Conversations
Dr. Caroline Whitson, President of Columbia College
MidlandsBiz:
Give a brief overview of the history of Columbia College.
Caroline Whitson:
In an era when the very subject of female education was a hotly debated topic, Columbia College was founded in 1854 to "educate young women for fruitful service to church, state and nation." Initially located in downtown Columbia, the College moved to our current location along North Main Street in 1904. Much has changed over the years in church, state and nation; what has not changed is that we still educate young women for exactly those purposes.
MidlandsBiz:
What is your definition of leadership?
Caroline Whitson:
A leader is someone who can bring about and sustain change. We have developed a framework for leadership at Columbia College called the four C's. Courage. Commitment. Confidence. Competence. When we sat down and analyzed what it took to truly be a great leader, these four qualities stood out. They are part of our core educational strategy and are infused throughout the curriculum. We want students to come to us whether they are 17 or 18-year-old women or adults returning to college and grow in each of the four C's so that they will learn to speak up and be heard. Too often, the message that we send to young women in this state is that they need to be demure. It's hard to lead by being sweet.
MidlandsBiz:
How well are we doing in South Carolina in terms of the numbers of women in leadership positions?
Caroline Whitson:
We constantly try to reinforce at Columbia College that it's about the difference you make, not necessarily the office you hold. That said, South Carolina still lags far behind in terms of high profile women leaders. Some progress has been made in business where we have several women executives and CEOs, but a large gap still exists in terms of the women serving in the General Assembly. Women comprise 8% of the General Assembly, making South Carolina last in the nation in terms of female representation in state politics.
MidlandsBiz:
What can we do to improve this situation?
Caroline Whitson:
There is no silver-bullet to improve this ratio; we need to think long-term and create a broad-based approach. Columbia College can and will continue to play a key role in developing the women leaders of the future, to improving the status of women in the Southeast. Several years ago, Columbia College formed the Women's Leadership Institute with a goal of deepening our mission and outreach into the community. In 2004 we added the Alliance for Women to augment the work of the Institute.
It takes outstanding, successful women to lead the way. I moved here from Arkansas where Hillary Clinton and Helen Walton (wife of Wal-Mart owner Sam Walton) have been strong advocates for women in leadership. South Carolina has had its trailblazers for women in political politics. Liz Patterson, daughter of former Governor Olin Johnston and member of the House of Representatives in Washington, was the only woman elected to the US Congress from South Carolina. Karen Williams was the chief justice for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Both are Columbia College graduates.
We need more women to serve on high level Boards around the state so that they can become better connected in the business community and use this experience as a stepping stone to political office. The Women's Institute and the Alliance have been effective at acting as a talent bank for companies looking for well qualified women with particular skill sets to serve on their Boards.
MidlandsBiz:
What are some of the other areas of focus for the Women's Leadership Institute?
Caroline Whitson:
Our Institute commissioned a study that outlined the tremendous economic impact it would have in this state if we could bring more women into the workforce at higher wages. Our SPARKS initiative is helping direct women into careers that will be in great demand in the future, but where women have traditionally been under represented: welders and certified electricians, for example.
Entrepreneurship holds great promise for women, yet only 3% of women in the state own a business. The Institute is helping women entrepreneurs identify business opportunities around the state and putting resources in place such as micro-financing and mentoring to improve their probability of success.
The Institute has started a summer leadership camp for young women in the 9th, 10th and 11th grades that has been a huge success. Research has shown that middle school is often a critical drop off point in terms of a young woman's courage to lead, so it is critical to reach out early. We have also started an outreach program called Leadership for the New South that helps identify and support women around the state with leadership potential.
MidlandsBiz:
How has Columbia College been affected by the down economy?
Caroline Whitson:
It's pretty much a perfect storm for educational institutions, and we are no exception. Given the uncertainty in the job market, some are reluctant to consider a relatively more expensive private education. Fundraising has been impacted because donors have seen a depreciation in their net worth through the decline in stock and real estate values. Endowment revenue for the College is down because our portfolio of assets is down. While private colleges don't receive state appropriations, the budget crunch in South Carolina has led to a reduction in student tuition grants.
MidlandsBiz:
What have you done to deal with the situation?
Caroline Whitson:
You have to treat this as a business. You can improve your financial situation by either cutting expenses and/or raising revenue. After a recent, extensive strategic planning and re-visioning process involving faculty and staff, we decided to do both. We cut $1.8M from our ongoing recurring annual budget and identified ways to grow revenue by attracting new students. We have 850 undergraduate students in our women-only program. We would like to build our undergraduate program to 1,000 students.
We have 325 evening students in our co-educational Evening Program and 200 graduate students, and we see great opportunity for growth here, too. With the proliferation of private colleges such as Phoenix, Strayer, Webster, and Virginia, the challenge is finding our niche in what has become a very competitive landscape. People respond well to the true college experience - college professors on a true college campus - that they get with our Evening Program.
MidlandsBiz:
Many schools are increasing tuition.
Caroline Whitson:
We did increase our tuition a little, but we have to be careful. Even small tuition increases can price you out of the market.
MidlandsBiz:
Tell us more about the structure of your strategic planning process.
Caroline Whitson:
In step one, we formed six committees. Keeping a faithful eye to our history and traditions, two committees looked for areas that we were doing internally that may have atrophied and were no longer viable. Founded as a Methodist College, Columbia College was not going to eliminate its religious studies program, for example. Two of the committees looked to identify new areas of opportunity for the College. Another committee looked at areas where we could maximize revenues. The last committee, and the toughest one to be on, was tasked with establishing a support network for those who would be affected by our decisions.
In step two, we sought to clearly articulate what is distinctive about the Columbia College experience. What is it that makes us special? We have small class sizes and our students have close relationships with their professors. How does that make us different from other strong, liberal arts colleges? We are a women's college. How does that make us different from Converse College, Hollins University, or Salem College? Is it the four C's approach? The answers to those questions are critical as we position ourselves in a new competitive market.
MidlandsBiz:
What are some recent trends in education?
Caroline Whitson:
One of the biggest trends in education has been the move towards experiential learning. It is not a new trend, but higher education, has been somewhat slow to adapt. It's difficult to change from the "sage on the stage" model to one that is more of a "guide on the side" approach, particularly for those of us who came through the old system. The beautiful thing is that students, particularly women, learn better and retain more with experiential, hands on learning. The challenging part is that it has to be well executed, and as any educator knows who has tried, it is hard work. Reading from 20 year old lecture notes is just not how kids think of learning these days. We have been very successful at Columbia College at adapting to this cultural change in the classroom and finding ways to reach the students in new and exciting ways.
A separate trend that I would like to see stop at colleges is the discounting of tuitions. Colleges publish their tuition, but then get involved in a very complicated matrix system to calculate the actual price that a student will pay based on merit (academic achievement) and financial need. I would rather we set our prices and stick to them.
MidlandsBiz:
What is on your calendar that you would most like to do less of? More of?
Caroline Whitson:
Anything that involves the internal, day-to-day detail management that ties up my time is not particularly time well spent for the college. Fortunately, I have a talented, senior staff that is extremely dedicated to the College and who handles the operations expertly.
Anything that involves external relations to increase the visibility of the College in the community is time well spent for me. We are a small college in a town with a large public institution. It is important for us to stand up to be noticed for the unique role we play.
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