diff --git a/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/data/base.py b/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/data/base.py
index 08ea83512..dff5eba8e 100644
--- a/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/data/base.py
+++ b/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/data/base.py
@@ -107,8 +107,8 @@ def __call__(self, add_labels: bool = True) -> DatasetType:
 
         if "input_ids" not in get_columns(dataset):
             # tokenize/ process
-            dataset = self.filter_tokenizer_args(dataset)
-            logger.debug(f"Tokenizer args after filtering: {get_columns(dataset)}")
+            dataset = self.filter_processor_args(dataset)
+            logger.debug(f"Processor args after filtering: {get_columns(dataset)}")
             dataset = self.map(
                 dataset,
                 self.tokenize,
@@ -215,26 +215,33 @@ def dataset_template(self) -> Union[Callable[[Any], Any], None]:
     def rename_columns(self, dataset: DatasetType) -> DatasetType:
         # rename columns to match processor/tokenizer kwargs
         column_names = get_columns(dataset)
-        if self.data_args.text_column in column_names and "text" not in column_names:
-            logger.debug(f"Renaming column `{self.data_args.text_column}` to `text`")
-            dataset = dataset.rename_column(self.data_args.text_column, "text")
+        for from_, to_ in self.data_args.rename_columns:
+            if from_ not in column_names:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Cannot rename {from_} to {to_}from columns {column_names}"
+                )
+            dataset = dataset.rename_column(from_, to_)
+            column_names.remove(from_)
+            column_names.append(to_)
 
         return dataset
 
-    def filter_tokenizer_args(self, dataset: DatasetType) -> DatasetType:
-        # assumes that inputs are not passed via self.processor.__call__ args and kwargs
-        signature = inspect.signature(self.processor.__call__)
-        tokenizer_args = set(
-            key
-            for key, param in signature.parameters.items()
-            if param.kind not in (Kind.VAR_POSITIONAL, Kind.VAR_KEYWORD)
-        )
+    def filter_processor_args(self, dataset: DatasetType) -> DatasetType:
+        processor_kwargs = self.data_args.processor_kwargs
+        if processor_kwargs is None:
+            # assumes that inputs are not passed via args and kwargs
+            signature = inspect.signature(self.processor.__call__)
+            processor_kwargs = set(
+                key
+                for key, param in signature.parameters.items()
+                if param.kind not in (Kind.VAR_POSITIONAL, Kind.VAR_KEYWORD)
+            )
         logger.debug(
-            f"Found processor args `{tokenizer_args}`. Removing all other columns"
+            f"Found processor args `{processor_kwargs}`. Removing all other columns"
         )
 
         column_names = get_columns(dataset)
-        return dataset.remove_columns(list(set(column_names) - set(tokenizer_args)))
+        return dataset.remove_columns(list(set(column_names) - set(processor_kwargs)))
 
     def tokenize(self, data: LazyRow) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         # separate prompt
diff --git a/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/data/data_args.py b/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/data/data_args.py
index 7d0bc14ce..9b410b512 100644
--- a/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/data/data_args.py
+++ b/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/data/data_args.py
@@ -38,14 +38,35 @@ class CustomDataTrainingArguments(DVCDatasetTrainingArguments):
         metadata={
             "help": (
                 "Optional key to be used as the `text` input to tokenizer/processor "
-                "after dataset preprocesssing"
+                "after dataset preprocesssing (deprecated, please use "
+                "`rename_columns` instead)"
             )
         },
     )
 
     remove_columns: Union[None, str, List] = field(
         default=None,
-        metadata={"help": "Column names to remove after preprocessing (deprecated)"},
+        metadata={
+            "help": (
+                "Column names to remove after preprocessing (deprecated, please use "
+                "`rename_columns` instead)"
+            )
+        },
+    )
+
+    rename_columns: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = field(
+        default_factory=dict,
+        metadata={
+            "help": "Optional mapping to rename dataset columns after preprocessing"
+        },
+    )
+
+    tokenizer_kwargs: Optional[List[str]] = field(
+        default=None, metadata={"help": "Alias for `processor_kwargs`"}
+    )
+
+    processor_kwargs: Optional[List[str]] = field(
+        default=None, metadata={"help": "Optional list of processor argument names"}
     )
 
     preprocessing_func: Union[None, str, Callable] = field(
diff --git a/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/text_generation.py b/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/text_generation.py
index 5a06b302f..b808eeffd 100644
--- a/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/text_generation.py
+++ b/src/llmcompressor/transformers/finetune/text_generation.py
@@ -141,8 +141,14 @@ def parse_args(**kwargs):
     # raise depreciation warnings
     if data_args.remove_columns is not None:
         warnings.warn(
-            "`remove_columns` argument is depreciated. When tokenizing datasets, all "
-            "columns which are invalid inputs the tokenizer will be removed",
+            "`remove_columns` is depreciated, please use `rename_columns` and "
+            "`processor_kwargs` instead",
+            DeprecationWarning,
+        )
+
+    if data_args.text_column is not None:
+        warnings.warn(
+            "`text_column` is depreciated, please use `rename_columns` instead",
             DeprecationWarning,
         )
 
@@ -153,6 +159,12 @@ def parse_args(**kwargs):
         model_args.processor = model_args.tokenizer
     model_args.tokenizer = None
 
+    if data_args.tokenizer_kwargs:
+        if data_args.processor_kwargs:
+            raise ValueError("Cannot use both a tokenizer and processor")
+        data_args.processor_kwargs = data_args.tokenizer_kwargs
+    data_args.tokenizer_kwargs = None
+
     return model_args, data_args, training_args