<HTML>I've put forth a proposal to teach a class on "piano p= arts & their functions," at both the undergraduate and graduate level at= UA. Much to my dismay, and several of the students who really wanted it, th= e graduate curriculum committee has already rejected the proposal. The under= graduate curriculum committee has tentatively approved it, but when it came = up for discussion at the full faculty meeting the other day, one of the conc= erns was the number of students who would take this class, and how often it = should be offered. The Provost, in an effort to save money, is cracking down= on classes with fewer than 10 students. Although that would virtually elimi= nate a bunch of classes in the music school, it will be difficult to approve= a new class, unless it can be shown that at least 10 student will take it. = So I am asking for help, especially from those of you who teach a piano clas= s, as described, at major state universities. We have about 350 undergraduat= e students, and 150 graduate level. There are only 4 undergraduate piano maj= ors and 7 graduate piano majors, but the three piano profs together teach ab= out 40 students all together. These are either majors, minors, or students w= ith some degree of proficiency. (There is a piano lab for "non players").<BR= > So that I can argue my case that this class will be well attended, to get an= idea of how we compare, could you please answer the following questions. <B= R> How often is the class offered? How many students attend the class? How many undergraduate music students in the department? How many graduate music students in the department? How many undergraduate piano majors? How many graduate piano majors? How many piano faculty? How many students do they teach? I would like to hear any other comments on this matter that will help my arg= ument to teach this class. Thanks for your input. Wim Blees RPT University of Alabama </HTML>