The Student Representative Committee, Indiana University, Bloomington, convened its meeting
in Merrill Hall 011 at 7:00 P.M. on 9 March 2020.
Members Present: Leigha Amick, Zach Finnegan, Caroline Goodwin, Lauren Jewell, Dennis
Rendleman, Noa Sarid, Nicha Stapanukul, Alex Tedrow, Paula Wilson, Marika Yasuda
1. Introductions
Caroline Goodwin thanked everyone for being present at the meeting and began the meeting
with a round of introductions, including name and the degree they are pursuing.
2. Co-Chair Business
Caroline updated the committee on the School of Music Council recent developments as the
SRC functions as the bridge between the Council and the student body. Caroline reported that
the Diversity and Equity Committee received several complaints about the Jacobs School
scheduling activities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The MLK Day Comment Period Document
was a result of a discovery that the JSoM policy did not match the University-wide policy. Per the
University policy, MLK day is in the same category as Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, Labor
Day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, and New Years Day, which states that no classes or
university activity can be scheduled unless they are specifically to celebrate the particular day. The
Comment Period Document is projected to be voted on the Council meeting later this week.
Caroline updated the committee on the changes made in the JSoM history and values statements,
as the documents failed to incorporate dance into its references to areas of study.
Caroline reported on the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) accreditation visit
at the JSoM last week from Monday March 2 through Wednesday March 4. The NASM
Accreditors met with student representatives on Tuesday March 3. Dennis Rendleman is present
at the meeting today as he was interested in the SRC when Caroline mentioned it at the meeting
last week. Caroline explained that every ten years or so, the school gets re-accredited and gets
assessed on how the school is doing. Nicha Stapanukul mentioned that it has been twelve or
thirteen years since the JSoM has been re-accredited, as when it hit the ten year mark for an
accreditation, Associate Dean Lissa May and Associate Dean Jeremy Allen were both new to the
JSoM and did not feel that they could best guide the school through the self-study process, and
had asked for an extension. Caroline and Nicha summarized the student meeting that happened
on Tuesday where various student representatives discussed the incredible faculty in every
department of the JSoM as well as the various facilities and great resources the JSoM offers like
the music library and the Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development (OECD). The
student representatives also brought up ways that the JSoM could improve which included the
issue of inconsistency in ensemble opportunities and placement between departments, the lack
of transparency between the administration and students, the lack of practice rooms as well as
the low quality of pianos. The three NASM accreditors asked about the Undergraduate and
Graduate Advising staff. There were mixed responses from undergraduate students, but the
graduate students appeared to have good impressions of the Graduate advising staff, mainly Sara
Erbes. The accreditors also asked the students whether we were aware of where we can file
complaints at the school. There were also mixed responses and some people assume they would
file the complaint with the head of their departments. It was evident that no one was sure
whether there was an official way to file a complaint at JSoM or through the University.
Caroline raised the issue that we are identifying aspects that could be improved on to the
accreditors without having a way to improve these from within the school first, hence the
Student Representative Committee formation. Leigha further endorsed that the discussion that
took place last Tuesday was the type of discussion that should happen in the SRC meetings to
identify issues to bring to the SoM Council.
Caroline and Nicha had met with Sherri Bishop on Friday March 6 to discuss the updates on the
Policies and Bylaws of the SoM Council to figure out the logistics of the SRC. Caroline
elaborates on the process of making the SRC official, and that the language of the Bylaws now
allows the SRC to function as an advisory committee of the SoM Council, similarly to how the
Performance Coordinating Committee (PCC) and the Instructional Policy Committee (IPC)
functions currently. Caroline proceeded to project the revised Polices and Bylaws of the SoM
Council onto the screen. The document can be viewed in the attachment from Caroline’s email
regarding this meeting. Caroline mentions that Dr. Alain Barker has graciously agreed to be the
faculty advisor to the SRC and has been incredibly helpful throughout this process.
Caroline briefly mentions that one of the functions that the SRC holds will be to nominate
individuals to be the Council representatives in the following school year, to fill her and Nicha’s
positions. The SRC will submit 6 names in total (3 undergraduates and 3 graduates) to Professor
Aaron Travers, secretary of the Council, by the end of the semester. He will then solicit
additional nominations from department chairs, gathering a pool of nominations, which will be
further vetted. Nicha explains that we, as the representatives of the student body, should have
some say in who represents us on the Council, not someone who is merely selected by the likings
of faculty members. Caroline urges everyone to start thinking whether they are interested in this
position or not, or whether there is someone who would be interested in this position. The
nominations will be collected at the meeting on April 9.
Caroline and Nicha hopes that the actions of the SRC will encourage the decisions that are being
made in the Council to be more student oriented. Zach Finnegan raises the question whether the
nominations will be something the SRC will vote on. Caroline clarifies that the SRC will be a
flexible, non-voting committee for the starting years, and the nominations will be accepted on
willingness.
Noa Sarid brought up the concern of how we, as SRC members, can communicate with our
respective departments in a more official way. Caroline recognizes that this is something we are
still working on and it is currently still informal. She suggests that some contact between the
SRC member and their respective department chair would be sufficient. Leigha brought up that
the Compositional Department has a compiled list of composition student emails and the SRC
members discussed the differences in their respective departments. Lauren Jewell mentions that
the Music Education Department has a secretary that is able to distribute a message to the
student body if needed.
