Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Friends of the Fiction Writing Department,

First of all, I want to thank all of you who supported the Fiction Writing Department last year through a challenging prioritization process at Columbia College Chicago.  To those of you who wrote testimonials on behalf of me as chair and on behalf of the department that we have all grown to love—especially those faculty who began the albersforchair.org site and those students, faculty, alumni, parents, and friends who signed petitions, wrote emails, and exchanged messages on Facebook—I can’t begin to express my gratitude for your support…

Friday afternoon, I arrive at a Columbia College Chicago building on South Michigan Avenue to talk with Fiction Writing Department Chair Dr. Randall Albers. Dressed elegantly in jeans and a French blue shirt with black stripes covered with a brown corduroy blazer, Albers’ height and distinguished presence make him slightly intimidating. Yet he smiles and greets me warmly, ushering me into his spacious office with a killer twelfth-floor view of the lake, and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

Although he’s technically on sabbatical, Albers frequents the department often to attend to students. We have about an hour to chat before his meeting with…

Hello friends and supporters,

Yesterday afternoon, faculty and staff at Columbia College received the following via email from Louise Love, Provost:

To the faculty and staff:  I have been paying close attention to the messages that were sent at last week’s Listening Forum, in conversations, in e-mail messages, and in a meeting with members of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate.  I understand that the campus community is concerned that steps are being taken towards implementation before decisions are made through the prioritization process.  I want to affirm, therefore, that nothing has been decided and that any initiatives on my…