Dr. Eliza Nichols Named Dean of Fine and Performing Arts
Eliza Nichols will join Columbia College Chicago as dean of Fine and Performing Arts, succeeding Leonard Lehrer, who has held the position since 2001. Nichols currently holds the title of vice provost at The New School in New York. As vice provost, she has had primary responsibility for matters dealing with faculty hiring, development, and promotion; and she oversees the university curriculum, plays an active role on the president's strategic planning initiative, and has led the development of by-laws for The New School's eight divisions and schools, which include the Parsons School of Design, the Mannes Conservatory, and the Drama School.
From 2003 to 2005 Nichols was associate provost at The New School, as well as director of the University Humanities Program. She also served as associate dean of Eugene Lang College (one of The New School's divisions) from 2000 to 2003, and director of student affairs and academic services from 1998 to 2000.
Nichols is associate professor of language and literature at The New School, and has also held faculty positions at William and Mary University and Yale University. She earned Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. degrees from Yale University and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
New Student Orientation Dates Set
The Office of New Student Programs and Orientation (NSPO) is gearing up to welcome more than 3,000 new students to campus this fall. For most students (and their parents), their first immersion in the Columbia culture comes at orientation, when they spend a full day meeting with advisors and registering for classes, learning about the culture and values of the college, and soaking up an overwhelming amount of information ranging from academic requirements and campus safety to a taste of our creative campus culture and an introduction on how to work with OASIS. Orientation sessions will take place Mondays through Thursdays from July 9 through August 2. Morning sessions begin with breakfast at 8:30 and wrap up with lunch, and NSPO encourages faculty and staff to join a session this summer to see how we present Columbia to its newest students, as well as to meet them and their parents and help welcome them to our campus. More information is available on the updated Orientation website at www.colum.edu/newstudentinfo.
Summer Enrollment Hits a Ten-year High
Institutional Research has released final enrollment figures for summer 2007, the highest summer enrollment of the past ten years. Continuing the growth trend seen in recent semesters, total enrollment for summer increased 10 percent over the previous year, with 3,062 students enrolled. Total undergraduate enrollment is up 13 percent, with undergraduate credit-hour enrollment up 11 percent. Total graduate enrollment fell 13 percent, and graduate credit hours fell 10 percent.
Columbia Publications Win National Awards
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has chosen two Columbia College Chicago publications for recognition. Engaging, the college’s 2005 President’s Report, received the CASE gold medal in the Individual Institutional Relations Publications category. Engaging explores Columbia’s role as an innovator in arts and media education and practice through stories about the institution’s classroom and community engagement. Read it at www.colum.edu/presidentsreport.
Columbia’s flagship publication DEMO, which launched in 2005, received a CASE silver medal in the College and University General Interest Magazines category. DEMO features articles and art by and about Columbia faculty, alumni, students and staff. All four issues of DEMO can be viewed at www.colum.edu/DEMO.
Both DEMO and the President's Report were edited by Ann Wiens, director of institutional communications, and art directed by Guido Mendez, senior designer in the college's department of creative and print services.
Columbia College at Printer’s Row Book Fair This Weekend
While you’re at the Book Fair or Blues Festival this weekend, venture over to the Columbia College Arts + Entertainment tent at the corner of Harrison and Dearborn. From 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 9 and 10, our students, alumni, and staff will be reading and performing. The line-up includes poetry slam champion Alvin Lau; singer/songwriters Jay Mathes and Rachele Eve; synesthesia artist Dan Schwarzlose serving up “Ezra Poundcake” edible paper; “Chance of Showers” performers Liz Wuerffel, Bridget Kies, and Liz Czekner; jazz stylist Julie Volkmann; and the Bohemian (Musical) Theater Ensemble with alum Jess Godwin. The Center for Book and Paper will be doing papermaking and typesetting demos and offering up handmade gift items. And, for the first time, a sound installation will feature innovative audio work from Lauren Weinger’s Audio Arts & Acoustics classes. See the campus-wide calendar for more information.
