I. Creating / Building the Band

1. Recruiting Members

1. Compiling names/database

1. From Admissions Office

2. From members

3. From events

4. From Website 

5. From Music Department

6. From H. S. Director Contact

2. Recruiting Team/Recruiting Team Handbook

3. Recruiting Events

1. Open Houses/Audition Days

2. Exhibitions at Festivals

3. Band Events

4. Spring recruiting “Blitz”

5. Summer Office 

6. Recruiting Materials

1. Communication, Publications, Website, Events, etc. 

2. Emails & phone calls script

2. Recruiting and Auditioning Color Guard and Twirlers

1. auditions and “tryout weekends”

2. Selection and “education” of specialty members

3. Summer Color Guard Camps.

3. Recruiting Staff and Graduate Assistants 

1. Distribute poster/advertisement

2. Call colleagues

3. Call prospective 

4. “Sell” degree program at allevents

1. Schedule visits

5. Assist with housing and move in

4. Leadership Development/Training 

1. Identification of Potential leaders

1. Drum Majors and 

2. Captains

3. Section Leaders

2. Selecting Leaders

1. Applications

2. Interviews

3. Auditions

3. Training Sessions

1. Spring

2. Summer

3. Fall

4. Leadership Class

5. Individual Mentoring

6. Ongoing programs for leaders

7. Evaluations/coaching

The current links on this page are to Google Drive repositories for files potentially relate. Go to Page Tree and use the expandable file to go to related pages. Once these items are sufficiently completed, the link will be changed to pages related to these items in the Operation Center. 

I. Creating / Building the Band

Recruiting and Leadership Development are year round, never ending activities of our band. There are quite a few formal processes that will be outlined here. In addition to those, it is a daily focus of all directors and leaders in our band. Every potential member encounter is has a recruiting component. The aspirations we hold for our band are equal to or exceed those of university bands in regions of the nation that have a much larger population of potential band members and in terms of number of players and in their level of experience with marching band. In order to produce a band of similar size capable of performing at a similar level in a large stadium environment, we need to find potential members and recruit aggressively. In addition, rather than to screen for members with well developed playing and marching skills, we need to concentrate on developing the skills of every member that will dedicate him/herself to the UCMB. 

Challenges the UCMB faces in recruiting:

• High University Admission Standards: Our outreach programs reach potential students and produce strong levels of interest in membership, unfortunately we loose students to other university bands because they may not be admitted or are admitted to a regional campus and are not at the able to participate in the marching band.
• High Academic Expectations: Some students are afraid of taking on the obligation of band membership. Ironically, most band members are in demanding majors and our retention level is very high. The collective GPA of the band is actually higher in the Fall semester than Spring semester. 
• High Out-of-State Tuition Costs: Some surrounding states have a higher levels of marching band activity and the combination of the UCMB's strong reputation and UCONN's high academic reputation does produce significant interest but is often thwarted by the high cost of out-of-state tuition. That being said, 20 to 25% of UCMB members are students from out-of-state.
• A Small Pool of Potential In-State Members. While there are some great marching band programs, Connecticut is has many small high schools and the percentage of schools with football teams and marching bands is much lower than in some of our surrounding states esp. MA, NJ, NY, and PA. 
• Musicians with No Marching Experience: Potential members who have no or little marching experience in high school often are apprehensive about trying to do so in college. We work hard to help those students feel confident about giving membership in the UCMB a try. Between 25 and 30% or our new members will come from programs with little or no marching. Our training procedures are designed to develop everyone's skill to a level where all can participate successfully in our band. Our daily marching fundamental routine gives members to learn and enhance the fundamentals needed for success and quickly brings new marchers up to speed. 

Leadership Training takes many forms. Our Leadership Class focuses on general aspects of individual leadership. We concentrate on a form of service leadership as opposed to leadership based on authority. We strive for complete transparency in the operation of the band and a reasonable and logical approach to performance and operational goals. The course explores the idea of the worth of each individual and helping each to develop their unique and universal leadership abilities, finding a niche where those individual abilities can be applied to their best potential, and how individuals can use their positive interactions to help the band achieve at the highest possible level and feel the ownership of that success. 

Managerial  or Instructional Leadership is addressed to more in sessions specifically designed for those who aspire to instructional roles such as Section Leader, Band Captains, and Drum Majors. It is hoped that the ideas of service leadership from our Leadership Class are applied in their positions of authority. In addition, planning and more specific techniques of instruction and management are explored. Ideas of individual leadership of "through" the individuals rather than "to" are stressed (concepts of "enthuse, encourage, empower" over the ideas of "teach, instruct, direct", ideas that rely on individual acceptance and dedication to shared goals form the basis of our philosophy: "I want 'You" to be the 'U' in UCMB.