Columbia College president to depart at end of academic year
The president of Columbia College, who guided the school’s recent transition from a women’s college to a coeducational institution, will leave at the end of the academic year, the college announced Friday.
Tom Bogart, who was hired in 2020 after serving 10 years as president of Maryville College in Tennessee, recently informed the college’s board of trustees that he would be relocating to Cleveland next summer and rejoining the faculty at Case Western Reserve University, where he’d worked from 1990 to 2002.
During his three-year tenure at the 1,500-student private liberal arts college, Bogart increased student enrollment by more than 25%, worked with faculty to secure a $3.4 million federal grant to support the college’s alternative pathways to education certification program for aspiring K-12 teachers and renewed its accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, among other achievements, Board Chair Ben Rex said.
Bogart, whose primary motivation for moving to Cleveland is to be closer to family, said he was grateful for the opportunity to lead the college, which became fully coeducational in 2020 and welcomed its first coed class in Fall 2021.
“Columbia College is a remarkable place,” he said in a statement. “The faculty and staff are exceptional, the students are vibrant and poised for impact, the alumni are passionate, and the trustees show outstanding commitment to the thoughtful growth of this important institution.”
Bogart will continue serving as president through the remainder of the academic year and is committed to ensuring a smooth transition, Rex said.
The college’s board of trustees has retained the WittKieffer search firm to assist its national search for a new president. The firm will be on campus next month to conduct listening sessions.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Columbia College president to depart at end of academic year."