In an exclusive interview with the Chronicle, Senior Vice President and Provost Marcella David said the overhaul of the college’s academic programs was a necessary “refresh” to better connect students in different disciplines and to reflect the technological changes that have occurred within their future industries.

Columbia eliminated or consolidated nearly half of its programs in December when the Board of Trustees approved David’s recommendations to cut or consolidate both undergraduate and graduate programs, as the Chronicle previously reported. Starting next fall, the college will offer 33 undergraduate and seven graduate degrees.

“It’s not to throw shade on the programs as they existed before, but I think there was a moment where we needed to — as has happened in Columbia College’s history in the past — refresh,” she said.

In the 30-minute interview on Friday, Feb. 7, David also talked about the benefit of a new student information system and how the college is addressing problems with registration. 

Asked about her future at the college, David said she has no plans to leave Columbia even under a new president, although she might have to step down as provost, a position she has held for the past six years. 

“I don’t have any plans to leave Columbia right now,” David said. “I appreciate that somebody else coming in with a different perspective might add value in a different way and I’m open to leaving room for that to happen.”

The college is in the process of choosing a new president to replace Kwang-Wu Kim, who stepped down last summer after 13 years. Jerry Tarrer, who was the chief financial officer under Kim, has served as interim president and CEO since July 1.

Columbia is currently facing a $17 million deficit, which the college is targeting with operational cuts, buyouts and layoffs. The overhaul of academic offerings was intended to eliminate costly or under enrolled programs. It is estimated to save $5 million over two years.

“I am incredibly proud of the work I was able to do with the talented faculty and staff of Columbia College in addressing the COVID crisis and thinking about our budget and our need to think about our programming differently to kind of get through what was very difficult in the year last year,” David said. 

David is also a professor in the School of Business and Entrepreneurship who has previously taught a Big Chicago honors class: “Access, Civic Life & City Design.” She said that she would be “honored” to be able to continue to contribute to the college in a different role. 

The School of Business and Entrepreneurship had several teachers among the 23 full-time faculty who were laid off last month.

She also went in-depth on a new student information system the college is implementing to consolidate the various existing and separate systems.

Student information and data is stored on Jenzabar, which is the current student information system Columbia uses. Then there are other distinct and separate technological softwares the school uses for the degree audit system, scheduling, admissions and financial aid, which is then pulled into Jenzabar. 

All of this information and data will be held in the same place with the new student information system.

“So what this will do is we’ll have a singular place where we believe that it will not only be updated and allow us to use the data with more fluidity, but allow us to have it in the same place that we’re able to more easily allow you to access it and keep on track with where you are in terms of your graduation progress and where you are in terms of meeting them requirements for your degree, David said. “So I’m really excited about it.”

David said this also will help address registration issues for students and improve communication between advisors and faculty. 

“The registration process would be the same, but we know that you will have questions, so we are working on thinking about RegFest in a different way to build in more time to ask those kinds of questions and to have more information available for you,” David said. “They are also working on RegFest in a way to begin to introduce how the new student information system operates.”

Students expressed confusion while registering for their 2025 Spring semester classes and felt apprehension from support of their advisors due to the reduced College Advising Center, the Chronicle previously reported. 

Mario Jimenez, senior photography major and president of Latino Alliance, emphasized the struggle he and his peers had during registration.

Students “couldn’t sign up for the classes they needed to graduate, either for their major or their minor,” Jimenez said. “When they would reach out to their advisor, the advisor wouldn’t be there at all or they would say that they’re not authorized to put them in that class.” 

It will take the span of one academic year for all of the current student information systems to be moved to the new one. 

Jenna Davis, president of the Student Government Association, told the Chronicle how necessary the new student information system is to students, “especially as so many changes are being made, this is a positive one.” Davis also mentioned how out of date and slow the current registration system is and that she hopes the new system is more user friendly.

The college has raised tuition the past three school years, the latest increase being approved last fall, as the Chronicle previously reported.

Columbia is a tuition-dependent institution. When enrollment decreases, the college loses its main source of revenue. Enrollment declined by 1,000 students in Fall 2024. 

Jimenez said he has seen a big change over the past semesters as many club members of Latino Alliance have either dropped out of the college or transferred to another due to registration issues and tuition increases.

“There’s been a lack of inspiration,” he said. “From what I’ve seen, we’re all trying to graduate no matter how, if it’s a terrible experience or a good experience, we just want to leave.”

From her perspective, Davis said she has seen more students involved in forming a community on the campus this past academic year. She said the wide range of student academic morale throughout the school is a mix of perspectives since “a lot of people are upset by the changes, but some people are not as upset or are so confused they don’t have an opinion.” 

The new program array will begin to be implemented during the Fall 2025 semester, which will cause some classes to increase in size. David tried to reassure students that the school will prioritize having a balance of large and small student classes, a process where faculty have also been asked to weigh in on. 

In those spaces where hands-on, smaller classes are vital to learning experiences, we [will] continue to have those, but we’re able to be more efficient in having classes that are more lecture based or less hands-on be of a larger capacity,” David said. 

David said it is beneficial to keep hands-on studio classes smaller, “you’re able to have more one-on-one time with your professor, you’re able to know your peers in the class and you’re able to get a rich learning environment.” 

David’s interview with the Chronicle came just hours after she met with the Faculty Senate during its regular monthly meeting on Feb. 7. 

In that meeting, faculty leaders raised concerns about job security and morale after David said that more faculty layoffs could be possible in the future but she “cannot say at this moment for sure,” as the Chronicle previously reported.

In her interview with the Chronicle, David acknowledged the questions and anxiety the campus community is feeling because of all the changes taking place. But she said it’s also important to celebrate the good that is happening at the college.

“I think it’s really important to celebrate some of the other things that are happening, where we see the success of our faculty or see the success of our students, but people aren’t focusing on those,” David said. 

Davis, the SGA president, said that for students, that will take time.

“I want to believe that the school has the student’s backs, but they have a lot of rebuilding trust to do within the student body,” Davis told the Chronicle. 

Copy edited by Trinity Balboa

Resumen en Español: 

En una entrevista exclusiva con el Chronicle, la rectora y vicepresidenta Marcella David defendió la reciente reestructuración de los programas académicos de Columbia como una “actualización” necesaria para adaptarse a los cambios en el sector. David también habló de la implementación de un nuevo sistema de información estudiantil para agilizar la matriculación y mejorar el asesoramiento académico. Aunque no tiene planes inmediatos de marcharse, reconoció que podría dejar su puesto bajo un nuevo liderazgo. En medio de las dificultades financieras y los despidos, los estudiantes y el profesorado siguen preocupados por la moral y la seguridad laboral.

Resumen en Español por Doreen Abril Albuerne Rodriguez

Texto editado por Manuel Nocera