I. Jacobs School of Music Values Statement
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is committed to excellence and the highest levels of artistic and academic expression. One of the most comprehensive and acclaimed institutions for the study of music, the Jacobs School of Music has educated and shaped the careers of countless performers, scholars, and music educators who are leaders around the globe. Our students come from all 50 states and more than 50 countries, and they benefit from the intensity and focus of a world-class conservatory combined with the broad academic offerings of a major university.
We believe we are made stronger by a culturally diverse faculty, staff, administration, and student body. As we move forward, we strengthen our commitment to providing equal opportunity for all persons. We will continually strive to welcome, support, and learn from faculty and students who reflect the gender, racial, and ethnic diversity of our nation.
Together, we at the Jacobs School of Music will work to uphold our goal of inclusiveness. As such we will:
- foster a community and academic environment in which faculty, students, staff, and administrators of all races, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, abilities, socio-economic and protected veteran statuses, and religions have support to thrive personally, creatively, and intellectually;
- embrace opportunities to cultivate diversity within individual departments, and, in turn, increase discourse about inclusiveness within all fields of music study; and
- ensure that the top musicians, scholars, and teachers whom we identify and attract represent the diverse world from which we draw our talent.
II. Faculty Diversity Plan (FDP) Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Introduction
The Jacobs School of Music embraces excellence of pedagogy, performance, and scholarship with the premise that Indiana University is at its best when it serves as a rich and dynamic meeting ground for a variety of people, ideas, and educational enterprises. Commitment to faculty diversity is essential to its role in supporting the campus strategic plan.
The Diversity and Equity Committee of the Jacobs School of Music has identified performative strategies and practical measures to ensure the further realization of the Diversity Values Statement. Most of the text is based on Indiana University Bloomington: Policies, Procedures, and Best Practices for Faculty Recruitment[1] and Creating a School Diversity Plan.[2]
As stated in campus guidelines, “underrepresented minorities (URMs) are defined as persons legally eligible to work in the United States from the following groups: Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino, and those identifying as having more than one race. While individuals of Asian descent are considered minorities by federal and University standards, the campus does not typically consider them as underrepresented, particularly as a percentage of the overall faculty and student body. Along with women and certain racial minorities, the university includes veterans and individuals with disabilities as among those groups warranting ‘affirmative action, positive and extraordinary, to overcome the discriminatory effects of traditional policies and procedures.’”[3]
While we acknowledge and accept the terminology presented in Indiana University’s guidelines,[4] the Jacobs School of Music recognizes the complexity of individual identities and related nomenclature. Therefore, for the purpose of this document, we will make broad use of the term “historically marginalized groups.”[5]
This term includes, but is not limited to, individuals from oppressed racial and ethnic groups, gender identities, sexual orientation, etc.
One goal of this plan is to increase the representation of historically marginalized groups and senior women in the JSoM faculty. Yearly updated figures from the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs will be recorded and posted by the Dean's Office here.[6]
As one of the world’s premier music schools, the JSoM has a unique and influential role in promoting diversity within the wider arts community, especially for individuals from groups that historically have been marginalized within our school and profession. These efforts to diversify the faculty will help improve both the cultural and social climate at the JSoM, furthering efforts by the greater campus community to establish Indiana University as a place where diversity is welcomed, embraced, and celebrated as a core aspect of its educational mission and identity.
III. Statement on Guiding Policies and Best Practices for Hiring and Retaining: Staff
The School is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture. The Diversity and Equity Committee will partner with the Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator, JSoM Human Resources, and the University to develop guiding policies and best practices for hiring and retaining staff from historically marginalized groups through enhanced recruitment activities and processes, cultivating a diverse applicant pool, and developing long term diversity and inclusion training for the JSoM staff.
We acknowledge that staff positions exist with a broad range of responsibilities and we are committed to advertising broadly for all levels. The commitment to cultivating diversity and inclusivity within staff positions will include (but not be limited to) the following:
- posting staff job listings outside of Bloomington;
- posting staff job listings on message boards and sites for professionals from historically marginalized groups, in addition to the normal places that the JSoM posts job descriptions;
- providing diversity training, advocacy, and oversight of staff hiring for committees and anyone hiring staff;
- providing opportunities for professional development and when appropriate, the potential for advancement within staff ranks; these opportunities could include an expansion of responsibilities with further training where possible; and
- formalizing a structure that will allow for clear guidelines for staff hires by committee.
