# How will the current economy effect the Arts at your prospective university?



## gafftaper (Jul 28, 2009)

"How will the recent economic downturn effect funding for the arts at your institution?", is a question every incoming student should be asking.

Anyone thinking about attending a public university should seriously investigate how that state's current budget crunch is effecting the university's funding of the arts. At my little community college we have been told we will have to cut at least 5 million dollars next year from the total campus budget. So far my theater department has not been hit by cuts... but what happens if things get worse? What is that going to mean at a state university in California, where the economic situation is far worse. A bad economy means less taxes coming into the state, which means less money to support state educational institutions. 

Private universities are not safe either. They survive on endowments and the generous giving of alums and those in the community. When the stock market imploded their endowments got hit hard. When the economy goes bad rich people have less money to donate to their favorite private universities. 

What get's cut first in education? The Arts. "We have to maintain funding for the core subjects" (Science, Math, History, English).


----------



## derekleffew (Jul 28, 2009)

gafftaper said:


> ...What gets cut first in education? The Arts. "We have to maintain funding for the core subjects" (Science, Math, History, English).


 (and Football).


----------



## dvsDave (Jul 28, 2009)

derekleffew said:


> (and Football).



sigh.... all too true, unfortunately. So, either techs need to figure out this economics thing and fix it, or we have to get creative in fundraising.

Also, how can your theatre cut costs for upcoming productions and come in _under_ budget to impress the school and show your department is fiscally responsible?


----------



## Esoteric (Jul 28, 2009)

Yeah, thankfully UT has the second largest endowment of any University (next to Harvard). Add a first rate football program (which brings in $$$$$$$$) and they are actually still expanding with no cuts.

But you might want to keep that in mind.

Mike


----------



## RichMoore (Jul 29, 2009)

So far, fingers crossed, we have had no budgetary cuts here at TAMU-CC. We were informed that we would not be able to add the additional tech staff position here at the Performing Arts Center and that there is a hiring freeze for faculty and staff, although I am sure that I will see many new faces at the next faculty meeting.

Rich


----------



## gafftaper (Jul 29, 2009)

Esoteric said:


> Yeah, thankfully UT has the second largest endowment of any University (next to Harvard).



Speaking of Harvard. Have you heard about the crazy stuff that went on their and how bad of a hole they find themselves in now? Here's a pretty good summary.


----------



## soundlight (Jul 29, 2009)

Well, considering that my old high school just did an entirely new arts wing (new art studio, dance studio, band room, chorus room, theatre classroom, storage space, shop) and is redoing the auditorium technically (new sound and lighting system, new floor, new paint), and that my college just got a control system overhaul (long list of stuff), a bunch of automated accessories (seachangers, loads of other DMX toys), some moving lights, and also 24 new channels of Shure UHF-R, I think that the arts couldn't be better right now in my world!

However, from what I understand, this is definitely the exception to the rule.


----------



## JChenault (Jul 29, 2009)

I understand that my alma mater ( Florida State University) has closed down it's technical theatre program due to state budget problems.


----------



## Esoteric (Jul 29, 2009)

gafftaper said:


> Speaking of Harvard. Have you heard about the crazy stuff that went on their and how bad of a hole they find themselves in now? Here's a pretty good summary.



Ouch! Well, UT's endowment is mostly from oil. So they made a mint some time ago and continue to ride high. Other than that, because they are a state school their investments are very conservative. Plus $15 mil in revenue for the general fund every year from football (with another $10 mil between baseball and basketball) after operating expenses also helps the coffers.

Yeah, UT just got over a million in Selador gear (they are finally making the leap into the LED market), and they add $50000-$75000 worth of movers every year. They took all their wireless (over 150 sets) over to Sennheiser with the 700 switchover, completely remodeled the PAC (private funds), and replaced an old patch system (124 dimmers for 355 circuits) with a dimmer per circuit ETC Sensor package. That after every other dimmer was replaced by an ETC Sensor (my senior year) and all the lights were upgraded to ETC Source 4 (although the old Altman units were kept in inventory).

Mike


----------



## rcal (Jul 30, 2009)

I can't really speak for any US universities, but I do know that most English universities won't be affected, as the government don't give any funding other than paying tuition fees and in other 'special' circumstances

I got my degree at the bristol old vic theatre school, and never had any problems, although we used to raise funds for parties and stuff by doing nude techie calendars every year, 

I'm sure if the uni's in America are struggling they could always fund some of their productions with some soft core porn calendars


----------



## gafftaper (Jul 30, 2009)

WOW Mike! UT sounds like it should be at the top of everyone's list. That's some impressive gear. 

RCAL: In America, nude calenders would run a good chance of getting you kicked out of school, getting department faculty fired, and of course a law suit is always possible.


----------



## craftythecoyote (Jul 31, 2009)

At my liberal arts uni--unc asheville-- the crisis didn't really hit until I was already out (lucky for me). But it is a relatively small school (5,000+ students). Their plan of action has been to drop classes that have an enrollment of less than 10 students. Well that is fine when you're in the psychology department where there are 30+ students in every class, but our theatre department only had about 30 majors at one time. As classes got more specialized the farther you went, classes sizes get lower and lower. I was the only scenic student in my graduating class, pretty much all of my senior classes were just me with my professor. Now, the school is cancelling all the classes the drama students are required to take just because they don't have the numbers to fill them. Students have been forced to all enroll in every theatre class to support each other, then drop the ones they don't need when the class is safe from being canceled. I guess that is better than the entire program being dropped, but it is no way to get an education.


----------



## NevilleLighting (Aug 1, 2009)

Really sad that FSU has killed that strong program. At my U all of our cuts are coming in hiring freezes rather then material budget cuts since salaries are 97% of the budget. We're looking at a 14% cut so we're leaner and meaner but the shows should be ok. More adjunct instructors, fewer class offerings, but the shows go on. The odd thing is that many of our local students can't afford to go away for college so we actually have a really big class ot tech/design Freshmen coming in. 

Generally, I think incoming college students will have to learn to do more with less, not a bad skill. Also, competition for jobs is much, much tighter. Learn to be the best of the best. Thirst for the knowledge that comes from experience.


----------



## derekleffew (Aug 11, 2009)

Thanks to John Kuehl on the ETC forum for linking to this article: Arts Programs in Academia Forced to Nip Here, Adjust There.


----------

