Funding and Management Structure Community College

[HCP1]

Our PAC is under construction. At this time, the college has one employee to operate the facility upon completion: me.

Having visited other college auditoriums and PAC's, I see that there are a variety of models for management and funding.

Some are funded entirely by the college and support mostly a performing arts department with the bulk of the crew coming from the student body. Revenue is funneled back to scholarship funds.

Some are owned by the college, but operated by a seperate 501(c) (3) organization with some staff crossover but essentially self-funded by earned income and sponsorships.

Another is approx. 50% funded by the school and 50% by earned income and sponsorship with all employees working directly for the school. Again, this school presents 50 - 80% school-generated academic product and the balance is professional presenting and rental.

Still others are owned and operated by the college, but outsource some of their services such as box office and even programming.

Let us assume that our venue's programming will be 40% academic, 20% presenting and 40% rental.

Who out there has the ideal business model?

 

[museav]

Is this a private or public college? How is the PAC being funded, is it all state funds, all discretionary funds, all private funds or some mix? Did the construction funding include any requirements related to the use or operation, such as serving a primarily academic function? How are other college facilities operated? Is there a college foundation or similar group already existing? At least in my experience these types of issues may have a large bearing on the situation, especially since the construction funding was apparently already approved.

 

[SteveB]

Here's our situation:

- Public funded college

- 4 theater complex,
2300 seat road house/concert hall - 100 events yearly, 500 seat proscenium space that is Theater plus Music plus occasional but rare rentals - 2-4 mainstage Dept. of Theater, plus 10 -15 Music ?, 150 seat black box that is Theater Dept. only with 6-8 productions per year (no rentals - but other college users can use the space), plus 175 seat recital hall that is mostly music recitals with occasional rentals. Note that due to inadequate shop and constructions space, the stage of the 500 seat theater is used as shop space as it adjoins the shop.

- 2 Performing Arts departmental users - Theater and Music (they don't talk much), as well as all other dept's using the the 2400, 500 and 175 seat spaces for Exams, Lectures, Meetings, etc...

- Resident Non-Profit producing group that's been here since the facilities existed. Major community/city support as well as utilizing college facilities as office space/phone/heat/light, etc... 30 productions yearly.

- Many community rentals to profit and not-for-profit.

- Run by a branch of the college presidents office as an administrative arm (Performing Arts Center Organization - PACO) that has 8 full time college/state tax levied funded positions (2 backstage), as well as 6 add'l positions payed thru rental income., including 2 of the backstage that are IATSE Local 1 positions. All stage crew payroll is from rental income. The in-house non-profit producer pays "rent" and labor costs.

- PACO does ALL scheduling for ALL space uses, including theaters, rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, as well as absorbing all costs related to facility and system(s) maintenance (lighting, sound, staging for all theaters), but calls on college Facilities Dept. for much maintenance as can be handled on a big campus - which means we are at the bottom of the list as they know we have our own funding sources (rentals).

Theater Dept. has 5 full time technical - 2 carps, 1 lighting, 2 costumes and they use student labor for all events.

Music Dept. - since it has zero students backstage, relies on PACO, who absorbs the costs of Local 1 labor - with Local 1 having jurisdiction when a student is not a crew member as part of their "educational experience".

- I would guess maybe 17-20 full time employees outside of the Departments.

Steve Bailey
Brooklyn College