Greetings from Bloomington and the start of the 2022-23 academic year!
As I enter my third month as the David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean of the Jacobs School of Music, I would like to take an opportunity to share some of my thoughts about what has been happening, what I am learning, and where we are headed.
So far, I have had well over 100 individual meetings with our outstanding faculty, staff, and students, and have learned so much from everyone—about their pride in the school, their thoughts about change, and their hopes for the future.
A special thank you goes to Gwyn Richards and Charles Webb, Mary Wennerstrom, Henry Upper, and so many others who have welcomed me to Bloomington and provided much-needed counsel, advice, and support along the way. I am grateful to them all.
In addition, Brenda Brenner, Lissa May, Jill Gonyo, Melissa Dickson, and Phil Ponella have been marvelous colleagues and supportive in every way as I have gotten settled into my new role.
I am especially grateful to Jeremy Allen for his support, and I am honored that he has agreed to stay on the leadership team as the Eugene O’Brien Bicentennial Executive Associate Dean. He and the team did remarkable work stewarding the school through the turbulence of the last two years and have my upmost respect and admiration.
I have met with many of the school’s students and alumni—remarkably talented and dedicated people whose accomplishments elevate the reputation of the Jacobs School of Music daily. I have also had the honor of meeting with many active supporters of Jacobs, whose commitment to the success of the school and the performing arts is truly humbling.
Students are only now returning to campus; however, I have met with student leaders from this year and last, and there are town halls scheduled for the last week of August for both the undergraduate and graduate students. Each of these discussions has been eye-opening and enriching.
Some have asked me what has surprised me most since coming to the Jacobs School. My interactions have affirmed many of my expectations, while others have revealed the unanticipated.
I have been deeply impressed by the commitment of everyone at the school to its core mission of combining artistry, pedagogy, and research to prepare its students to fully realize the potential of the expressive arts to change lives and to enrich society.
My expectations regarding the dedication and ingenuity of faculty, staff, students, and alumni have been unequivocally confirmed.
My conversations have also demonstrated the degree to which Jacobs provides a collegial and supportive environment—features that are essential to a successful future. I am humbled by the passionate commitment of the Jacobs community, and I can clearly see that students come first in all things.
When it comes to “surprises,” I must mention a few observations that are not entirely unexpected—but surprising in the depth of feeling and commitment that are so apparent.
Most important in this category are three factors: my colleagues’ openness to change, their willingness to engage in difficult conversations, and their desire to break down the silos that too often encumber academic structures and pursuits.
I cannot overstate the importance of these three specific characteristics, as they are essential to charting a course for the school’s future in which justice, innovation, and impact can grow and flourish.
In the coming days, I will continue my “listening and learning” tour, visiting faculty, staff, students, alumni, and donors. The focus will be on honing plans to build on the school’s numerous strengths and opportunities for the future. We will spend the year focusing on the following key priorities:
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A new five-year strategic plan
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Fundraising for student scholarships, faculty support, technology, and other key initiatives
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A Task Force on Staff Engagement
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Increasing capacity in diversity and equity inclusion
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The development of new degree programs leveraging technology
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A new budgetary and financial model for Student Academic Appointees.
I am enormously proud to be the dean of this extraordinary school and so fortunate to be given the opportunity to dedicate myself to issues about which I care so very much. I am 100% confident that the Jacobs School of Music will maintain and enhance its position as one of the premier schools of music and ballet in the world, and I look forward to all that is ahead. |
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Academic year 2021-22 was a strong fiscal year for the school and was favorable to plan by 3%. A robust graduate recruitment season contributed to more than 1,600 students enrolled. As a result, we were able to allocate funds to some equipment and instrument needs, as well as provide funding for new strategic initiatives, including technology lifecycle funding.
We enter this fiscal year in a strong fiscal position again. Recruitment has yielded another healthy student population, and we are on track to meet the funding goals we set in the budget. This will support our higher-than-normal compensation increases for faculty and staff, new minimum compensation expectations for ranked faculty, and increased investments in our Student Academic Appointments. |
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We undertook several international searches to fill full-time faculty positions last spring, and consequently, we are joined by 10 of the finest teachers and performers in the world this fall.
We take great pleasure in welcoming our new colleagues in viola (Li-Kuo Chang), clarinet (Gábor Varga), piano (Spencer Myer), organ and sacred music (Jeffrey Smith), composition (Han Lash), and trumpet (Jason Bergman). Zachary Coates (Lecturer in Voice) and Petar Jankovic (Associate Professor of Guitar and Associate Chair of the Guitar Department) have moved into new roles, and we have committed to new areas of instruction with the appointments of Joseph Galvin (Assistant Professor, Jazz Studies/Latin American and Caribbean Music) and Glenda Lucena De Gallardo (Lecturer in Ballet and Director of the Jacobs Academy Ballet Program).
