The combining of the ballet and modern dance departments is a big change, but the budget cuts handed down by the Utah Legislature mean they’re changing even more.
The effects of the 17.5 percent budget cut to the U’s funding has not bypassed the two schools8212;soon to be the singular U School of Dance. Cuts have been administered to certain areas as a result of the loss8212;on top of the college’s already small and previously hacked budget.
Operating budgets that pay for ink, paper and phones were cut, as well as facility maintenance for both schools. Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts Brent Schneider said, in 2002, most departments in the college already took a major loss in their operating budget. Bené Arnold, the department chairwoman for ballet, said that last year her department had a $3,000 operating budget, which she said was not enough.
After cutting operating budgets, cuts were seen in auxiliary staff funding. Empty positions for adjunct professors could not be filled, putting more responsibility on the tenured staff, Schneider said. The shortage of teachers means larger class sizes, which Schneider said students should already be noticing.
He said fine arts has it harder than any other college on campus, since science-related colleges receive more third-party funding than art does.
“What has not been sacrificed is the quality and integrity of the education,” Schneider said.
The budget cuts have not touched scholarships, however.
“We would not attract the talented students we have without these scholarships,” said Raymond Tymas-Jones, dean of the College of Fine Arts. Most scholarships come from endowments and the interest produced from them, Schneider said.
Other things the departments are avoiding are production cost cuts for performances, Arnold said.
Schneider said they planned four months in advance for the Legislature’s cuts. But as for next year’s expected 18 percent budget cuts8212;double what the college had to face this year8212;Tymas-Jones said initial planning for future cuts have not begun yet and that they are already cut to the “bare bones.”
