory of Music (www.necmusic.edu/mie)
New England Conservatory educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world. NEC’s commit- ment to reinforcing and expanding the position of music in society is upheld by its innovative Music-in- Education Concentration program.
- Program Coordination: I advised undergraduate and graduate students on courses of study; worked as a liaison between department faculty, college administration, students and external partners. I participated on internal Conservatory task forces and committees; and in 2009, I contributed to two chapters of NEC’s Self-Study for NASM and NEASC accreditation. I also supervised part-time/hourly and CWS staffers and managed related budgets.
- As Guided Internship Program Director and Faculty: I developed formal structures for the mentorship, placement, documentation, and evaluation of Conservatory students serving as MIE Guided Interns with community partners (Boston Public Schools, community arts centers, arts organizations, independent schools), and work as a liaison between host sites and New England Conservatory. As a result of my work, guided internships are now listed on students’ college transcripts, and the University of Minnesota has created their own guided internship program using my program as their model— other sites within the MIENC are taking similar steps.
Research Center for Learning Through Music 2002 – 2005
The RCLTM was an independent think tank that conducted research on how music affects children’s cognitive development and created matching curriculum. Most of the consultants that worked for it eventually worked for the MIENC, as was the case with me.
- Project Management: I coordinated and managed research agendas for projects such as those con- tracted by the S.F. Symphony (Keeping Score schools project), Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (Partnerships in Arts Integration Research project), and the Music Integrated Literacy Enhancement project in Oakland, CA. I help to develop protocols for data collection, design student assessments, supervise data analyses, create data displays, and contribute to the report writing necessary for each contract.