CHICAGO, IL (October 30, 2008) -- Because of safety and security concerns due to the huge crowds expected at Grant Park the evening of Tuesday, November 4, the Provost has announced that Columbia College Chicago will close early on that date.
Classes beginning after 3 p.m. are cancelled and all campus academic and administrative buildings will close at 6 p.m.
Residence Centers will remain open and residential students with proper identification can attend viewing parties in their respective residence centers.
All college events and activities for the evening of Tuesday, November 4 are cancelled.
The previously scheduled Voters’ Block Party – sponsored by the Columbia Urban Music Association has been postponed until Friday, November 7, 6 p.m. Conaway Center, 1104 S. Wabash.
Radio, Journalism and Television Departments Election Night Coverage. Participant access to facilities in 600 S. Michigan and 33 E. Congress with current Columbia student, faculty or staff ID only.
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Chicago, IL (October 20, 2008) – Renowned education advocate and reformer Jonathan Kozol spoke at the first event for Columbia’s Founders Lectures series on Monday evening at Film Row Cinema. America’s “national conscience on education” engaged with an enthusiastic overflow crowd of faculty, students and civically-minded citizens, including many public school teachers.
Kozol, author of Death at an Early Age (Houghton Mifflin, 1967), Rachel and Her Children (Crown, 1987), Savage Inequalities (Crown, 1991), and most recently Letters to a Young Teacher (Crown, 2007), spoke eloquently about the current state of public education and the importance of creativity and the arts, especially in underserved schools with large minority enrollment. “Teachers in public schools are my heroes,” Kozol proclaimed with great sincerity throughout the evening.
A graduate of Harvard and a “drop out” Rhodes Scholar (Kozol called himself a “bad Rhodes Scholar”), he broke ties with his Ivy League education in the mid-1960s, walking away from the economic privilege implied by a Harvard degree to become a public school teacher. Kozol began as a substitute teacher, choosing to work in elementary schools in the predominately African-American neighborhood of Roxbury, just outside of his hometown of Boston. It was during this time that Kozol found his life’s work, becoming an advocate for children and educational equity.
Dressed in a suit with rolled up shirt-sleeves, Kozol lectured passionately about a broken educational system that is more invested in standardized test scores than the individual needs of the child. Kozol declared No Child Left Behind “a failure,” and went on to praise the ideals of an education in the arts, calling Columbia “My favorite college in Chicago.” Kozol’s ties to the school date back to 1976, when he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree, which he still displays on his living room wall.
Kozol peppered his lecture with anecdotes of his experiences of visiting schools and putting a human face on the children and teachers he came to know. He wound down the evening with a story about his dear friend, none other than Fred Rogers. Kozol stepped away from the lectern and pointed to his feet – navy blue tennis shoes – which he wears in memory of Mr. Rogers and all he has done for nurturing young minds over the generations.
Kozol left attendees with much to contemplate – and a call to action. Kozol received an impassioned standing ovation from the audience. “I was surprised that an exciting event like this was open to the public,” said audience member Vincent Choi. “I really appreciate you [Columbia] for putting this on…thank you very much.”
Future speakers for the Founders Lectures are: Sir Ken Robinson, Anna Deavere Smith and Richard Florida. More information at www.colum.edu/conversations
PHOTO CAPTION: Kozol (left) and Columbia President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D. Photo: R. Kusel
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Chicago, IL (October 14, 2008) -- In an overwhelming show of support the Columbia College Chicago Board of Trustees unanimously approved the extension of college President Dr. Warrick L. Carter’s contract through August 2012.
“The college’s growth – both quantitatively and qualitatively – during Dr. Carter’s tenure has taken us to a position of national prominence,” said Allen M. Turner, board chairman. “We are secure and strong fiscally, our enrollment continues to grow and our academic programs receive international recognition. It is truly Columbia’s moment and it is due to Dr. Carter’s leadership that we have attained this position. We are depending on him to lead us into the next decade with the same outstanding level of vision and skill we have come to depend upon.”
Carter took the helm at Columbia in summer 2000; his inauguration into the office of President occurring during September of that year. His 4-year contract was unanimously renewed in 2003, with a further extension until 2010.
“With this extension through 2012, he will be the Dean of Chicago-area college Presidents,” notes Turner. When Henry Bienen of Northwestern University retires on August 31, 2009 Carter will stand as the longest-serving college president among peer institutions in the Chicago area. “As Columbia looks toward and beyond attaining the goals Carter set for the college in its strategic plan, Columbia 2010, the board of trustees deemed continuity of primary importance to guide us into our next phase of growth,” added Turner.
He has overseen the academic restructuring of the institution from a small college in which all 23 academic departments reported to one dean, to a professionalized academic structure in accord with best practices industry standards. Under Carter’s leadership, Columbia has attracted top-notch academic administrators and recruited highly credentialed faculty, working with them, along with the college’s long-term, dedicated and gifted faculty, to expand academic offerings and build the rigor of the core liberal arts and sciences curriculum.
“While Columbia continues to emphasize developing the artistic voice and teaching state of the art skills geared toward success in the arts, entertainment and media industries, we are also engaged in enhancing the liberal arts and sciences curriculum,” explains Carter. “We are at a crossroads in our evolution as an institution of higher learning. How will we define our course in the years to come? Regardless, we will encounter both risks and rewards as the surface and the substance of the college changes and evolves. We are prepared for both.”
