Chicago, IL (January 23, 2009) -- In an effort to minimize non-classroom related expenses and maximize available scholarship funds, the Columbia College Chicago 2008 faculty and staff holiday party was held on campus this past December, rather than at the Hilton Hotel.
“This single action has resulted in a savings of $25,000” announced college President Dr. Warrick L. Carter. “I am pleased to announce that this amount has been added to scholarship funds for currently enrolled students.” The Office of Enrollment Management Services administers the distribution of scholarships.
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CHICAGO, IL (January 22, 2009) -- Responding to the need for creative solutions to increased financial pressures on college students and their families, the Columbia College Chicago board of trustees has approved several initiatives designed to assist current and prospective students as they continue to pursue a college education during these tough economic times.
“Our first priority is keeping our current students in school and assisting them in practical ways that will help them graduate with a minimum of long-term debt,” said Dr. Warrick L. Carter, president of the arts and media college. “We also must continue to be able to bring new students to Columbia, providing them with increased financial assistance as they pursue their educational and career goals.”
Beginning with the 2009 fall term, Columbia will increase its scholarship funds by nearly 50%. Scholarships will be available for both continuing and new students and will be heavily geared to students with demonstrated need.
Also increasing by 50% is institutional support toward the Columbia’s “Third-Party Scholarship Award.” For this award, the college matches qualifying scholarship dollars obtained from outside sources by students.
An innovative scholarship fund raising initiative has also been announced. Scholarship Columbia is a $1 million challenge grant to raise unrestricted scholarship dollars for continuing students with demonstrated need and merit. Primarily targeting Columbia alumni as donors to the fund, the college will provide a two-to-one match on alumni gifts up to $25,000. The college will match alumni gifts above $25,000 and non-alumni gifts on a one-to-one basis. All matches are based on new and increased giving. An anonymous donor has given a launch gift of $100,000 to jump start Scholarship Columbia.
In addition to increasing financial assistance through scholarships, the Columbia trustees have set the 2009-10 tuition increase at a modest 3%, bringing annual tuition for next year to $18,490. Columbia continues as one of the most affordable private arts colleges in the country.
Regarding cost containment, Columbia has frozen the salaries of senior administrators at and above the vice president level, cut travel and entertainment expenditures and has instituted an ongoing review process for all non-classroom related expenditures; campus renovation projects will focus on building safety and infrastructure and the learning environment.
“I believe strongly that as an institution we should take the long-term view,” adds Carter. “We must make every conceivable effort to help support our students’ aspirations. It is imperative for our society and each individual in it that young people continue to dream, to learn, to create and to meet their futures with energy and enthusiasm. As the most diverse arts and media college in the country, it is especially incumbent upon Columbia to continue to provide access to higher education so that our graduates, who represent the many visions and voices of contemporary America, can continue to author the culture of their times.”
“When Warrick Carter began his tenure as President of Columbia less than 5% of our students received financial assistance from the institution,” explains Kelly. “We are currently providing assistance to 14% of our students and with the new scholarship initiatives, that figure will increase to about 20% in the fall. We will continue to work together to exponentially increase scholarships. Our goal is to continue to increase institutional assistance to as many students who have need, while remaining one of the most affordable private colleges in the country.”
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CHICAGO, IL (January, 2009) The Illinois Arts Council has named English Department faculty member Tony Trigilio a 2009 Artists Fellowship Award recipient in Poetry. In winning this award, Dr. Trigilio joins a select group of Illinois artists to be honored “in recognition of their outstanding work and commitment within the arts.” This prestigious biennial award, granted to only seven poets in the state, includes a prize of $7,000.
“I’m honored that the Illinois Arts Council recognized my work in this way,” says Trigilio. “I’m especially happy and honored because it’s not just a recognition of past work, but it’s also a show of faith in me, as an artist – it’s an investment , so to speak, in my future work. This prize enables me to travel and to have more time and space to produce new work.”
Dr. Trigilio is the Director of Creative Writing - Poetry and is the Associate Chairperson of Columbia's English Department. His most recent publications include the poetry collection, The Lama's English Lessons (Three Candles Press, 2006); the chapbooks, With the Memory, Which is Enormous (Main Street Rag Press; forthcoming, 2009) and Make a Joke and I Will Sigh and You Will Laugh and I Will Cry (e-chap, Scantily Clad Press, 2008); and two books of criticism, Allen Ginsberg's Buddhist Poetics (Southern Illinois University Press, 2007) and Strange Prophecies Anew: Rereading Apocalypse in Blake, H.D., and Ginsberg (Fairleigh, Dickinson University Press, 2000). He also is co-editor, with Tim Prchal, of the anthology Visions and Divisions: American Immigration Literature, 1870-1930 (Rutgers University Press, 2008).
Trigilio’s poems have been anthologized in The City Visible: Chicago Poetry for the New Century (Cracked Slab, 2006); Digerati: 20 Contemporary Poets in the Virtual World (Three Candles, 2006); America Zen (Bottom Dog Press, 2004), and A Gathering of Poets, a volume commemorating the students killed at Kent State University and Jackson State University (Kent State University Press). Tony also co-edits, with Lisa Fishman, Arielle Greenberg and David Trinidad, the poetry journal Court Green.
The Artists Fellowship Program offers funding for twelve artistic disciplines on a two-year rotating cycle. This year's Fellowship and Finalist Award recipients were selected from 921 creative artists working in the disciplines of Interdisciplinary/Computer Art, Music Composition, Photography, Poetry, and Visual Arts.
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Chicago, IL (January 12, 2009) -- Columbia College Chicago will undergo a comprehensive evaluation visit March 30 – April 1, 2009, by a team representing the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Columbia College Chicago has been accredited by the Commission since 1974. Columiba is accredited at the graduate and undergraduate degree level and includes all degrees within Columbia College Chicago.
The Higher Learning Commission is one of six accrediting agencies in the United States that provide institutional accreditation on a regional basis. Institutional accreditation evaluates an entire institution and accredits it as a whole. Other agencies provide accreditation for specific programs. Accreditation is voluntary. The Commission accredits approximately 1,100 institutions of higher education in a nineteen-state region, and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
For the past year and a half, Columbia College Chicago has been engaged in a process of self-study, addressing the Commission’s requirements and criteria for accreditation. The evaluation team will visit the institution to gather evidence that the self-study is thorough and accurate. The team will recommend to the Commission a continuing status for the college; following a review process, the Commission itself will take the final action.
The public is invited to submit comments regarding the college to:
Public Comment on Columbia College Chicago
The Higher Learning Commission
30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60605
Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Written, signed comments must be received by February 27, 2009. The Commission cannot guarantee that comments received after the due date will be considered. Comments should include the name, address, and telephone number of the person providing the comments. Comments will not be treated as confidential.
Note: Individuals with a specific dispute or grievance with an institution should request the separate Policy on Complaints document from the Commission office. The Higher Learning Commission cannot settle disputes between institutions and individuals. Complaints will not be considered third party comment.
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