Student fees to support productions

[Gail Campbell]

Dear Folks - Input needed!
I teach at a small liberal arts university in B.C. The department has 2
full-time and up to 3 sessionals at any given time and a season of 2 or
3 mainstage productions per year. The adminstration believes that since
a revenue is generated from productions, no university money need be
allocated to the production program. We're looking for other sources of
income. The students here pay a student council/activity fee which is
used for a number of activities on campus such as a student newspaper
and the weight room at the gym; none of this money comes to the
university theatre to help offset ticket prices for students. It seems
reasonable to me that supporting the arts would be a good use of the
money, so these are my questions:
1. Do any of your theatre departments receive money from student
activity fees or student council?
2. If so, is it a set amount, a variable amount dependent on enrollment
or is it re-negotiated each year? How much does it affect your ticket
costs?
3. Do you give discounted student tickets, and if so is that loss of
income offset by any other income?

I'm hoping we can establish a precedent for student council to follow;
many thanks for your help.

Gail Campbell
gailc at twu.ca