Barkowitz appointed financial aid dean

Daniel T. Barkowitz may bring poetry to his new job as the manager of Columbia’s undergraduate financial aid programs.

Barkowitz, who has published a book of poems and currently serves as director of student financial aid and employment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will become the next dean of financial aid and associate dean of student affairs for Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, according to an e-mail Student Affairs Dean and Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Life Kevin Shollenberger sent to students on Friday. Barkowitz will take over the post on June 1.

In an e-mail, Barkowitz lauded Columbia’s commitment to financial aid, and explained what he will bring to the table. “As a financial aid professional with over 20 years of experience in the industry, I bring a strong background in the principles of needs analysis and a real focus on advocacy and student engagement,” he wrote. “The combination of financial aid and student affairs that Columbia offers is very exciting for me; I have begun work on a PhD in Student Affairs and I appreciate that the Financial Aid office at Columbia reports through a Dean of Student Affairs who will provide guidance and support for viewing college financing as part of a holistic student experience.”

“He is a nationally recognized leader in his field and has developed innovative ways of looking at need analysis,” Shollenberger wrote in his message to students. “Under Dean Barkowitz’s leadership, the Office of Financial Aid and Educational Financing will continue to provide the kind of support Columbia students and their families need while at the same time developing new programs to enhance the services we provide.”

The announcement comes two years after the April 2007 suspension of previous executive director of undergraduate financial aid David Charlow. Charlow was suspended on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of two simultaneous investigations into questionable stock holdings. The investigations centered around Charlow’s holdings in the private lending company Student Loan Xpress, which Columbia had selected as a preferred lender. Following investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s office, he was fired in May 2007.

“I have said that based upon the facts as I know them at this stage, what David Charlow did was completely unacceptable and in clear violations of our policies,” University President Lee Bollinger said at the time.

Since then, Nanette DiLauro served as director of the financial aid office. Barkowitz will be the first dean of financial aid since DiLauro’s Oct. 8 departure across the street to Barnard, where she now holds the same position.

According to the blog Barkowitz keeps on the MIT server, he has a “budding career” as a “poet, philosopher, tarot card enthusiast, musical theater performer, and religious school instructor.” Barkowitz maintains a separate poetry blog, and has written a book of poems called Talking to Myself: Poetry From Now and Then.

His latest blogged verse, “Without,” begins: “Love without love is a clouded glass/ is a childhood dream, is an adult fear./ Love without love is a pleasurable state/ without the problems and pain of love.”

In his e-mail to Spectator, Barkowitz stressed the importance of contact with students. “Transparency and integrity are two areas which have served as watchwords for my career. I value technology as a mechanism to provide student’s service but technology needs to enable more contact with students, not less,” he wrote. “Too often we can use technology as an excuse not to interact with each other and I have embraced Web 2.0 initiatives—such as blogging—to be more in touch with students. ... At Columbia, I hope to bring this same approach, working with the staff in Financial Aid and Educational Financing to build upon their excellent advising skills to continue to deliver high quality advising with a focus on integrity and transparency.”

In an April 10, MIT blog entry, Barkowitz wrote of his upcoming departure after serving in his current position for seven years, citing his “new journey” at Columbia.

According to Shollenberger’s e-mail, financial aid is a priority at Columbia, and several administrators have stressed that CC and SEAS will maintain need-blind admission policies despite the economic crisis and decreased endowment.

“From the time students apply to Columbia and continuing through graduation, we guide students through the complex and frequently misunderstood process of financing a college education,” Shollenberger wrote. “Financial Aid staff offer caring and confidential advice along with comprehensive, timely information about the various financing options available. In these times of economic uncertainty, this commitment to our students and their families becomes even more important.”

Financial aid reforms announced about a year ago converted all “need-based loans” to grants for students in Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and increased the School of General Studies’ total financial aid budget by about $1 million annually.

Starting this year, CC and SEAS students from families with incomes below $60,000 per year do not have to pay for any aspect of college costs. The changes also saw a reduced parental contribution in households making between $60,000 and $100,000 per year.

Joy Resmovits can be reached at joy.resmovits@columbiaspectator.com