On this week’s episode, the editor-in-chief and deputy editor of the Chronicle discuss Columbia deficit, international student internship changes, the Jeff Awards, Mi Gente Renegades Latin Dance and the SGA blood drive.
Transcript:
0:04: Welcome back to Headlines,
0:05: My name’s Marc Balbarin.
0:06: I’m the deputy editor of the Columbia Chronicle. And I’m Will Blakley, the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Chronicle.
0:12: Alright, let’s just go straight right into things,
0:13: we’ve got a really busy day today.
0:15: Mhm, yeah. Marc, can you, please start us off over there?
0:20: I know we have the big news about the deficit here at Columbia.
0:24: Yeah, the budget deficit is projected to be reduced by over 50%.
0:29: Last year it started at $40 million and now we’re down to 18 million.
0:35: Wow, okay. Well, this came as the result of cutting 54 full-time faculty, 14 staff members, 5 instructional specialists and 4 senior admin.
0:47: So Columbia has done what it can to reduce expenses.
0:50: Now the main problem they’re trying to solve is how to generate enough revenue to fully close this gap.
0:56: Yeah. You know, it seems like we
1:00: have some plans going on.
1:03: I know they’re doing some stuff with the Semester in LA program that we’ll be reporting on soon —
1:07: that’s right, it’ll actually probably be up by the time this podcast is up — to get more students into that program, as well as just easing more students into different fields and majors and such. So, things are happening,
1:19: we’ll have to wait and see if they can really close that gap and generate the revenue to get us fully out of the deficit.
1:26: Did you have any other thoughts, Marc?
1:27: Yeah, no, the easiest way for them, that they acknowledged, is to generate more revenue is through student retention because Columbia is a tuition-reliant institution.
1:37: The best way for them to
1:39: reduce this deficit is by retaining students and getting more students in and getting more tuition in. Yeah, you know, so far this semester with the new first-years it seems like everyone’s pretty excited to be at Columbia.
1:52: So, we’ll have to see if they stay and if we draw more students in with these new different programs and buildings and such.
2:00: Yeah, no, we’re finally on an enrollment rebound compared to the last few years where it’s been on decline with these, once again, 1100 first time, first-year students.
2:10: So we just have to see what Columbia does in order to keep us.
2:14: Yeah. Also this week we have new updates considering internships for international students —
2:19: Marc, what can you tell us about that?
2:21: International students under the F-1 visa can no longer use curricular practical training to do internships.
2:29: Now internships are only available to them if it’s necessary to their education, not for future employment in the United States.
2:36: Mhm.
2:37: Yeah. I mean, this decision was, for the moment, frozen.
2:41: There was a hearing that was supposed to occur on Oct. 2.
2:45: At the time of this recording, we don’t know the results of that hearing, but I think that if this concerns you,
2:49: you should update yourself to see if that decision has been released, and if this has been unfrozen or continues to be frozen,
2:59: which concerns a lot of students here at Columbia.
3:01: We have a very wide variety of international students, and some, as reported in our story, are worried about being able to stay in the states after college because of this decision.
3:12: Yeah, a really important part about this too,
3:15: internships are one of the only avenues of income international students are allowed to get because they must stay through Columbia,
3:24: they must either be a student worker employed through campus or the federal work study or
3:30: through a sponsored internship that’s paid.
3:33: Yeah. This decision basically bars them from being able to do a lot of that.
3:39: Yeah, bars them from being able to support themselves and also better themselves when international students bring not only so many resources, but so many fresh perspectives that are unique, that are different, that come from a culture that not that’s not ours.
3:55: Yeah. No, I mean, it’s
3:58: hard for a lot of students out there right now, especially international students, and this decision is,
4:05: it’s said in our story, it’s breaking a lot of their hearts. It’s fundamentally changing their futures.
4:12: So, I don’t know, I hope further updates about this are more positive.
4:16: Yeah, this is something the Chronicle is definitely tracking going forward.
4:19: Yes, 100%.
4:20: We will be reporting on it in the future too, continuing to update students about the decision.
4:26: On a lighter note, do you know what’s something that was really, really cool that happened?
4:31: What happened?
4:32: The Mi Gente Renegades Latin dance club and team
4:36: performed at the Bears vs Eagles halftime show, which is like, “Wow.
4:42: Where did this opportunity come from, honestly?” It’s such a cool thing.
4:48: I was talking to one of their members, they were performing in front of over 60,000 people live in a stadium.
4:54: Yeah, I mean, the opportunity to get a halftime show is fantastic.
4:58: I mean, that’s a huge job. That’s huge.
5:00: I know there was talks with a previous coordinator for a certain event that they couldn’t do, but the fact that they were able to do this instead
5:10: of a previous event? That’s amazing, honestly. It kind of just shows how our school is like, “Hey, Columbia. We here.”
5:20: I mean, I think it also speaks to something that Bolton has really tried to prioritize since coming here, which is making Columbia more outward facing, right?