IV. JSoM Strategic Plans for Recruiting and Mentoring Students from Historically Marginalized Groups
The Jacobs School of Music values the diversity of our student body and is strongly committed to increasing the number of students from historically marginalized groups through engaging in a multi-layered approach of targeted recruitment, mentoring, retention, partnerships with Historically Black College and University (HBCU) peers and selected institutions, and incentivized faculty participation. In addition to the initiatives outlined in this plan, the JSoM is committed to fostering a climate of inclusivity that acknowledges and celebrates the diversity of our student body.
Recruitment
The Office of Music Admissions and Financial Aid, in collaboration with departments and programs, will:
- Establish partnerships with strategically chosen high school music programs, performing arts high schools, and community music schools in selected urban areas. Partnerships may involve faculty visiting programs to give masterclasses, workshops, clinics, performances, lectures, or informal talks intended to expose student to the opportunities available at JSoM. When possible, faculty members will be accompanied by a member from the Office of Admissions. Student groups could also be considered as suitable ambassadors in these partnerships.
- Create pipelines in schools with JSoM/IU current students and alumni.
- Recruit at the alma maters of our current historically marginalized students and create recruitment pipelines to music programs at HBCUs, PBIs, HSIs and TCUs.
- Re-evaluate the recruitment fairs that we attend to ensure we are attending fairs with greater participation of historically marginalized students.
- Expand the use of campus visits for prospective students.
- Continue to support and expand relationships with organizations devoted to increasing diversity and representation within the arts, as identified by the Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator.
- Engage in ongoing review of the effectiveness of current recruitment efforts.
- Create scholarships for the year-round and summer Jacobs Academy programming to increase diversity, especially in pre-college programs.
- Create additional competitive scholarships for historically marginalized undergraduate and graduate students. Amplify and expand efforts to establish endowment support for full scholarships and fellowships.
- Create regular funding for Diversity events that are managed by the Diversity and Equity Committee, including, but not limited to: the Competition Celebrating Diversity, the concert honoring Dr. King, and the Community Conversations.
- Create an initiative to invite music, ballet, and audio engineering students (from beyond Indiana University) from historically marginalized groups to campus to participate as visiting students for the duration of the summer sessions.
- Attract graduate students whose musical interests go beyond the Jacobs School of Music’s current curricular offerings. And, develop strategies to encourage, support, and retain these students through graduation.
- Report all Diversity Initiatives to the Dean at least once per year.
Student Mentoring
The Director of Diversity (see section V) will establish a mentoring program for students in consultation with the Graduate Mentoring Center and the Mentoring Services and Leadership Development program.
Retention
The Director of Diversity (see section V) and the Diversity and Equity Committee will:
- Take advantage of the cultural centers available on our campus to create community for our underrepresented students.
- Provide specific social events to acclimate underrepresented students to the community, like round table discussions and informal lunches/dinners.
- Continue to host JSoM Campus Connections Resource Fair in August during orientation week. The fair features IU Bloomington’s various health, wellness, and support resources, as well as cultural groups. Presenters from across the campus engage with our students and provide them with information about the services available to them on the campus. In 2016, these groups included: Student Advocates Office, Students with Disabilities Office, SRSC, La Casa, Hillel Center, LBGTQ center, Asian Cultural Center and others.
- Create a diversity award within JSoM to honor the work that a member of the staff/faculty has done in the advancement of diversity. Nominations would be accepted from anyone, with a decision made by the Diversity and Equity Committee, and the award made during the opening faculty meeting.
- Encourage and facilitate development of classroom environments where members of historically marginalized groups see themselves reflected in the classroom climate and the curriculum.
JSoM-HBCU Partnerships Initiative
Develop formal agreements with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The JSoM-HBCU Partnership Initiative would allow students and faculty of both institutions to:
- Have experiences outside of their own worldview.
- Have research and performance collaborations with other faculty and students.
- Perform masterclasses in-person and long-distance via videoconferencing technology.
- Participate in town hall meetings.
- Engage in short emergent experiences.
- Obtain assistance for building better infrastructure.
- Find ways to better negotiate edTPA[17].
- Acquire and exchange different teaching pedagogies and strategies.
- Transfer classes between universities.
- Engage in short-term residencies.
- Create reciprocal practicum teaching experiences.
- In the future, expand and develop similar agreements with the aforementioned PBIs, HSIs and TCUs.
