This week on Chronversations: A conversation with the college’s newly elected President and CEO, Shantay Bolton.
TRANSCRIPT:
0:07: Welcome back to the Chronicle Chronversations.
0:10: I’m your host, Aaron Guzman.
0:13: This week on Chronversations, Shantay Bolton has been elected as the college’s new president and CEO and is set to take the position on July 1st, 2025.
0:24: Bolton is the first woman in almost 90 years and the first woman of color to lead the college.
0:30: Bolton was previously at Georgia Tech as executive vice president and chief business officer and will take the position of president and CEO from interim president and CEO Jerry Tarrer, who served in this role after Kwang-Wu Kim left after 13 years.
0:45: In an exclusive interview with the Chronicle held on March 17th, Bolton explains her decision to come to Columbia and what set it apart from other colleges.
0:54: I think that this is an interesting story, but I find Columbia is like no other.
1:00: Having spent the last decade of my career in higher education, I know that no two institutions are the same.
1:08: But Columbia stands apart for its unique legacy, the dynamic community, and, and also the creative leaders that it cultivates.
1:17: what drew me most to Columbia is its people, and I have to say that the Chronicle played a critical role in that.
1:24: That was my source of information.
1:26: I read as much as I could through the articles.
1:29: The students and the life and the experiences on campus, and how the community was responding to and reacting to the changes that we are experiencing, currently impacting higher education.
1:42: Columbia has thousands of aspiring creatives who are, what I believe, already shaping the culture of our current times, and the alumni network is just filled with inspiring success stories.
1:54: Bolton outlines her goals for the college during her time as president and CEO.
1:59: And highlights the importance of becoming close with the community of the college.
2:04: What I believe that my role as president is here is to really amplify the importance and the necessity of creatives and industry, what entrepreneurship looks like for creatives, and how do we bring innovation to this institution.
2:19: regardless of the latitude of resources.
2:22: One of the things that will be paramount for me is building relationships within our campus community.
2:28: I wanna hear from students and what their needs are, what their interests are, what will we need to provide as resources to help them to thrive during their matriculation of their academic experience.
2:39: I think the, the plan is to engage early and often.
2:43: What I found successful as I’ve spent the last decade of my career in higher ed and having working across very diverse student populations that I know that no two institutions are the same.
2:52: What I really want to know more than anything is how does Columbia College students want to be engaged, but I also hope to co-create what student engagement with your president looks like going.
3:04: Forward, but I’ve held meetings with students.
3:07: I regularly meet with student government now.
3:11: I also use that as opportunities to educate them, give them insight and perspective on some of the administrative decisions that we have to make, and what are some of the dynamics that go into that.
3:23: That’s all for this week.
3:24: Make sure to stay up to date with campus and Metronews at ColumbiaChronicle.com.
3:29: And sign up for our newsletter at ColumbiaChronicle.com/newsletter.
3:34: Don’t forget to check out our Three C’s podcast where we tell you about the 3 biggest things you need to know at Columbia for the week.
3:40: I’m Aaron Guzman.
3:42: Thanks for listening.
Copy edited by Patience Hurston
