The Board of Trustees’ vote for adverse circumstance is not a surprise to me or any of the full-time faculty who have communicated with me; I expected this to be the decision from the moment I heard that the college would be embarking on this process, and I know that many full-time faculty have understood this entire process to be fait accompli especially since the premature email about this decision was sent out on Thursday, May 9th. Still, I am frustrated, sad and acutely disappointed at this outcome.

I do not believe that the declaration of an adverse circumstance in itself opens up long-term, sustainable, and productive avenues for getting the college out of its current financial situation. I believe that the declaration of this state without a clear end is deeply troubling and will damage morale and retention– among all college constituencies– at the time we can least bear it.

By saying that the condition of adverse circumstance is to remain in force until they vote otherwise, the board has effectively ended tenure at Columbia College Chicago and is holding, among others, full-time faculty members in a state where the rights guaranteed to us by our policy documents are suspended and indefinitely so. I find this to be profoundly contradictory to the spirit of the Statement of Policy.

In the Faculty Senate Executive Committee’s Response, we made the argument that the draft report did not make a convincing claim for the need for the declaration of adverse circumstance, and that remains true of the final draft. We also insisted that conclusions, processes, and drafts generated by the college be in concert with meaningful and formalized full-time faculty feedback, and I am disheartened to find that no such processes for collaboration and conversation have been identified in the communication from the college’s announcement.

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be wrong and to admit that my concerns are unfounded if this means that there is a stronger and more stable Columbia College Chicago that emerges, with its purpose and mission intact, in the imminent future. I hope that the curricular and structural changes already underway at the college (which do not need the declaration of adverse circumstances) yield the savings and efficiency that have been articulated. I hope that there is buy-in from all stakeholders in these processes and we are able to make these drastic changes work for our students’ success. I hope that the firing of college employees is only undertaken as a last resort, and I hope that the board makes the bold decision to lift us out of adverse circumstances quickly.

I hope all of these happen more than I expect them to but hope most of all and for the sake of the college to be wrong about my expectations.

Madhurima Chakraborty is the president of Faculty Senate until her term ends on May 31 and associate professor in the English and Creative Writing Department.

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