Shannon, what's wrong with your uni?
The president announced that they're cutting faculty, staff and majors to make up for the $14 million that they lost this year, while still keeping their salaries intact. They're cutting from the bottom instead of the top, and trying to change our university from a liberal arts focused school to a more business oriented school. She used the word "metropolitan" somewhere in one of the articles.
The Theater department will have 3 professors in total. They started out with 8, two of them have been terminated beginning at the end of the semester, and 3 are in phased retirement. Not only that, though, but they fired one of the professors that is part of a major powerhouse in the theater department according to my roommate. The other half of the powerhouse just might leave.
My own department is getting cuts too-- my advisor was almost cut, but was rescinded because another professor offered to leave in her place, and there's more to come.
The music department is getting cuts as well, though I'm not as well versed on that department as I am with my own and my roommate's departments-- basically, all of the arts are taking a harsh blow, the theater department taking the worst. People have been rallying and protesting outside of the provost's office on the Portland campus and the president's house here on the Gorham campus, too.
Four departments are going to be eliminated. 12 members of faculty/staff have already been handed their termination notices, with 20 to 30 more to go. Protests are going to continue through Monday and possibly even longer.
For more information, look at these articles.
Shit's going down here at USM, fellas.