Campus Construction Update
You know that saying, “There are two seasons in Chicago: winter and construction”? Well, the college doesn’t get the whole non-winter season to do construction; we have to fit it all into the summer months, when fewer students are on campus. The following sites are undergoing major construction this summer: 1104 S. Wabash, 8th floor; 731 Plymouth Ct.; 623 S. Wabash, lobby and 9th floor; and 72 E. 11th, student lounge.
Faculty + Staff News
Suzette Bross (Photography) presents a new body of work, collectively titled “Commute: Trucks,” at Schneider Gallery (230 W. Superior St., 312-988-4033, www.schneidergallerychicago.com) through June 30.
Ben Bilow (Creative + Print Services) has been accepted into the post-graduate program Archeworks for the 2007-2008 school year. Archeworks is an alternative design-education opportunity directed by Stanley Tigerman and Eva Maddox. Students work in multidisciplinary teams with nonprofit partners to create design solutions addressing social concerns.Design/build classes will take place in Chicago, and the actual project will be built in Franconia, Minnesota. This is a great honor for Ben, and a benefit for the college, as he will bring back to the office and his Campus Environment projects new skills and expertise.
Melissa Jay Craig’s (Book + Paper Arts) artwork is featured in the spring 2007 issue of The Bonefolder, an international, free journal of the book arts (download the pdf). Her work was recently on view in “Alternate Selections,” a solo exhibition in the Columbia College Library. She also has been awarded a 2007 Henry Faurest Fellowship for Artist/Educators by the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts.
Paul D’Amato (Photography) has a solo exhibition of his “Barrio” photographs at Stephen Daiter Gallery (311 W. Superior, 312-787-3350, www.stephendaitergallery.com) on view through July 28. His book, Barrio, Photographs from Chicago’s Pilsen and Little Village, was published by University of Chicago Press in 2006.
Barbara Iverson (Journalism) was a guest on Bruce DuMont’s "Beyond the Beltway" radio and TV talk show on June 3. Iverson spoke about blogs, elections, and Fred Thompson. Watch it with Windows Media Player at mms://68.251.204.5/video/btb/btb060307a.wmv
Bill Friedman (Student Affairs) has been promoted to Assistant Dean of Student Development, effective September 1. Friedman, who began his Columbia career in 1987 as a part-time instructor in the photography department, will oversee administration of the College Advising Center, the Office of New Student Programs and Orientation, and the Portfolio Center.
Michael McColly (Fiction Writing) has been selected as the Lambda Literary Foundation award winner in the spirituality category for his 2006 book The After-Death Room (Soft Skull Press), which examines the AIDS epidemic from global, spiritual, and physical perspectives, as well as exploring the shifting territory where those perspectives meet. An intensely personal journey, The After Death Room is a chronicle of McColly’s travels around the world and into the recesses of his own soul as he searches for timeless answers to modern questions.
Joe Meno and Randy Albers (both Fiction Writing) are featured in New City’s “LIT 50” (June 7), a listing of “who really books in Chicago,” for their influence on and contributions to the dynamic Chicago literary scene.
Dominic A. Pacyga (Liberal Arts + Sciences) appeared in the documentary "And They Came to Chicago: The Italian American Legacy" on Channel 11 (WTTW) on June 5. Also appearing was former Columbia faculty member Fred Gardaphe.
Pan Papacosta (Science + Mathematics) was an invited speaker at Bradley University on April 12. He spoke about the human side of Einstein, with special emphasis on Einstein's views on racism, religion, disarmament, and education.
Philippe Ravanas (AEMM) has published a 6,000-word cover story, “A Quiet Revolution: The Metropolitan Opera reinvents client relations management,” in The International Journal of Arts Management, a publication of reference in the field, which is distributed in more than 50 countries. The publisher has also asked Ravanas to join the journal’s reading committee.
Brian Ritchard (Fine Art) has a solo exhibition of new paintings at Navta Schulz Gallery (1039 W. Lake St., 312-421-5506, www.navtaschulzgallery.com) through July 28.
College Collegiality
Geminis are said to be adaptable and versatile, communicative and witty, intellectual and eloquent, youthful and lively—making this year’s annual (albeit unofficial) Columbia Gemini lunch at Tamarind the social place to be earlier this week! (If, that is, you happen to have been born between May 22 and June 21.) Thanks to Tracy Cargo (Payroll) for her organizational vision!
