Theatre Budget Cut $400,000, Grad Program Saved - Justin Longmeyer, UMKC News

The theatre graduate program narrowly avoided being disassembled entirely this summer. At the beginning of the summer it seemed as though a complete cut to the master’s program would be the only solution to meeting demands for the theater department to cut its budget by $800,000. After staff changes, the cut was lowered to $400,000. Considering a nearly $0.5 million cut that the department took in 2014, many faculty expected a much lighter hit to their budget this fall. “There was a complete disconnect between what were told by the administration in this April meeting and what they were really doing to the theater department. So the decision was made that we need to find someone who would save UMKC theatre”, said Tom Mardikes, a professor and chairman for the UMKC theater department. http://info.umkc.edu/unews/theatre-budget-cut-400000-grad-program-saved/