Music Graduate Office Coronavirus Update
This page last updated 25 August 2020
This page relates specifically to your JSOM activities that involve the music graduate office. Know that we remain here to serve you during this extended period of disruption and uncertainty.
Please also take careful note of email messages sent by IU’s President and Provost, Jacobs School of Music deans offices, and your instructors. And please continue to heed all campus and government recommendations to safeguard your own health and the health of those around you.
- Contact Information
- Recitals
- Doctoral students who are ready to start qualifying exams or complete their final project (exam eligibility, written exams, oral exams, documents and public presentations)
- Information for all students enrolled in fall 2020 (registration, performance proficiency, other resources)
- Information for students who plan to graduate in fall 2020 or spring 2021 (Program Completion Application, Commencement)
How to Reach Us
Office Hours
- Office staff will be working remotely during normal office hours
- M–F, 8–12 and 1–5 by phone and email only
General inquiries
Write to musgrad@indiana.edu (preferred) or call 812-855-1738 (voice mail available outside office hours)
Registration, Advising, and International Student Questions
Write to Sara Erbes (serbes@indiana.edu).
Appointments with Sara Erbes, graduate advisor
To schedule a phone appointment with Sara, write to her at serbes@indiana.edu.
Appointments with Prof. Phil Ford, acting director of graduate studies
To schedule a doctoral pre-exam or any other appointment with Prof. Ford, write to musgrad@indiana.edu. These appointments can be done by phone or video. Appointments are available most days.
Doctoral Exam or Document Questions
For questions about scheduling doctoral qualifying exams, submitting doctoral documents, or scheduling public presentations, write to Janis Cooper Parker at musdoc@indiana.edu. See below for more information on doctoral matters.
Specific Issues
If you have questions about any of the information below or about matters not addressed below, write to us at serbes@indiana.edu.
Recitals
Degree Recitals
Doctoral students who are ready to start qualifying exams or complete their final project in fall 2020 or spring 2021
Eligibility for exams
The keyboard proficiency prerequisite to begin qualifying exams is suspended for any exam scheduled to occur through December 2020. However, the proficiency requirement remains in place and must be met for any exam scheduled to occur after January 1, 2021.
We are also making accommodations for students who no longer meet the recital prerequisite because a recital was canceled this spring or summer.
If you have questions about your eligibility to begin exams because of the effects of the coronavirus situation, please email me at serbes@indiana.edu to discuss your situation.
Doctoral written qualifying exams
During fall 2020 and sprign 2021, all doctoral students will be permitted to complete their written qualifying exams (minor and major field) from the student’s personal computer. Instructions will be provided when you schedule your exam date. This will require the student to have a personal computer, in some cases access to a printer at the beginning of the exam block, and access to a setting that is free from interruptions. For students completing their exam in a different time zone, we will set this up so it is available at the time you scheduled the exam, but in the time zone of your current location.
As usual, completed written exams will be distributed to the appropriate faculty by email and a response requested within two weeks, excluding breaks.
Oral qualifying exams
All oral exams for fall 2020 and spring 2021 will be conducted via video conference using Zoom. This will require all participants to have a personal computer, laptop, or stably-mounted tablet, and access to a setting that is free of interruptions and distractions. Detailed instructions will be provided. If any participant is in a time zone that makes participating at the default time difficult, we will work to find an alternate time.
Submission of theses and doctoral documents
Processes for the submission of master’s theses and doctoral documents are unchanged, except that faculty will not be able to request paper review copies. Documents will be distributed only electronically.
Doctoral final presentations
During fall 2020 and spring 2021, all public presentations (defense and public lecture) will be done by video conference using Zoom for all participants. This will require all participants to have a personal computer, laptop, or stably-mounted tablet, and access to a setting that is free of interruptions and distractions. Detailed instructions will be provided. If any participant is in a time zone that makes participating at the default time difficult, we will work to find an alternate time.
For DM students whose public performance format is a lecture-recital:
In all cases, a student’s research committee will attend and participate in the lecture and any subsequent discussion. This will require all participants to have a personal computer, laptop, or stably-mounted tablet, and access to a setting that is free of interruptions and distractions. Detailed instructions will be provided. If any participant is in a time zone that makes participating at the default time difficult, we will work to find an alternate time. The recital portion of the lecture-recital will be recorded separately and the recording submitted to the committee within 7 days of the performance and at least one week before the lecture/discussion. Students may choose to record their recital in JSOM facilities or off-campus spaces. Regardless of what they choose to do, students may use a JSOM concert venue only once for their lecture-recital, and must schedule their recital date through the Scheduling Office.
At the date and time a student has arranged with the graduate office, the research committee will attend the lecture on Zoom using a unique URL provided by the Graduate Office. The lecture/discussion cannot be held in person and must be done over Zoom.
If the document meets the length guidelines (i.e., 80+ pages long), the student may ask to change the public presentation format from a lecture-recital to a defense, with research committee approval.
Information for all students enrolled in fall 2020
Registration
Registration for spring will begin in late October. The entire registration process can be completed online.
Graduate Entrance Exams
The Graduate Entrance Exams in music history and music theory will take place online during 2020/2021. On October 24, 2020, the aural theory entrance exam for all students who started their degrees in fall 2020 will be held. January exams will take place on January 11, 12, and 13. That exam session is available to students who started their degrees in fall 2020 and students who are starting their degrees in sprign 2021.
Performance Proficiency
If you are a third semester student in a non-performance degree in fall 2020 and have not already completed the performance proficiency requirement, the option to perform in front of faculty in order to complete this requirement has been extended to the end of the fall 2020 semester. Details on that requirement are here: Performance Proficiency.
Students who started a non-performance degree in fall 2020 will need to complete the performance proficiency by the end of spring 2021 if they want to use the option to perform in front of faculty.
More Resources
The JSoM has this page set up with links to some resources that could potentially help out during this very odd time: Covid-19 resources. Take a look to see if any of these items could help you out right now.
Information for students who plan to graduate in fall 2020 or spring 2021
Graduation
It is very important that you submit your Program Completion Application if you plan to graduate in fall 2020 or spring 2021. The link to that form is here: https://music.indiana.edu/degrees/graduate-diploma/graduation/gradApp.shtml.
If you do not remember whether you have already submitted your Program Completion Application, you can check your academic advisement report on One.IU. The way you get to your academic advisement report is to log on the One.IU (www.one.iu.edu), then search for "student center." Click on the Student Center result. From that page, click on "my academics and grades." That brings you to a page that includes a link to your advisement report, class schedule, grades, etc. Click on "view my advisement report." Near the end of the report there is a line for "Program Completion Application". If the line is red and says "Not Satisfied", we have not yet received an application for graduation. If the line is not red and says "Satisfied," then we have.
Commencement
Details about commencement and any additional updates can be found here: https://commencement.indiana.edu/index.html.