DEMO: This year, the college has undertaken a major effort to prioritize programs and services campuswide. Tell us about the Blueprint | Prioritization process.

DR. CARTER: With a focus on the best interests of our students and to ensure our institution remains among the best in our field, we are in the middle of a year-long process—called Blueprint | Prioritization—to review our academic curriculum and nonacademic programs. Reviews are a fundamental requirement to ensure the health and vitality for our community, just as they are at any academic institution. To be clear, no decisions have been made at this time.

We were prompted to launch this review nearly a year ago because it became clear to us that the disciplines in which we provide instruction have changed. We know that the Columbia of today cannot remain the same as it was for students even five or 10 years ago. And so we are embracing this process as a great opportunity to create a new model in higher education and ensure Columbia's curriculum and programs remain on the cutting edge of arts and media education. We must ensure that our programs keep pace with contemporary arts and media industries so our students receive the best training possible.

When we began Blueprint | Prioritization, we wanted to respect Columbia's legacy of encouraging vibrant, open, and honest discussion and, thus, chose an atypical, transparent, and inclusive method that incorporates analysis, proposals, and considerations from our entire community—not just a select group of administrators chosen to guide the process. In fact, our faculty and staff established the review criteria by which we are looking at our academic and nonacademic programs. We believe that the transparency we are offering throughout this review—by making each tier of recommendations available for community review and hosting listening sessions for feedback—is exceedingly rare.

So where are we now? Since January, faculty and staff across our institution reported crucial data on their programs, and we saw recommendations made by our deans, associate vice presidents, vice presidents, the interim provost, and our staff and faculty prioritization committees. We have also held listening forums, giving all faculty and staff the opportunity to provide input at several points in the process. Students are also able to provide comments and feedback via the Student Government Association (SGA).

I am deeply appreciative to these individuals, their dedicated effort, and the hundreds of hours it took to bring us to this point.

I am very much looking forward to reviewing and carefully considering all recommendations made and feedback provided by our community, including students, in the weeks leading up to and after you will read this issue of DEMO. My review will include reflection on and careful consideration of all recommendations and feedback, ultimately culminating with my final decisions made to the Board of Trustees in June.

We deeply appreciate the outpouring of support, excitement, and passionate recommendations discussed throughout this period. We are listening carefully to ongoing dialogue, and we hope you are just as excited as we are to ensure our students continue to be best positioned to author the culture of their times.