John W. Scheib is Associate Vice President for the Arts, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, and holds a faculty appointment as a tenured full professor in the School of Music at the University of Utah. Scheib came to Utah after serving as Director of the School of Music at the University of Kentucky (UK). Prior to his appointment at UK, Scheib served twelve years on faculty and in various administrative appointments at Ball State University, including as director of its School of Music his final four years at the institution.
As Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Scheib is responsible for leading the collective vision for a college consisting of over 2000 students and 300 faculty and staff from across five acclaimed academic departments and schools (Department of Art & Art History, School of Dance, Department of Film & Media Arts, School of Music, Department of Theatre). As Associate Vice President for the Arts, he provides leadership in the advancement of arts on campus and in the community, and oversees the four professional arts affiliates in residence at the U (Pioneer Theatre Company, Tanner Dance, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Utah Presents).
Since Dean Scheib’s arrival at the University of Utah in July 2017, the College of Fine Arts has created a robust and comprehensive five-year strategic plan; launched a $35+ million capital fundraising campaign which includes the renovation of three facilities and increasing the arts footprint at the U to a record twelve buildings across campus dedicated to the arts; observed its highest student enrollment, degree conferrals, and year-to-year student retention rates on record; developed/launched new programs in Animation, Graphic Design, Illustration, Media Arts Production, and an innovative MA in Teaching-Fine Arts program ranked 11th in the top 50 online master’s in education degree programs by thebestschools.org; restructured its arts education state licensure/endorsement programs in dance, theater, and visual art, expanding to include all grades (K-12) while also significantly reducing credit hour requirements; created the Arts-in-Health Innovation Lab (artsinhealth.utah.edu); developed/strengthened international agreements with several institutions overseas to expand global engagement opportunities for students and faculty; and launched several initiatives to help support and nurture the development of a more diverse community of faculty, staff, and students.
At UK, Scheib was able to lead the School to eliminate a substantial and ongoing annual budget deficit; completely overhaul music student scholarship guidelines, procedures, and associated policies; develop new comprehensive annual student learning outcome assessment plans for all degrees and certificate programs within the School; create a new comprehensive policies and procedures handbook for faculty and staff; develop and implement a new and highly successful annual fundraising campaign; develop and host a three-day music entrepreneurship symposium featuring internationally acclaimed guest artists in residence; partner with UK Education Abroad, UK College of Fine Arts, and The Education Abroad Network (TEAN) to launch a study abroad program in Australia; strengthen international exchange/transfer agreements with the Art College of Inner Mongolia University (Hohhot); and complete the successful application for reaccreditation to the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), a six-year institutional periodic program review, and a full institutional internal audit of all business operations within the unit and college.
During his tenure at Ball State, Scheib guided curricular revisions to all undergraduate degree programs; the implementation of a new core curriculum for all programs as well as a unit-level diversity plan to help better attract, retain, and nurture a diverse community; over three dozen successful faculty and staff position searches; and the successful NASM and North Central Association of College and Schools (NCA) reaccreditation for the institution. Scheib served in key roles on the University Academic Plan Steering Committee, University Strategic Plan Task Force, Presidential Search Committee, all four University-level curriculum committees, and in helping to broker bringing the Music For All Summer Symposium – the nation’s largest summer camp for instrumental music students and teachers - to the Ball State campus. Under his leadership, the Ball State School of Music developed nearly a dozen new interdisciplinary, student-driven, community-partnered immersive learning courses. As a member of the teaching faculty, Scheib taught undergraduate and graduate courses in instrumental music education, administration, assessment, learning theory, research, and the role of music in collegiate education.
As a scholar often examining the multi-dimensional lives of artist-teachers, Scheib has contributed over 85 presentations, articles, and book chapters to the profession, with his research appearing in refereed outlets such as the Journal of Research in Music Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Arts Education Policy Review, and the texts Exploring Research in Music Education and Music Therapy (Oxford University Press), The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research in American Music Education (Oxford University Press), and Envisioning Music Teacher Education (Rowman & Littlefield). His speaking engagements include appearances at prominent professional meetings, conferences, and symposia, such as those sponsored by the International Council of Fine Arts Deans (ICFAD), National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), College Music Society (CMS), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE), and Society for Research in Music Education (SRME). He has also served on editorial boards for the Journal of Music Teacher Education and Music Educators Journal. Scheib maintains an active schedule as a consultant and NASM visiting evaluator, and currently serves on both the NASM Commission on Accreditation and ICFAD Board of Directors.
A Wisconsin native, Scheib earned the PhD in Curriculum and Instruction and MM in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison after completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and taught in the Wisconsin public schools for nearly a decade prior to his work in higher education. He is a former fellow and graduate of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Academic Leadership Development Program, and recipient of the Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA) Richard G. Gaarder Award and Indiana Music Education Association (IMEA) Outstanding Collegiate Administrator of the Year award.