Progress on Prevention
The Jacobs School of Music is a community of excellence, and excellence thrives only when all members of the community feel safe. As we work with students from around the world to achieve their goals of rich scholarship and skillful musicianship, we are also working to ensure they feel safe with their professors and each other. In a field where physical contact is often part of developing artistry, Jacobs has been developing norms and standards of conduct to be sure that every student can reach their fullest potential in a beneficial way.
In order to increase the security and well-being of students, staff, and faculty on campus, Jacobs convened a Sexual Misconduct Prevention Task Force. Since 2024, the task force has made potent strides to secure and improve the school's climate, including through recommendations that the school’s leadership continues to move forward. Like any school, we work within the confines of the organization that houses us. Working with university administration and the Office of Institutional Equity helps keep our efforts safe and fair to ensure students can attend Jacobs and have the rich and rewarding experience that underwrites the school’s long history.
A vital step was the institution of mandatory, comprehensive training concerning appropriate behavior and outlining clear and transparent lines for reporting misconduct. In addition to yearly online training for all faculty and staff, and the mandatory sexual assault and prevention training during orientation for undergraduates, there was in-person training in the fall of 2024 led by the IU Confidential Victim Advocates for all faculty, students, and staff. This schoolwide training was completed within four months.
Another area in which we’ve concentrated efforts at Jacobs is aggressively recruiting female faculty. In 2022, 49 of our 123 full-time faculty members were female, or 28%. In 2025, 68 of our 124 full-time faculty members are female, or 35%. That is an increase of nearly 39% in just three years. An essential aspect of well-being for female students is representation. To that end, we have continued to broaden the music repertoire studied and performed, even as our recruitment efforts continue.
Instituted in 2024, Jacobs issued pedagogical standards for visiting faculty to provide clarity and transparency for everyone. Jacobs Departmental Values and Protocol for Guest Artists offers codes of conduct and background check requirements for teachers, mentors, and coaches; anyone who will have one-on-one contact with students must read and sign these agreements and follow their obligations.
Jacobs School of Music Pedagogical Physical Contact Guidelines, approved by the Jacobs Faculty Council in the spring of 2023, pertain to all members of the Jacobs community. The guide outlines the situational need for contact as an aspect of pedagogical activities and emphasizes the need for permission from the students as well as their right to withhold, question, or report inappropriate contact.
Required syllabus statements summarize these guidelines and provide clear instructions for what to do if these codes are breached. Outlining codes is a first step toward a functional community. Clear and comprehensive reporting steps were printed and publicized; Jacobs Student Resources brochures were distributed promoting IU and Jacobs websites to use for violence, misconduct, and bias reporting, along with other resources.
Additionally, beginning in January 2025, all Jacobs School of Music employees and volunteers—including all faculty, staff, and administrators—as well as student employees and volunteers, are to meet the university's Programs Involving Children (PIC) background check policies. This means that everyone must complete a new PIC background check.
Even as we continue the efforts above, we, in partnership with the university, have engaged an outside law firm to conduct a Perception and Safety Study. The work will begin in April 2025, and the firm will work with the school to evaluate the experience, atmosphere, and perceptions of community members concerning their lives, learning, and sense of belonging. The study will amplify our community’s voice, and we hope everyone will participate in the process. We value assistance in mapping the feelings and attitudes of students, faculty, and staff to outline areas of improvement in creating a welcoming and supportive educational environment for all members of the Jacobs community.