An MBA from FIU helped land her the presidency of Columbia College Chicago

Shantay Bolton MBA ’14 never walked the FIU commencement stage. She had no time. Her new job as director of human resources and Title IX coordinator awaited her at historic Tuskegee University in Alabama.

While she would have liked to participate in the formal degree conferral, Bolton agrees that missing it was the right move. “I can’t say that I have regrets,” she reflects. “It’s been the best ride of my life!”

Bolton credits her FIU degree for setting her on an upward trajectory – specifically, a career in higher education that has led to the top. Today, she is the president and chief executive officer of Columbia College Chicago.

Initially, Bolton had no thought of entering higher ed. However, FIU professor Deanne Butchey planted a seed that eventually flourished.

As Bolton tells it, Butchey advised students in her corporate finance course to be open-minded about where skillsets could be applied. She also saw something special in Bolton, whom she describes as not only hardworking and driven but also as intentional and engaging, employing excellent listening skills to communicate effectively with others and inspire them to act. For instance, Butchey often witnessed her student in action when she invited Bolton to speak to FIU’s Enactus chapter, a student organization focused on entrepreneurism and innovation. As a guest speaker, Bolton would share examples from her life to model for others how to overcome challenges, recognize unique strengths and achieve goals.

“I immediately saw her potential as a leader,” Butchey says, “as someone with tremendous empathy who wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer and could circumnavigate challenges.” This resolute spirit combined with expert know-how – she holds a Ph.D. in organizational psychology – has been rewarding, both personally and professionally.

“I love seeing people do things that they didn’t think were possible,” Bolton says, recollecting gratifying moments in her career, like when she encouraged a hesitant colleague to pursue an MBA – she would eventually graduate with this colleague from FIU!

Since her Tuskegee days, Bolton has been in high demand with her reputation preceding her. She worked in Saudi Arabia for a year before being recruited to serve in various leadership roles at Tulane University, Washington University in St. Louis, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and now Columbia College Chicago. Several of Bolton’s roles – like the assistant vice president of workforce management organization strategic initiatives at Tulane – were specifically created for her given her unique background blending people-skills with business-savvy.

Bolton proudly credits FIU with preparing her to lead. “My MBA was the best experience,” she boasts. “My cohort was very diverse. Because we came from different backgrounds, it made our class discussions more robust. I also had to learn how to work across multicultural teams.” She credits her career success, especially in the Middle East, to these experiences, praising her alma mater for teaching her how to understand cultural differences when organizing teams that play to everyone’s strengths. “FIU was all about that.”

During her time at Tulane, Bolton advanced to vice president and deputy chief operating officer, guiding the university through the unprecedented Covid pandemic. She oversaw efforts to move to online, then hybrid learning; she also supported faculty and staff by renegotiating their contracts during this challenging period. “FIU really prepared me for that moment in ways that I didn’t realize at the time,” she recalls, explaining how she utilized her business acumen to effectively execute those institutional changes.

Now steering the ship at Columbia College Chicago – an accomplishment that came as no surprise to Butchey – Bolton has been applying the invaluable lessons from her Panther days to her newest role. Here, she has developed a strategic plan aptly named Renaissance Rising: Shaping Tomorrow Together for ensuring the institution’s enduring success.

This involves stabilizing enrollment (which currently hovers just above 4,000 students) and increasing retention, which has risen to 71%; analyzing spending and revenue, which includes balancing a multi-million-dollar budget. (Sometimes, this means making tough calls, like working with faculty to cut some programs so that others can thrive.) It also involves bolstering Columbia College Chicago’s brand as a creative and media arts institution – where the top major is cinematography and film/video production – by promoting programs like their “Semester in LA.” Lastly, it means enhancing opportunities and access through various scholarships and partnership agreements, among them one specifically for children in foster care.

“Because of my time at FIU,” Bolton explains, “I wanted to serve at an institution that supports minorities, Hispanics and brilliant, talented individuals who may lack the means.” The student body at the private college ranks high in diversity. A first-generation woman of color who came from poverty, Bolton is guided by a fundamental life lesson that her early years taught her: how to make the most of available resources through innovation, courage, and the willingness to take risks. All in the service of creating meaningful impact for other people, she says. “That’s legacy.”

Bolton freely shares these nuggets of wisdom with students and her teenage son, Brandon. “I want him to know that hard work and resilience matter. It’s not where you start; it’s how you take what you have learned from your beginning and apply that to create the type of life you want to have,” she advises.

Bolton leads with a student-first, people-centered philosophy that she has developed over many years. Butchey, a kindred spirit who left the world of banking for higher ed, calls her “a true servant-leader, someone who seeks to be of service to others.”

As the first woman to serve as President of Columbia College Chicago in 90 years and the first woman of color ever to hold this position, Bolton asserts, “The real power of being the first is making sure you open pathways for others. I often ask myself, ‘How can I help others to believe in themselves, to chase their dreams? How can I open a door for them?’”