Columbia College president retiring next year
South Loop leader led college to massive South Loop expansion
05/08/2012 5:02 PM
Columbia College president Warrick Carter
Columbia College president Warrick Carter, the leader who made the college one of the South Loop’s biggest landowners, is retiring after 13 years at the helm, the school announced on Tuesday.
Carter, who has been the school’s president since 2000, will retire in August 2013, according to a press release sent out by the school. Carter’s current contract with the school extended through 2014.
Columbia has been pondering its future lately, examining the way it allocates its resources to programs within the school in a process called “prioritization.” Tensions rose at Carter’s State of the College event in March, where he was caught on video telling a student to “shut up,” as noted in The Reader.
Columbia spokeswoman Diane Doyle said that flare-up last week was unrelated to Carter’s decision to retire a year before his contract expired.
“He really wants to make sure the transition happens smoothly,” she said.
In a letter Carter sent to Columbia’s campus community Tuesday, Carter said that allowing a new president to come in sooner, rather than later, would better help shape the college’s future.
“We are reaching the point in our transformation where I believe new leadership should shape the rollout and affect the implementation of Blueprint | Prioritization over the coming years,” Carter wrote. “After reading the recommendations from the community, it became clear that strategic implementation will take a good period of time — and we need to start now and expedite the leadership transition to support implementation before 2014.”
Under Carter’s leadership since 2000, the school grew by leaps and bounds. Over the past 12 years, the school’s footprint has doubled to 2.5 million square feet of campus classrooms, offices and residence halls — all in the South Loop. The school’s enrollment also grew to 12,500, roughly 25 percent more than 1999.
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By mike
Posted: 05/15/2012 10:05 PM
I agree. Kids these days are too entitled. I didn\'t see anything wrong with the President telling that loser to shut up. The kids were mouthing off and being disrespectful to an older figure of authority. The University President. Todays generation pool is not going to make it if they\'re being raised to be this sensitive.
By Westloopeducator from West Loop
Posted: 05/15/2012 12:15 PM
Warrick Carter is a great guy and it is unfortunate that he is being pushed out early because of an ignorant, spoiled, wannabe entitled loser student body. All of you wannabe artiest and producers should get a real job. Military service should be mandatory.
By Brianbobcat
Posted: 05/09/2012 0:29 AM
As a recent CCC graduate, I know well the tensions behind President Carter. As soon as the video of him got onto YouTube, it went viral. I've been out of the school for 2 years, and I still saw it right after it was posted. Prioritization has been anything but popular. I heard one recent theory that he would implement it to take the heat off the next president, but I also heard that the next Prez. could completely disregard this whole firestorm. The next 12 months will be quite interesting.