3. Jacobs Committee Representative Report
Leigha updates the SRC on recent PCC voting activities. The MLK Day Policy was taken to the
PCC earlier and was discussed at length. The Student Performing Policy was also discussed, and
the PCC improved on the language used and modified details, specifying that a total of 20
performers may be present on stage, not applicable to the Compositional Department and Jazz
Ensembles. The main task the PCC had recently accomplished was putting together the
composite calendar for the next year. The big obstacle this year was that the opera dates land
right before Thanksgiving break as well as Spring break. There was also a discussion about how
there were not enough weekends in April to successfully insert all the events that the JSoM
desires in a satisfactory manner, between the Singing Hoosiers concert, Jacobs Live at the
Movies, the Jazz Celebration, and the musical. Caroline expressed her recent discovery that the
JSoM decided to keep the Jazz Celebration and Live and the Movies series next season as the
opera season will be filled up again with six operas.
Caroline opened up room for discussion and thoughts as she expressed her concerns that even
though it is creating more opportunities for students to perform, it seems that the JSoM is
capitalizing on these events. Nicha agrees but points out that the JSoM is being smart by
diversifying their audience by putting on a variety of events. Following discussions included
issues of scheduling ensembles and the rigorous rehearsal schedules effecting students. Noa
brought up that this past year, the rehearsals would run as late as 11:00pm and some freshmen
have 8:00am classes. There was a discussion on how faculty members and administration staff
wanting students to perform at a high-level as well as maintain good academic standing can
effect students’ mental health.
Leigha also mentioned the University Student Organizations (USO) and Self-Governing Student
Organizations (SGSO) Scheduling Policy in regards to the privileges in the reservations of JSoM
spaces as well as scheduling issues.
4. Members’ Business
Caroline opened up room for discussions for issues that the Council Representatives could
potentially take to the SoM Council meeting on Thursday.
Zach circled back to where students can file a complaint within the SoM. He brought up an
incident where an issue was brought to the Department Chair and never got resolved and
therefore, brushed off. Caroline also mentioned the possibility of when the complaint is of a
Department Chair. It was clear that there was no specified path to file a complaint within the
JSoM. Zach also questioned whether there was someone outside of the JSoM to whom the
students could file a complaint, and therefore this outsider would have a non-biased view and act
as a third party to resolve an issue. Caroline also brought up the disconnect between the
University and the JSoM. Noa also brought up the issue of the unclear protocol of reporting
sexual harassment whether it is between students or faculty members. There was a continuation
of general discussions regarding sexual harassment.
Dennis spoke about the difficulty of having a person from the University connecting with a
JSoM issue as they do not have the insight, and how it could be a solution to a lot of problems
to have someone of higher power who can act as a bridge between the University and the JSoM.
That person would preferably not have any direct connection to the JSoM such as being a
Department Chair.
Paula expressed her concerns for the creation of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department.
The JSoM has a Diversity and Equity Committee, however, it is not full-time. The main function
of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department would be to act as a neutral party to handle
these harassment complaints and conduct diversity trainings. SPEA has recently developed this
new department within their school. Berklee College of Music has an effective similar
department. Caroline mentioned that Jacobs is working on partnering with the Eskenazi School
of Art, Architecture + Design to create a position for at least one point person, mainly for issues
related to diversity and equity.
Marika Yasuda brought up an issue with inconsistency in course descriptions and students
getting charged for making adjustments to their schedule. The titles of academic courses can be
misleading and if the course descriptions are clear, streamlined, and updated in the course
catalogs and bulletins, it can reduce this confusion. Caroline mentioned that coordinating the
drop/add fees has been a University-wide issue that has received a lot of student complaints.
Dennis brought up the issue that JSoM students do not know the ensembles they would be
placed in until after they have already registered for other classes, therefore, requiring them to
make changes to their schedule and having to pay the drop/add fees. As a solution, the students
could potentially sign up a class that is called ‘Ensembles’. Caroline elaborates that for vocalists,
they have two rehearsing slots and not knowing the ensemble placements restricts them from
registering for the academic classes they want early enough. Nicha suggested that another
possibility is for the JSoM to possibly waiving the fee until a certain date.
Lauren brought up the lack of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) staff on-site at
Jacobs. There is only one CAPS person who is stationed at the JSoM and there has been some
difficulty with scheduling and personality matching. Leigha points out that you can switch
counselors at the IU Health Center. A possibility of adding someone who specializes in music to
the CAPS staff would be extremely beneficial to the JSoM.
Alex Tedrow mentioned that a lot of students have 9-5 schedules and the Admissions and
Financial Aid Office, and Advising Office also hold those hours, therefore a lot of students
cannot make it to opening hours. A drop-off box should be placed for those offices for students
to submit forms. This could be solved by having the Council Representatives directly ask the
offices to do so.
Dennis expressed his concern that an addendum should be added in the programs in order for
all the students to get credit for what they do. In all the opera and ballet performances, there are
a lot of hands that go into making a show successful, not just Set Designer or Costume
Designer.
Leigha brought up the act of prioritizing topics and issues that we bring to the SoM Council in
order to respect their time and to be listened to and considered. Noa also asked for the Council
Representatives to ask the Council for a unified announcement Jacobs specifically about the
Coronavirus situation.
The prioritized topics to bring to the SoM Council are complaint filing, clarification on the
Diversity and Equity position, and CAPS staff.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10pm.
Written by Nicha Stapanukul, Graduate Representative of the School of Music Council