V. JSoM Commitment to Diversity Training, Programming, and Awareness
The JSoM is committed to increased diversity training for every constituency within the school that interacts with historically marginalized groups and senior women, including, staff, faculty, and associate instructors. JSoM has unique needs, but with the resources available on the campus we will craft programs that address our specific needs so that we can continue to realize the goals we have set for ourselves and can be a welcoming community of musicians where diversity is celebrated and traditions are honored.
Diversity in Programming and Curriculum
The JSoM shall include programs celebrating diversity as part of the official events in the composite calendar. In addition, the school shall have the goal of providing regular inclusive programming each semester for large ensembles, ballets, and operas that are presented to the Jacobs School and larger community. The goal for this programming should be to work across the school to increase collaboration and a consistent representation of repertoire by historically marginalized groups. All Diversity Initiatives should be reported to the Dean at least once per year.
In addition, school-wide efforts should include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Diversity in guest artists as featured performers.
- Diversity in guest artists for master classes and/or clinics.
- Diversity in guest leadership, such as conductors/choreographers/directors.
- Diversity in guest lecturers.
All individual departments should make a commitment to improve inclusivity at all levels (lessons, performances, recordings, auditions, and interviews) as well as to broaden connections, and renew initiatives and partnerships with diverse curricular units across campus. In recognition of these efforts, students and faculty are encouraged to seek out grants and funding within and outside of the university.
All events, lectures, recitals, and concerts that feature works exemplifying Diversity and Inclusivity will be listed on the Jacobs School calendar as well as linked on the Diversity and Equity website. This link will be sortable and searchable. The Dean will ask all departments to report inclusivity efforts and plans for future implementation of diversity goals on a yearly basis. To access resources for evaluating inclusivity efforts, click here.
The Director of Diversity (see section V) will develop and maintain institutional memory by compiling anti-racist pedagogical resources that will be disseminated by the Dean’s office to all faculty and graduate instructors. These resources should be fully accessible, similar to these examples here.
The school will make a commitment to expand our offerings to include more areas of study outside of Western classical traditions. In addition to the aforementioned areas of study, this can include inviting guest speakers, presenters, or performers whose work focuses on areas outside of Western classical music traditions to supplement the required curriculum. Compensate, when appropriate, those guest speakers who are outside of the Jacobs School of Music. Choices to diversify these fields of study will be included in each department’s annual reporting on diversity initiatives. Statements from individual departments are here.
A commitment will be made to explore and expand areas of mutual benefit with other campus units, and to allow JSoM students greater curricular flexibility and diversity.
Director of Diversity
The Jacobs School of Music will continue to support the Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator and work towards establishing a position for a permanent, full-time JSoM Director of Diversity. This individual will dedicate their time to the recruitment of underrepresented students as well as to providing mentorship and academic support to students after they enroll.
As it is currently structured, the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Coordinator will advance the priorities, missions, visions, and objectives of the Jacobs School of Music (Jacobs), the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture, + Design (Eskenazi), and the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity & Inclusion (OVPDI). They will develop and coordinate D&I programming and initiatives in Jacobs and Eskenazi to deepen understanding of and support for D&I issues in line with university strategic plan metrics and engage with stakeholders to embed best practices in recruitment, hiring, and retention of faculty, students, and staff in support of the university’s strategic plan. Under the direction of the Vice Provost for Diversity & Inclusion, they will collaborate with key Jacobs, Eskenazi and Campus/University constituencies to develop, deploy, and maintain initiatives that contribute to the achievement of D&I related goals, including, but not limited to: the recruitment, retention, and success of underrepresented students, staff, and faculty; the development of comprehensive student programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels; and the engagement of the entire Jacobs and Eskenazi community (students, staff, faculty, alumni, donors, and student organizations) around issues of diversity and inclusion. The focus of this role is to strategically apply principles of diversity and inclusion to facilitate changes in culture and practice across all functional areas of Jacobs and Eskenazi.
Our goal is to work towards supporting a full-time Jacobs School of Music Director of Diversity and Inclusion. The Director of Diversity and Inclusion will help build and coordinate the JSoM partnerships with institutions serving historically marginalized students. They will serve as the contact with colleges, high schools, magnet high schools, and community music schools in strategic urban areas, with special attention to such educational institutions in Indiana. They will be responsible for the organization and logistics of faculty and student travel related to diversity recruitment events (including ensemble performances).
A budget should be provided for this position and for the students and faculty members engaged in the recruitment efforts.