A complete list of new faculty (including postdoctoral researchers and visiting and adjunct appointments) and staff can be found here. |
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We are pleased to welcome a large new class for fall 2022. Preliminary numbers show 214 committed undergraduate students (including 192 first-year students) and 353 committed graduate students.
The incoming student class represents 44 different states (only Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota, and West Virginia are not included).
Besides the United States, students are from 20 different countries, including Iran, Germany, Russia, and Malaysia. The top countries represented among international students are China (40%), South Korea (22%), Taiwan (15%), and Hong Kong (5%).
Among our domestic incoming students, 15.75% have reported their ethnicity as Asian, 1% American Indian/Alaska Native, 5.25% Black/African American, 8.5% Hispanic/Latino, 0.25% Native Hawaiian/Pacifica Islander, and 69.25% White.
The gender distribution of the incoming students is 49.5% Female, 0.5% Non-binary, and 50% Male.
Looking ahead, the JSoM Application opens on September 1, and audition weekends this year are set for January 13-14, February 3-4, and March 3-4. |
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For an entire century, Jacobs has been a place for aspiring student artists from all over the world to learn and grow under the tutelage of our unparalleled faculty. Investment in their access to a world-class educational experience and environment is central to our mission.
We wish to express our sincere gratitude for the incredible support we receive from individual donors and foundations from across the country. Their leadership and combined investment made possible over $11 million dollars in gifts in FY22. This is broken down to nearly $6 million dollars going toward the endowment or for current year support and just over $5 million in newly documented planned gifts.
Gifts of note include from the Conrad Prebys Foundation, whose $750,000 grant provides significant underwriting for the IU Jacobs School of Music Conrad Prebys Performance Season. Also, an individual donor documented a $3 million planned gift, which, when realized, will make possible piano scholarships for Jacobs School students.
We appreciate and recognize that every gift matters, and we are grateful to all our donors, whose generous and steadfast contributions to the IU Jacobs School of Music have benefited our mission and endowment, such that its current value exceeds $160 million. |
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The Jacobs School of Music will embark on a strategic planning process during the 2022-23 academic year.
Through conversations, brainstorming, surveys, and ongoing dialogue across multiple groups of stakeholders, we will spend the entire academic year developing our collective understanding of who we are as a school today and dreaming big about who we desire to be as we enter our second century.
Led by a steering committee comprised of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council, we will analyze the information gathered, draft updated mission and vision statements, identify important themes for our future, engage in working groups to develop innovative ideas, initiatives, and priorities, and propose a plan that will guide our work together over the next five years.
I am grateful that Jeremy Allen, Eugene O’Brien Bicentennial Executive Associate Dean, and Phil Ponella, Wennerstrom-Phillips Music Library Director and Chief Digital Officer, have agreed to serve as cochairs of the committee.
Information about the process, timeline, and more will be available in the weeks ahead and shared widely with the community. |
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The Jacobs Academy provides vital, engaging music and dance programs to the community and beyond. Under the new leadership of Brenda Brenner, the academy has begun the process of assessing the current programs to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth.
With the assistance of current Jacobs Academy directors and faculty involved in outreach activities, the academy will embark on strategic planning throughout the fall to determine its future direction, with an eye to expanding and advancing its presence within Bloomington, the state of Indiana, and the world. The development of a business plan, including short- and long-term programmatic goals, will be the outcome of this fall’s work.
Several new initiatives are already underway, including development of an online course on Leonard Bernstein taught by Connie Glen and an educational video series intended for elementary music classes, led by Brent Gault and Alain Barker.
Live performances under the umbrella of the Jacobs Academy include an upcoming campus chamber music series at the Cook Center as well as September First-Thursday appearances by the String Academy Violin Virtuosi and members of the Don Giovanni opera cast.
Stay tuned for more exciting programming to come! |
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| Update on Task Force on Staff Engagement |
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While students most often come to the Jacobs School of Music to study with our world-class faculty, it is our world-class staff who do heroic work every day to make everything run.
The Task Force on Staff Engagement is dedicated to identifying issues that might prevent our staff from doing their best work and feeling their best about the work environment.
The task force was empaneled in July to address recruitment and retention, recognition, and development of the extraordinarily talented staff at the school.
Listening sessions are being scheduled, with a survey soon to follow. Feedback from employees will help the school identify specific actions we can take to attract, retain, and reward our dedicated staff. |
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