Indiana University is exploring a potential move of the Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance into the Jacobs School of Music. Currently, the department is under the College of Arts and Sciences.
The merger would take effect in fall 2027 at the earliest. Students would notice different types of programs and collaborations available, while faculty would see leadership and policy changes.
Indiana House Enrolled Act 1001 took effect July 1 and requires public universities’ degree programs to have at least 15 graduates for bachelor’s degrees. With this, IU announced the suspension, elimination or consolidation of 249 degree programs.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and ballet suspended new admissions this year because of low enrollment rates, Linda Pisano, chairperson for the Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance Department, said. Since the suspension, department leaders have been planning a new iteration of the programs.
That includes potentially merging both the degrees into Jacobs School of Music. Going a step further, leaders have also proposed moving the entire Theatre, Drama and Contemporary dance department to reside under Jacobs School.
The process of merging and consolidating degree programs consists of seven steps, including requiring the department, faculty and other committees to consider the impacts.
Principles within the official process state students will have academic protections during a merger, like the guarantee of finishing their degrees.
Tenured and probationary tenure-track faculty appointments are also protected in mergers, guaranteeing they will not be terminated. The only exception is termination under a merger due to financial exigency with impact that can threaten the longevity of the university. Under the exigency, termination of appointments may occur on a unit basis.
Overall, Pisano said faculty will be affected more than students.
“Our pedagogical mission and our vision would remain the same, but it would be an administrative change in terms of going through, for example, a faculty member going through a tenure and promotion process would be a little different,” Pisano said.
The Tenure and promotion processes at each school call for slightly different procedures within their policies listed. Both the College of Arts and Sciences and Jacobs School of Music require tenure candidates to submit a dossier of their past works but differ slightly in wording within the documents.
Pisano said admissions would not change; prospective students would still apply to the university, then audition for their respective program. The only change Pisano outlined is that prospective students will apply to Jacobs instead of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The official merging process has not begun, nor has IU leadership reached an ultimate decision. Pisano said the process is lengthy and, over the course of the merger exploration process, the outcome and impacts on faculty and students may change as the policies are reviewed by department heads, faculty and other committees on a university level.
Indiana University spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment by publication.