Carter’s guiding principals, reflected in the college’s mission, adhere to a firm belief in the importance of access and opportunity in higher education and the importance of a diversity of voices in the American cultural product.
As Columbia has grown in size and reputation it has attracted an increasing number of students who are enrolling at the college as a school of first choice. Since 2004, the number of out-of-state freshman enrollments has increased a whopping 94%; overall out-of-state enrollment has increased 151% since 2000. Carter has been working with academic leadership to explore ways in which Columbia can continue to serve students across a broadening spectrum of preparedness, ensuring that each individual has an optimum learning experience, including standardizing learning outcomes, providing increased in-service pedagogical training for full and part-time faculty, and planning for an honors program.
Carter has also guided Columbia into the global arena. When he came into office, the college did not participate in any foreign exchange programs or engage in relationships with institutions of higher education outside the United States. Columbia now offers over a dozen of its own programs of international study and has institutional relationships with colleges and universities in London, Dublin, Paris and Florence which provide opportunities for Columbia faculty and students to work and study overseas.
In terms of physical growth, since taking the helm, Carter has added more than 230,000 square feet of property to the college’s portfolio, and has brokered more than 64,000 square feet in long-term lease arrangement. The resident student population has grown from less than 500 to more than 2,650, with students occupying the college-owned residence hall at 731 S. Plymouth as well as leased luxury dorm residences around the South Loop and in the 1,700-bed University Center Chicago, a model residence arrangement in collaboration with Roosevelt and DePaul Universities. With its two dozen buildings totally more than 4 million square feet of space in service to the cause of higher education in the arts and media, Carter has grown the institution into a real force for economic development in the South Loop.
The next project on line is the Media Production Center (MPC). The Chicago City Council approved the sale of a parcel of land at 16th and State and Columbia will be breaking ground on its first new construction in winter of 2009 with a projected occupancy date of spring 2010. The 38,000 square foot MPC, designed by Studio Gang Architects, will includes two sound stages, a motion capture studio, animation lab, classrooms and space for production design and costumes and serve the students of the college’s school of media arts. In keeping with the college’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility, the MPC will aim for LEED certification at the silver level.
Fundraising for the MPC is in full swing and is a watershed in the change in development efforts at Columbia since Carter joined the college. “Giving has nearly tripled since Dr. Carter’s tenure at Columbia,” says Eric V.A. Winston, vice president of institutional advancement. “This is a sea change for Columbia because until Dr. Carter’s arrival, the college had a tradition of eschewing development efforts and depending almost entirely upon student tuition dollars.”
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CHICAGO, IL (October 6, 2008) -- The Columbia College Chicago Harris Center for Early Childhood Education (ECE), in collaboration with the Chicago Department of Children and Youth Services (CYS), has been awarded a grant in the amount of $600,000 from the McCormick Foundation to advance program quality in ten community-based Head Start programs.
The 18-month “Relay” project, which was designed and will be managed by Columbia ECE faculty member Karen Haigh, will engage education coordinators and site coordinators from participating Head Start agencies in an active and innovative program that will build skills necessary to more effectively manage staff, design curriculum and ultimately provide a better learning environment for both children and teachers.
The Relay, or “Reflective Learning in Action,” initiative uses the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. This approach, which is the guiding philosophy of Columbia’s ECE program, draws on a long history of learning theory and practice led by its founder, Loris Malaguzzi, who was influenced by the work and ideas of John Dewey. The project focuses on dialogue, reflection, collaboration and multiple perspectives. The engaged participation of both “teacher” and “learner” are key to the “reflective practice model” of the Reggio approach.
The Relay project, which begins in October, is comprised of six key components: organizational review; professional development retreats; professional development projects; monthly cohort meetings; individual mentoring; and progress update meetings. Participating Head Start agency managers will also engage in learning tours, curriculum planning, documentation and lectures.
Project Manager Karen Haigh has more than 30 years of experience in early childhood education including 15 years as director of child development for Chicago Commons. She holds a Master’s degree from the Erikson Institute and is currently completing her doctoral dissertation on professional development in a Reggio-influenced program at the Union Institute.
“I commend Professor Haigh and Dr. Carol Ann Stowe, director of our Early Childhood program, as well as their excellent, committed colleagues in ECE for developing and sustaining an outstanding, student-centered program with dedicated graduates – all individuals who have contributed to our success in receiving this important award,” said Dr. Deborah Holdstein, dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “The importance of the educational foundations built during a child’s early years cannot be overstated. The process is collaborative and demands the best from all participants – teachers, administrators, parents and community. The Relay project will help maximize the skills of key participants and provide a best-practices model for years to come. Columbia College Chicago is thrilled to be part of this critical work.”
The McCormick Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to strengthening our free, democratic society by investing in children, communities and country. Through its five grantmaking programs, Cantigny Park and Golf, and three world-class museums, the Foundation helps build a more active and engaged citizenry. It was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The McCormick Foundation is one of the nation’s largest charities, with $1.2 billion in assets. For more information, please visit www.McCormickFoundation.org
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