Staff Spotlight: Anna Paradis

An interview with Anna Paradis (she/they), Graduate Student Services Coordinator, KU School of Music

Please tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been at KU and in what roles?

I joined KU in 2008, starting at Graduate Student Services in the School of Engineering, where I remained until 2020. I then worked as a Graduate Studies Associate in the Office of Graduate Studies at the university level, before moving back to graduate student services in the School of Music. I find that working with students is what I love and working at the school or department-level allows me to engage with students, faculty, and staff in more meaningful ways, including building relationships and programs that enhance the KU experience.

How do you and your department promote DEI initiatives and KU’s RISE plan and foster a sense of belonging for individuals from diverse backgrounds and life experiences?

The School of Music has been urged by its students and faculty to really examine our inherent biases in music education. Collectively, we are looking for changes in curriculum, increasing BIPOC faculty in music, exploring underrepresented (URM) composers and musicians within Music Theory and Music History courses as well as in student juries, creating a minority-focused student organization and DEIB student leaders, and more transparent support systems for URM students in music.

Although we still have much work to do to discover and highlight the contributions of underrepresented musicians, composers, and academics, we now have an Associate Dean for DEIB in the School of Music and a DEIB committee focused on creating a new strategic plan that includes many of those initiatives with long-term goals to create a more inclusive community.

Our primary focus was on listening this past semester. We created a Mental Health Survey to better understand our students’ mental health concerns and we are currently developing a faculty & staff survey as well. We are planning to revise the current DEIB Strategic Plan for the school over the next year to align with the school’s overall strategic plan and KU Jayhawks Rising. Our programs and advising model also allow for student one-on-one time with faculty and advising staff to best support students.

Please tell us more about a specific DEI initiative you or your department have undertaken.  What was the goal of the initiative and what approach did you and your colleagues take to achieve it?

We have several faculty and staff working on DEIB initiatives, but I proposed a School of Music Diversity Fellows Program, as an opportunity within the School of Music that would provide some funding and leadership training opportunities for students. I modeled this fellowship off the IHAWKe Fellowship that was created in the School of Engineering. I put forward a written proposal through the DEIB Committee in music and it was presented to the Dean of the school and the university-level DEIB office by the Associate Dean for DEIB in music. Initially, it was not approved, but following discussions with the Dean, the program was created and we recently announced our first cohort of fellows. We identified several potential funding partners to support four fellows (2 undergraduate and 2 graduate) for this fiscal year.

One of the responsibilities of the Diversity Fellows will be to provide a diversity-focused professional development event (open to all students) and explore the need for a student organization in music for underrepresented students.

With this fellowship we hope to better promote resources for underrepresented students, increase applications, enrollment, and retention rates of underrepresented students, provide some additional funding and leadership training, engage diverse students in new ways, and provide at least one new DEIB professional development event specific to music.  

How was the initiative inclusive of, or directly addresses the concerns or issues facing one or more underrepresented and/or marginalized persons at KU?

As a starting point, our Diversity Fellows will begin the work of listening and collaborating with their peers to provide feedback and ideas to better support URM students in music and create a community we are proud to be a part of --one that is inclusive and is not afraid of change. I think we all recognize a lot of things need to change, but we just are not sure where to start. My goal as their staff advisor, mentor, and advocate is to direct their efforts and connect them to the offices and individuals who can meet their needs, encouraging them to fulfill their professional goals and their dreams for the KU School of Music.

How will the department continue to measure the success of or impact of the DEI initiative and what’s the plan going forward for sustainability of outcomes?

We will measure success in a few ways, such as utilizing surveys to connect with current students and gather ideas. We will seek feedback and make changes based on that outcome data from events. The Diversity Fellows will define goals for this academic year and long-term goals in collaboration with the DEIB Committee in the school (tracking progress on these goals annually). I will conduct a mid-semester review with current Fellows to provide feedback and reevaluate our efforts based on their experiences in the program. I do believe our outcomes will evolve each year based on the current student body and their needs within the community. I have seen a strong shift towards mental health needs this year, but as students seek resources, their focus may shift. I want to be versatile and hope to create some student led initiatives that I can support and help sustain into the future.

Please learn more about our inaugural School of Music Diversity Fellows by checking out their news release!