Budget cuts are taking their toll on the theater, music and art departments as all offices struggle with less funding for their programs.

School of Theatre and Dance

Increasingly difficult work situations because of burnt-out lights and outdated computer equipment has been a concern for Alexander Gelman, director of the School of Theatre and Dance.

“In another year, year and a half, equipment will fall apart and faculty will be exhausted,” Gelman said.

Other issues include increasing the cap on the number of students allowed to enroll in general classes and the lack of space in the current facilities.

“At this point, we can’t grow at all in size, just quality,” Gelman said. “We will be renovated and expanded, but we’re waiting for the money.”

So far, there has not been a loss of faculty or staff in the department, but Gelman said that could change if budget conditions do not improve.

“Our faculty is very committed,” Gelman said. “Anyone can weather a storm, but if this sets in long-term, I am sure there will be exodus. Quality people want to work with quality equipment.”

SummerNITE, an internship program, was another loss the program suffered because of budget cuts. The internship, which was cut last year, provided the opportunity for students, staff and faculty to produce in Chicago with professional actors and directors.

“We have produced in Chicago in the summer and won lots of awards for 10 to 15 years,” Gelman said. “We haven’t had this for the last couple of years now either.”

School of Music

A rising number of temporary faculty instead of full-time tenure tracked employees is the trend Paul Bauer, director of the School of Music, has seen since coming to NIU 10 years ago.

Currently, the school has 30 tenure-tracked faculty and 30 temporary faculty.

“When I started, we had 40 tenure-tracked employees and less than 10 temporary employees,” Bauer said. “But I think our temporary faculty is doing an excellent job, and they are very effective.”

Bauer said budget cuts are something he has been dealing with for eight of the 10 years he has been at NIU.

“It is a real challenge in some quite serious ways,” he said. “We cannot expect to turn the clock back to 1985, but we need to go part way back.”

Cuts to the music program include the loss of a full-time staff accompanist, elimination of the vocal jazz ensemble Jazzvox, limited purchase of new sheet music and cancellation of some classes.

“A school of our size should have at least one full-time staff accompanist,” Bauer said. “We had to eliminate that.”

The staff accompanist is usually a faculty member who assists by playing piano during music programs. Bauer said the work now is done by volunteer NIU alumni and faculty.

As for classes, Bauer said they are only offering curriculum that serves general education and music major essentials purposes.

Visual and Performing Arts

Currently, the College of Visual and Performing Arts has resumed the search for tenure-tracked employees after not searching for two years because of budget cuts, said Harold Kafer, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“Our faculty has not been compromised,” Kafer said. “We are building faculty in a timely fashion.”

Faculty searches are not the only problem the department has had to face.

“Travel has been curtailed and equipment purchases have been delayed as well,” Kafer said.

Cutting back on the number of classes offered has not been an option for fighting the budget crunch.

“In many respects, we have focused on offering the appropriate classes for graduation, not cutting classes,” Kafer said.

Although budget cuts have impacted the school, they have not had an effect on finding help to teach classes in the art school.

“We have available a rich resource of people to call on because of our location near Chicago,” Kafer said. “It’s important to have a good mix of part-time and full-time employees, and we have alumni that help out, too.”