Following a tumultuous school year, Columbia College Chicago President Kwang-Wu Kim announced he is stepping down from the position he has held for more than a decade.
According to an email from the South Loop school, college trustees have appointed Chief Financial Officer Jerry Tarrer to serve as interim president after Kim departs the school on July 1.
Kim was the target of criticism during a six-week strike by adjunct faculty that upended the school’s fall semester and caused many students to question whether they would return in the spring.
The arts-focused school is unusual in that part-time instructors, who are paid per course, have comprised a large part of the teaching staff since the school’s beginning. Union leaders estimate more than 1,000 classes were impacted by the walkout.
Adjuncts voted to authorize the strike in late October after leaders proposed cutting more than 300 classes. Administrators said the cuts were necessary to plug a $20 million deficit and targeted classes that were under enrolled.
Many adjunct faculty members and students disputed these claims, saying administrators took away offerings that were in demand and that leaders’ plans to increase class sizes would have harmed learning. They pressed the administration to find other ways to lower costs, including a reduction of Kim’s salary. Kim earned more than $1.1 million in 2022, according to a tax filing.
The strike ended in December after the union approved a deal with Columbia that, according to union leaders, included restoration of some spring classes that had been slated for cancellation, a health care benefit and a guarantee of instruction for adjunct faculty members.
In an email to students Wednesday, the chair of Columbia’s Board of Trustees praised Kim’s accomplishments as president, including the building of a $50 million student center and what he described as improved student outcomes and support services.
“President Kim has been a steady and exemplary leader of Columbia for more than a decade. The Board of Trustees is incredibly grateful for his service to our institution,” chairman John Holmes said. “His passion for Columbia and his insistence on our students’ success has shaped the college for the better.”
During his tenure, Kim pushed for the school to shift away from what he saw as a heavily skills-based curriculum taught by working creatives toward one more rooted in the liberal arts. He said students need to gain critical thinking skills in order to be able to evolve in a rapidly changing world. His thinking sometimes met with resistance from students and educators who valued Columbia as a haven for an eclectic mix of students pursuing careers in the arts and other creative fields.
“I came to Columbia because of my belief that the world needs creatives and my determination that Columbia could be the leading educational institution dedicated to preparing creatives for real-world success,” Kim said in the email to students.
In the email, Columbia said the Board of Trustees had asked Kim and school leaders on Feb. 8 to develop a plan that will “better align program offerings and streamline degree requirements so students can focus more fully on their chosen creative fields, persist towards graduation, and achieve career success.” A draft report is due Feb. 28.
Kim also prioritized fundraising from alumni donors to support student scholarships.
Still, Columbia College has struggled financially in recent years as enrollment has declined from 11,400 in 2010 to 6,400 as of 2022, according to federal data.
Lisa Kurian Philip covers higher education for WBEZ, in partnership with Open Campus.
