ORONO – University of Maine students planning to declare theater majors this semester were blindsided earlier this week when they learned the administration was initiating the preliminary phase of the academic program suspension policy for the theater division of the School of the Performing Arts. If found lacking, the department could be suspended for up to three years before being restructured or re-instituted, or could undergo a further step toward official elimination.

In the meantime, the university has suspended the admission of new students as degree candidates to the program. Continuing students will be permitted to finish their degrees.

Douglas Gelinas, associate vice president of academic affairs and the administrator who will oversee the suspension process, said Wednesday the process was enacted for two reasons. The first is the result of a review last year by theater professionals from other universities. In the review, the evaluators applauded the quality of the faculty and students, but the structure, organization and management of the program itself received negative points.

Gelinas also said that because of budgetary shortfalls, the position of technical theater professor, vacated two years ago, would not be filled.

Administrators are concerned that the resources needed to uphold the academic mission of the theater program have been compromised.

“The point of initiating this program suspension policy is to take a hard look at problems that have been identified in the program and see if they can be solved,” said Gelinas. “We want to get a firm idea of where we are and where we should be. No decision has been made about the future, but the review process will begin this semester and we hope to have a decision by next semester.”

While members of the four-member theater faculty – one of the smallest programs on campus – were hesitant to talk about the suspension yesterday, several expressed surprise at the news.

“We have excellent numbers – well over 50 majors – and a very active masters program, which is the only one in the state,” said Sandra Hardy, a theater professor on the faculty since 1987. “Our audiences have steadily increased over the last 10 years. It seems as if the administration is chipping away at the department. It’s as if the situation has been set up.”

Students expressed concern Wednesday about being caught between a faculty they respect and an administration they trust.

“For us it means that the university cares about the condition of our theater department,” said Brad Fillion, president of Maine Masque, the student theater group on campus. “It’s a wake-up call to the department, not the students. We want our theater department to offer the best education possible. But we don’t want to get caught in the middle. We support our faculty. We support our administration. Our major goal is to create a stronger theater department.”

Neither Fillion nor Gelinas was prepared to discuss the specific internal problems in the department. But other sources who asked to remain anonymous said communication and relations between theater faculty and administrators at the School of the Performing Arts and the larger UM system have been strained for years. One person said the working atmosphere at the program was “terrible” and the investigation was “counter-productive.”

Some students expressed fear that the program might be suspended and eventually folded into the existing program at the University of Southern Maine. Others speculated that this was a way to purge faculty, who could be replaced after the three-year term limit of the process. But Gelinas dismissed these possibilities.

“Our hope would be that, by spring, we have decided on a way to revitalize the program,” he said.

Maine Masque was scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss the suspension. Members have been assured that despite the outcome of the suspension, Maine Masque, one of the oldest student theater groups in the country, will continue.

Fillion, who is a senior, said he and other theater students plan to remain vocal and actively involved throughout the process, and had confidence that the administration and faculty would work together to assure the best result for students. “I want to make the theater program as good a place for upcoming students as it has been for me,” added Fillion.

In a statement issued this week in response to student concern, UM president Peter Hoff wrote, “No matter what changes might occur in the degree programs themselves, I cannot imagine any scenario that would lead to the dramatic arts ceasing to exist at the University of Maine.”

The administration will conduct research this semester and expects to make a decision about the fate of the program by early spring.