GREENVILLE, S.C. (April 27, 2023) – Emily Waggoner, associate professor in the Bob Jones University Division of Music, has been named associate chair of the Division of Music. She will begin her new role in the fall of 2023.
As associate chair, she will assist Dr. Michael Moore, chair, with the academic operations of the division. Her administrative duties will include supporting students and faculty in areas of advisement, registration, and academic policy compliance; assisting with program assessment and reporting; and overseeing Crescendo to Career, a new student success program within the division.
“Emily’s success as an entrepreneur, pedagogue, and performing artist combined with her capacity for creative thinking and a passion for her students’ spiritual and academic success made her the obvious choice for this new role in our division,” said Dr. Moore. “I’m particularly excited for the leadership she’s bringing to our Crescendo to Career program.”
The new student success program, launching in the fall, will streamline and strengthen existing services and processes focused on improving student retention and job placement. Under Waggoner’s guidance, the program will foster quality of goal formation and continuity of career guidance throughout a music major’s transition from freshman to alumnus, supported by coordinated academic advising and practicum/internship placements with strategic ministry and marketplace partners.
“I’m delighted for the opportunity to support our music students in this new role,” stated Waggoner. “Each student has unique gifting from God that reflects his amazing and beautiful creativity. It’s a privilege to mentor students as they connect their hard-earned musical skills to jobs in a competitive marketplace.”
Waggoner will continue as program director for harp while teaching other courses, including Entrepreneurial Musician Seminar and a new course entitled Artistry in Action designed to explore connections between music and a variety of other disciplines through project-based experiential learning and an interdisciplinary team-based approach.
Waggoner earned a Bachelor of Music in Church Music with a harp proficiency from BJU in 2001 and a Master of Music in Harp Performance from Converse College in 2006. She performs professionally in the Carolinas as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral harpist, and in studio recording. She serves as Principal Harpist with the Spartanburg Philharmonic, Acting Principal Harpist with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, and frequently as a guest harpist for Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Greenville Chorale, Asheville Symphony Chorus, USC Columbia Symphonic Wind Band and others.
In addition to teaching at BJU, she has been on adjunct faculty at South Carolina Governor’s School for the Fine Arts and Humanities and Converse College and also maintains a private studio. She serves the local harp community as President of the SC Chapter of the American Harp Society, which she founded in 2008.
In addition to her professional activities, Waggoner serves as a Children’s Ministry teacher and in her church orchestra at Hampton Park Baptist Church, where she and her husband Jason have been members for 20 years. She volunteers weekly at a local ministry counseling families in crisis pregnancy situations. The Waggoners have five children.
