WSU’s proposed budget, released May 1, will not be finalized until the end of May, a point President Elson S. Floyd tried to reiterate during Monday’s budget forum in the CUB Auditorium.

Many of the students and faculty in attendance, worried about their programs’ futures, were not convinced.

The university’s two largest programs slated for removal – the Department of Theatre & Dance and the sport management major – represented the largest portion of the 200 people who attended the one-hour forum.

Senior theatre arts major Patrick Harris asked Floyd and Provost Warwick Bayly, who was also answering questions from the crowd, what he is supposed to do with a theatre arts degree from a university that no longer has a theatre program.

Bayly said for all WSU programs, certified students will be allowed to finish their majors. He also said the removal of the theatre program would not undermine the university’s commitment to the arts.

“The fact that you have your degree means you can point to what you have learned,” he said.

Senior sport management major Matthew Lockey said he was frustrated that the College of Education is saying his major doesn’t fit with the college’s mission. Bayly said the university would consider looking at moving the sport management major.

“Regrettable as it is, it is one of the multiple situations that were under consideration when it came down to the pluses and minuses,” Bayly said.

Students and faculty also questioned why the university is considering removing programs such as the the German major and other programs that would undermine WSU’s commitment to a well-rounded and world-class education.

Floyd said the budget was the most difficult he was dealt in his 15 years as a university president. He said there were no easy decisions in the budget, but that the university needed to make vertical and not horizontal cuts to preserve the quality of the education at WSU.

“Every time we take away a program, it takes away from the diversity of the program,” Floyd said. “We need as full an array of students and majors as we can. But we have to balance the budget.” Multiple students and faculty expressed frustration with the proposed 14 percent tuition increase during each of the next two years that the budget is based on. Many of them worried that this increase, along with many of the other reductions in both the state and university budget, are short-term solutions.

Floyd stressed that he has little control over the budget that was handed to him by the state, which he said is relatively short-term in nature.

“We are hoping the economy rebounds,” he said. “It’s an optimistic budget, optimistic in that the economy will improve.” The finalized budget is due July 1.