President - Interim

 

A message from Interim President Jerry Tarrer on August 30, 2024:

Dear Columbia College Chicago Faculty and Staff, 

This summer, our beloved Columbia began a new chapter, as we marked the end of the tenure of President Kwang-Wu Kim, Columbia’s 10th president. I want to start with a note of thanks as we honor Dr. Kim’s 10-plus years as Columbia’s leader, a period during which our college has strengthened student outcomes.

It is with great gratitude, humility, and optimism that I embark on my role as interim president. Gratitude, first, for the privilege of leading this wonderful institution, which, above all else, is made so exceptional by the dedicated and talented people who work here, and the magic that our students bring to and create on campus as they elevate their creative pursuits and us in the process.

Humility, because I believe this position is one of service as much as it is one of influence. My responsibility is to help create the conditions so that everyone at Columbia – students, faculty and staff –can continue to reach their academic and professional goals, and for our institution to thrive.

And optimism. While I recognize the tough road ahead us, I believe, on the eve of our college's 135th anniversary, that the creative spirit that has served Columbia so well for so many years, is alive and well and that the creative problem-solving abilities and the resilience of our community will enable us to come together, address our challenges and strengthen our efforts to serve the wonderful creatives who choose to pursue their education at Columbia College Chicago.

Why Columbia

The value of creatives, creative thinking and the creative spirit in our society is undeniable. Pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo, creatives are a potent source of innovation and progress in all areas of life; offering different perspectives and inspiring change, creatives both reflect and shape the cultural landscape, organizations of all shapes and sizes and society itself. Creative thinkers see connections, trends, and paths that others may not see; being some of the most adaptable and resilient people, creatives often can better navigate change in a rapidly evolving world.

At Columbia we can be proud that this college, for many years, has been a potent force in preparing creatives for productive and fruitful careers. In fact, for the 2023 class, 98% reported being employed, continuing their education, or achieving success in their creative practice. And 65% of bachelor's degree recipients reported having at least one internship while in school. This is a testament to our emphasis on hands-on, practiced-based education which helps our students to be career-ready upon graduation. As our new slogan puts it, creative careers start here.

Columbia College Chicago is distinct in many ways. Our collective efforts and our exclusive focus on creatives and creative pursuits has resulted in a culture that is much more than the sum of the various parts. There exist at Columbia a powerful synergy that nourishes the creative spirit, which is evident the moment one steps onto our campus. This culture manifest, in part, in the joy and vibrancy that for so long has been a hallmark of our college. It also manifests in an embrace of inclusivity and a welcoming and non-judgmental space in which students can. Our embrace and support of difference, be it cultural, socio-economic, or orientation, fuels our campus and creative endeavors, and it also better equips our students to thrive in the diverse and evolving world – and workplace – that awaits them.

We can be particularly proud of the fact that we have for many years successfully made a creative’s education available to students from socio-economic backgrounds who might otherwise not have had the opportunity to pursue an education in the creative disciplines, in an environment as nurturing as Columbia's. I am deeply committed to ensuring that Columbia continues to open its doors to deserving, underserved students.

Serious Headwinds

Today, Columbia is facing a major crossroad. The higher education landscape is rapidly evolving, and many colleges and universities find themselves facing major challenges to their continued operation. Columbia too faces significant obstacles. Because of lower enrollment and thus reduced revenue and resources, the college must change aspects of its operations and offerings so we can present a more coherent and relevant academic offering, one that facilitates paths to graduation and successful careers and honors our commitment to prepare creatives to author the culture of their times.

First, let’s establish an important fact. Since the global pandemic there are 3 major forces shaping the higher education landscape, especially for colleges like ours that focus on the creative disciplines: first, demographic shifts in which there are far fewer college-age young people; second, a significant shift in attitude regarding the value of a college degree as seen in the increase in the number of traditional aged students who are choosing to opt out and declining to pursue a college education, and finally, for Columbia, increased competition from better resourced liberal arts universities that have invested in their own arts programs in recent years. Though some modest growth is an important element of our strategy, these environmental pressures mean we are forced to face and address a reality we have known but until this year have not addressed: Columbia College Chicago must focus on and rally around those things it does best and be willing to acknowledge it cannot continue to offer all that it could when it was a much larger institution. We must also face the fact that the evolving expectations of students, families and employers forces us to examine and modify our offerings to ensure they continue to correspond to changes in demand. This work began this spring and must continue as we seek to strengthen our position.

Columbia Strong

As you know, this spring we took the painful and necessary steps of beginning to downsize our administrative footprint. This will help but is not enough. We must also right-size and streamline our academic offerings.

