Bvia University Head

The head of Bvia University in Brightland is chosen by master teachers to lead the university. Their duties include teaching classes, overseeing the discipline of staff and students, and organizing auditions.

Qualifications

The university head must first be a master teacher. This involves years of study as a scholar and then as an apprentice.

Requirements

There are no specific requirements to hold this position other than being voted in after holding a position as master teacher. Certain people are more likely to initially be let in as scholars, namely those who are from well-bred families.

Appointment

The university head is elected by the master teachers. They must themselves have been a master teacher for at least one full year, though there is an unwritten rule that they must have at least a decade of experience. The head is first nominated by another master teacher and then the nominees are voted on by all master teachers. The head usually also has a wide musical repertoire and knowledge, and they are known publicly for their composition and/or performance skills. While it also behooves master teachers to elect someone who is personable, they try to choose the person who they think will be best at promoting and developing respect for fine music within the country and beyond.

Duties

The university head represents not only the university, but the state of music in the country. Therefore, they are expected to display proper behavior at all times, and unofficially expected to promote the "right" kind of music, that is, the kind of music which has always been taught at the university, approaching new ideas with a high level of scrutiny.

Responsibilities

The university head continues their duty as a master teacher of teaching one or more apprentices one-on-one, developing their musical repertoire and skill as well as helping them transform music intro a profession. They do not, however, oversee the classes which their apprentices teach to the scholars, this is duty is taken over by one or more of the other master teachers.
The university head is also part of the admittance, promotion, and disciplining of students and staff at the university. They sit on the panel of all auditions which determine admittance of scholars and promotion of scholars to apprentices and apprentices to master teachers. If a member of the university brings a complaint against another member, the university head determines the punishment and ensures it is carried out. If an apprentice or master teachers brings a complaint against against someone of lower rank, they may suggest a punishment, but ultimately, the university head determines whether or not this punishment is fair. This does not include small infractions which may be handled within a classroom, but may include such complaints as repeated harassment, thievery, and conduct unbecoming. Punishments may include whipping, assigning the person to complete menial chores, demotion, or expulsion. The university head may ask others about the complaint to gain more information, but it not required to.
The head is also the public face of the university. He meets with people who wish to give money to the university and serves as head of the financial council which determines the best way for such money to be spent.

Benefits

The head of the university receives a stipend for their duties, as well as a house on campus, for as long as they hold the position. The position also brings a certain amount of prestige, and often opens doors to new performance musical patrons.

Accoutrements & Equipment

When acting as head in ceremonies, auditions, or similar official business, members of the university wear robes, which are differentiated based on color. The university head's robe is lime green. In the early years of the university, teachers, inculding the university head, often wore their robes to teach in, though they were not required to. This practice is much less common today, and the university head usually wears ordinary clothes, expect for ceremonial purposes.

Grounds for Removal/Dismissal

If the university head has committed a major crime and has been imprisoned, this process can be expedited and does not require the presence of the university head themselves. Also, if the university head has become severely ill or has otherwise been absent from the school for several months, the process may be expedited and does not require the presence of the university head, though in these circumstances, the council can also elect an interim head, if they feel the circumstances that prevent the head from completing their duties are temporary and the head will be able to return to the position at a future date.

History

When Bvia University was founded in 1228, the original charter included the four main roles of the university: scholar, apprentice, master teacher, and university head, and laid out all of the duties that were required by each role. The idea was that the university provided a hierarchy of musicians to teach each other. As someone works their way up their hierarchy, they strengthen their reputation within the university and the community at large. Nikolaz Nakara was chosen as the first university head, due to his reputation as a skilled flutist and oboist.
In 1378, several additional administrative positions were introduced to the university. These positions existed outside of the hierarchy of musicians and were established to advise and assist the university head in organizational and financial matters.
For several centuries, the university head maintained the "traditional rigor" of the school, and taught old forms of music, shunning newer styles, as well as those of rural areas. Though the university did not directly say that scholars should come from well-born families, this was an unspoken rule that was typically upheld by the master teachers and the university head. The breakdown of this rule began in the mid 16th century, when one of the master teachers, while visiting family in a rural area of the country, noticed a young boy with an amazing musical talent. The talent seemed to have developed naturally, as there was no sign that he had formally studied. The teacher soon convinced the boy, Mladen Pace, to audition to study at the university. Despite not being of high birth, Mladen Pace was such an impressive musician that he was let into the university on full scholarship, and within 13 years, was elected the youngest university head. Once elected, he pushed a wider range of both music and musicians, dedicating more money to scholarships and voting for the admittance and promotion of students who played music which would have formerly been outside of the school's repertoire. The master teachers' council tried to vote him out on several occasions for "conduct unbecoming," but never could reach a 3/4 majority.
This became a contentious century for the university. At the beginning of the 17th century, the master teachers' council elected Rajendra Cloet, who had barely met the requirement of serving a one year term as master teacher before being elected. Many historians believe that this election was a backlash against the "more modern" practices that had been ushered in and continued by Mladen Pace. Despite having only served a short time as master teacher, Cloet returned the university to its more conservative practices, even going so far as to threaten certain students with expulsion, did they not change their repertoire. This change also included a turnover in university patrons, with some leaving due to the increasing regulations on music, and others returning for a "return to traditional values." This era was short-lived, however, as in 1663, barely a century after the election of Mladen Pace, the master teachers council elected the most progressive head the university had yet to see--Abe Jansing.
Jansing made perhaps the biggest change to the university ever made. He added several new positions to the administrative advisory board, as well as introduced the position of Department Head --a position in between master teacher and university head, who would also help the university head with certain duties, such as overseeing auditions in their department. The department head position was created, of course, because of the creation of an entirely new department--for visual art. Jansing found several artists of renown and opened the university to art students. This also doubled the size of the master teachers' council, as art teachers were now a part of it, and allowed for art teachers to e elected as university head. Thus the university began to develop into a school to master various forms of art, and not music alone.
In 1820, the university head--Brigita Miller--was caught embezzling, and expelled from her position by the master teachers' council, though the action came almost too late, as the university went nearly bankrupt, but was rescued the following year by the most generous donation it had ever received.
Today, the university carries on much the same way it did when it was first created, making it considerably different from more modern universities that require students to follow a given curriculum and progress by taking a certain number of specified classes. At Bvia, students continue to progress through a process of auditions, and though a particular curriculum is recommended, they do not graduate through the process of completing these courses, but merely by proving themselves worthy of advancing to the next position in the hierarchy. Some people, however, do achieve the rank of master teacher, but do not wish to remain and teach. When they leave the university, they retain the rank of master.

Cultural Significance

Because the head of Bvia University has such control over who is accepted and promoted within the ranks of the university, they have some control over what music (and art) is widely accepted as "true" music or art. Just about anyone who becomes a master at the university is considered a "real" artist by critics and the general public. Thus by choosing to admit a particular artist, they can give weight to that artist and their variety of work.

Notable Holders

Nikolaz Nakara Mladen Pace Rajendra Cloet Abe Jansing Brigita Miller

Type

Academic, Professional

Status

The position still exists, much the same way it did when it was first established, though more assistant positions have been created to better help the university head carry out their duties.

Creation

The position was established in the original charter for the university.

Source of Authority

The master teachers at the university

Length of Term

The head of the university remains in their position until the retire (or less commonly die) or are voted out by the master teachers' council.