5:29: And a start of that was, moving WCRX to the front of the building here at 33, so that they are facing the public, and then Bolton’s on
5:38: the news every other day. Now we have something like this, which really puts Columbia talent first and foremost, and I do think it is a big reason we are seeing a climb in first-year students coming in, just because Columbia is becoming more a part of the city and its culture,
5:59: which is something that Bolton has really tried to push with the whole Renaissance Rising program.
6:04: Yeah, our full name isn’t just Columbia College, it’s Columbia College Chicago.
6:09: We are a core part of the city.
6:12: Our campus is not a traditional campus, it’s a city campus with buildings scattered all throughout Wabash and Michigan.
6:20: Yeah, yeah.
6:21: So, you know, this is just part of getting Columbia.
6:26: back into the city culture in a way that draws people in, which I think is a fantastic opportunity, not just for the college, but for the students —
6:33: that helps the college and the students, which I think is a really important thing to remember.
6:36: In other news of forward facing events that’s happened, the Jeff Awards. Do you want to talk about that?
6:43: Yeah, I can talk about the Jeff Awards a little.
6:44: They are awards for Union-based Chicago theater productions, and there were 23 nominated Columbia members, 8 of which, won a Jeff Award.
6:57: Tell me, what did they win?
6:59: Among them was James Sherman, who was one of the 8, and he was awarded for his writing on the show, “The First Lady of Television.”
7:13: He was very proud of it, very excited, of course.
7:15: He was among other winners, including Grant Sabin, Maximo Grane de Oro and Daryl Brooks, who all won for different things in production design, writing, directing, etc.
7:29: Really exciting opportunity.
7:31: We have such a great theatre program here at Columbia.
7:33: I genuinely think it’s really fantastic.
7:37: I did some reporting on theater back when I was just a reporter. You know, I kind of dipped my toes in the theater scene as well,
7:46: I did an improv class for a little bit.
7:49: That was really fun, really different, but improv is such a skill that translates to journalism, especially because we’ve got to come up with interview questions on the fly,
8:00: we’ve got to be on this podcast on the fly.
8:03: We’ve got to come up with transitionary sentences on the fly for this podcast, which we never mess up.
8:08: Never, never. Never. But yeah, no, I think our theatre program’s really great.
8:12: I’m really excited for a variety of things we’re showing this year.
8:15: We have “The Color Purple” coming up,
8:17: “Rocky Horror” is gonna be getting a stage at the theatre building for the first time ever, which is really exciting.
8:23: And the Jeff Awards are just a part of highlighting how so many of our faculty members are directly a part of the overall Chicago theater scene.
8:32: I mean, I’m seeing a production of “Sunday in the Park with George,” which I think has a Columbia alum involved with it.
8:38: Don’t quote me on that, I might be wrong about that.
8:40: But I’m seeing a production of that, which is one of my favorite Stephen Sondheim musicals coming up.
8:44: The theater scene in Chicago is just amazing, so
8:47: our faculty being able to be recognized for that, especially when we have such great faculty working in theater.
8:52: One of my favorite interviews ever was with Stephanie Shaw, who works in the theatre building, who’s just a very soulful, passionate person who told me one of my favorite quotes ever, which is, “Artists fall in love easily,” which is so beautiful. It’s something I think about a lot.
9:09: Like, “Artists notice the details, artists fall in love easily,” I think is the whole quote.
9:13: Every time I interview in the theatre department, it just always really brings a lot of inspiration to me both as a journalist, just seeing the soul of art in these people, but also, as a filmmaking student who really respects theater.
9:26: Theater, I think, to an extent is harder than film, and I really respect it for that.
9:30: So, yeah, really great opportunity for these teachers, very proud of them.
9:34: Do you know what else is great for the community that happened on campus?
9:39: The SGA blood drive.
9:41: Did you donate Will, blood?
9:43: Sorry? “Do you donate Will blood?”
9:45: Did I donate Will blood?
9:48: Sadly I had my six-hour capstone class that day.
9:53: it was literally within the blood drive starting and ending, so sad.
9:56: I was sad to miss it,
9:58: but I know you donated blood, Marc.
10:01: Yeah, I actually decided on my lunch break during my 6 hour class, like, “Oh, I could donate blood.
10:07: It’ll be a quick 15 minutes, right?”
10:10: No. You thought donating blood was gonna be 15 minutes?
10:13: That was my first time.
10:15: Oh yeah, okay, yeah. It took me 2 hours.
10:18: Yeah, it takes a long time.
10:20: Sorry, Yonty.
10:23: Alright, going forward, we hope you guys listen to us next time.
10:26: Once again, this is the Columbia Chronicle’s Headlines.
10:29: My name is Marc Balbarin, the deputy editor of Columbia Chronicle. And I’m Will Blakley, the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Chronicle. We will see you next time.
10:36: See you.
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