And so here is another key fact: We have 58 programs, over 70 if we count distinct concentrations. With an expected fall enrollment between 5,300 and 5,500 students distributed across 58 academic programs – an average of about 90 students per program – simple math reveals we are having to deliver a large number of credits to a shrinking number of students with shrinking available resources. We've seen how this negatively impacts the student experience for example, with desired classes filling up and only being offered every few semesters. Right sizing our offering will allow us to reallocate resources and address such issues.

This summer we began the process of reviewing our mix of academic programs with the driving principle that the current number of academic programs is unsustainable and at times counterproductive for students given the size of our student body. A steering committee was established that worked with an outside consultant to recommend which programs the college should consider sunsetting and which programs have the greatest opportunity to drive student success, improve the college's appeal and restore fiscal health in the coming years. These recommendations from the consultant have been presented to the Board of Trustees and I will be working with Provost David to review these recommendations with both the school directors and the faculty body. We plan to refine the consultant’s recommendations and bring them back to the Board of Trustees in the spring semester. In addition to right sizing our existing mix of academic programs, and in the spirit of remaining responsive to the evolving needs and expectations of students, families, and industry, we will soon begin a process of identifying new academic programs that will enhance and strengthen our program array. We will make our first recommendations to the Trustees in the upcoming spring semester.

I mentioned before our proud history of striving to create a culture of inclusivity. We must not take our eye off these efforts. I believe we must continue to work to make Columbia a place where creatives from all types of backgrounds can come, feel welcomed and contribute to the creative community that makes us so unique among colleges and universities. In the current broader cultural landscape, we must be vigilant about cultivating an environment of inclusivity and tolerance and collaboration. To this end, the Provost and I have asked Rosita Sands to step in and lead our campus in the DEI work that we know is so critical to supporting the culture we want.

The recent work done to restructure our 15 academic departments into 8 schools will play an important role in supporting the type of creative collaboration and synergy that is so needed to generate new programs; provide opportunities for cross-pollination and broadening our students’ understanding and skillsets; improve student outcomes; and support the creative spirit. This work must continue, and I ask that all members of the Columbia community support the Provost and the academic leadership in this important effort.

At Columbia we know and understand that the hands-on, practical education in the creative disciplines that prepare students in real-time for their careers, along with the vibrant, inclusive creative spirit that exists here, generates a powerful force, and makes for a life enhancing experience for the students who choose Columbia. We want more creatives to understand all that they get when they choose this College. To this end, I recently commissioned a group of faculty and administrators to come together and rework our brand position and marketing materials so that they highlight our strengths while speaking more to what both students and parents want out of a college experience. The results of this effort are already reflected in the changes to the college's website and will be rolled out as we enter the fall semester.

And while we have enjoyed success in giving students hands-on practical learning experiences, I know we can work together to ensure even more students have internship and experiential learning opportunities. This will require us to strategically grow our network so that we can open more doors for more of our students. In the fall, I will assemble an industry relations council that will be composed of administrators, academic leaders, and faculty, who will be charged with working with stakeholders across campus to better leverage current partnerships and create new ones. We also will ensure each of the new schools has an industry advisory council, which can provide invaluable opportunities for administrators and faculty to keep abreast of current trends and expected needs and solidify our corporate and non-profit networks. I am also committed to creating the “Columbia Agency” called for in the strategic plan. For our students, the benefits of stepped-up industry relations will be palpable: more alignment with realworld expectations, more exposure to business insights, more opportunities for internships, more robust portfolios, more employment prospects upon graduation, an ever more robust alumni network, and more opportunities to raise scholarship dollars.

Finally, I am a firm believer in the value and power of unity and its ability to overcome enormous adversity. We, unfortunately, have seen the negative consequences of failing to come together and working towards the elevation and the endurance of our beloved college. Unity falls apart when we, as a collective, take our eyes off the true purpose and value of our coming together as a community – which, for us, is the preparation of creatives to go into the world and, through their creative careers, work to change this world for the better. This is why this College exists and each of us must call ourselves to task to focus on the core of our mission. I call upon all of us to put the preparation of our students first and pull together to enhance our curriculum, our support services, and our community. I know that together we will make Columbia stronger and even more resilient and thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our college and its students.

Jerry Tarrer
Interim President/CFO



Columbia Strong: Interim President's 12-month Priority Map

As Columbia approaches it’s 135th anniversary, the college is at a very challenging moment in its history. The Columbia Strong set of priorities recognize the real and serious need to galvanize and rally the CCC community to work together to preserve and evolve an institution that is special in its unwavering focus on the preparation of creatives who make a difference in the world through their creative careers. There are 5 high-level themes that are realized through a series of initiatives.