Columbia’s budget deficit has climbed to about $40 million, President and CEO Shantay Bolton told faculty and staff on Thursday, Oct. 9 during the annual State of the College meeting.
The number marks a sharp rise from the college’s estimated $24 million deficit last fiscal year and was one of few specifics shared at a meeting some faculty later described as more pep rally than a traditional State of the College with financial updates. Several told the Chronicle they were frustrated by the lack of budget details and by the decision to forgo a community Q&A, a long-standing practice at past meetings.
“I came here to be educated about the state of the college, and what I got was a very well done advertising that would be wonderful for donors or prospective students and parents,” said Carmelo Esterrich, a professor in the School of Communication and Culture, “and I’m frankly a little infuriated.”
In her address, Bolton said a smaller incoming class this fall contributed to the widening deficit. Columbia’s enrollment this fall was 4,461, down from 5,571 a year ago, as the Chronicle previously reported.
When she announced the budget gap, there was an audible gasp from the faculty and staff gathered on the fifth floor of the Student Center.
Bolton said the college was in a state of “calm urgency” and urged faculty and staff to remain united as the college begins a four-month strategic planning process aimed at charting its next three years.
“We call it ‘Renaissance Rising — Shaping Tomorrow Together,’ a bold, unifying movement to honor our legacy, face our realities with courage and design the future we deserve,” Bolton said.
Columbia’s Faculty Senate President Karla Fuller, a professor in the School of Film and Television, said there were no surprises during the address apart from the rising deficit number.
“I feel like she’s absolutely spot on with where we need to improve,” she said, referring to Bolton’s four pillars to address Columbia’s challenges: stabilizing enrollment, elevating brand, strengthening philanthropy and improving operational efficiency.
Fuller said she was “anxious” to get into the planning stage and to begin working on a detailed outline for the next three years but said it seems like everyone is on the same page moving forward.
“I got some really good feedback from faculty who appreciated the unified voice,” she said.
In recent years, the college has regularly updated faculty, staff and students about its financial situation in community town hall meetings. At a 2023 meeting, administrators said the college needed to have “serious, honest conversations” about a growing deficit and outlined four strategies to balance the budget: tuition increases, improved student retention, new student growth and operational efficiencies.
In the Spring 2024 State of the College address, former President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim announced a hiring freeze in response to a $38 million deficit.
Then at another town hall in March 2025, then-Senior Vice President and Provost Marcella David told faculty that closing the deficit through fundraising “is doomed to fail” and said the college needed to focus instead on enrollment, which drives revenue, and on managing instructional costs.
Through a series of cost-cutting measures, the deficit was reduced to $17 million by March 2025, as the Chronicle previously reported.
Kim and David are no longer with the college, and after a year with an interim president and CEO, Bolton was picked to lead Columbia this summer.
This State of the College was markedly different from past events, more polished and scripted. The event started with a performance by Fusion Ensemble, a student group on campus, and a slideshow playing at the stage that highlighted Columbia’s 135 years.
“It was a great pep rally, but it did not provide substantive information about the state of the college,” said Joan Giroux , a professor in the School of Visual Arts. “We heard that we are in a position where we all have to pull together, but we didn’t hear the numbers.”
After disclosing the deficit number right at the beginning of her address, Bolton moved on to outline her vision, without returning to the college’s finances. She also did not talk about additional layoffs or specific cuts but referred to a “cost-cutting commitment to culture and talent.”
In an interview with the Chronicle after the address, Bolton reiterated that the college would need to streamline operations. “What we’re talking about is reviewing our institutional policies to make sure that we don’t have unnecessary bureaucratic layers in those policies,” Bolton said. “As a part of that, it may mean that we have to look at redundancies across the campus and the institution.”
Esterrich said that hearing news of the budget deficit rising was concerning because there likely will be further consequences if it grows. Although the president’s four pillars are “accurate” and “useful,” Estrerrich said he was expecting to get data.
“I need to know where we’re standing,” he said, “I am a professor; I believe in being knowledgeable about my situation and I feel as ignorant as I was before the presentation.”
Diana Vallera, president of the Columbia College Faculty Union, which represents part-time faculty, said hearing Bolton’s honesty and transparency about Columbia’s future was refreshing.
“I think you felt the energy in the room,” said Vallera, a part-time instructor in the School of Visual Arts. “I can speak for myself that having all the stakeholders’ leadership up there, supporting her, was important for me.”
Vallera, Fuller and Allison Geller, president of the United Staff of Columbia College staff union, gave brief introductory remarks.
At the end of her speech, underscored by the song “Rise Up” by Andra Day, Bolton urged attendees to put on a blue “Renaissance Rising” bracelet placed on every seat before the event. The music continued to play as Bolton spoke.
“I want you to think of this as a symbol of our shared commitment to renewal, to creativity and to forward momentum,” Bolton told the room. “Let it remind us that we are a part of something extraordinary, a community rising together to shape the future of Columbia.”
After she was finished, faculty were not given a chance to ask questions or get further clarification on the topics covered, although they were invited to send in questions in advance.
Giroux said that having no Q&A period built into the meeting was “extremely problematic.”
“It’s a challenge to the notion of transparency, and it’s a challenge to the notion of accessibility,” she said.
Copy edited by Matt Brady
Resumen en español
En la reunión del Estado de la Universidad, Shantay Bolton, la presidenta de la universidad, reportó que el déficit de la universidad se ha acumulado a $40 millones. Bolton atribuyó el aumento de $24 millones, estimado desde el año pasado, a una disminución de aplicaciones y estudiantes entrantes este año, que acompaña a otros factores de los años pasados como la huelga de la facultad.
Resumen en español por Sofía Oyarzún
This story has been updated.
