Looking ahead

At the beginnning of the 2009-2010 academic year, Columbia finds itself at a critical juncture, one that presents the University with both formidable challenges and plentiful opportunities. With experience weathering financial crisis, coupled with promising, new administrators, we have reason to be optimistic at the start of another school year. It is therefore imperative that the University move to address problems that need prompt resolution.

Changes, both circumstantial and intentional, have placed Columbia in a comparably favorable position. Despite a 22 percent decline in its endowment and a host of other repercussions due to the nationwide economic slowdown, Columbia raised its budget 0.4 percent this year, avoiding some of the drastic cuts other Ivy League institutions have made. In welcoming 50 more students to the class of 2013 while continuing to expand its facilities, Columbia has opened its doors to a greater number of qualified candidates and increased revenue during a time of need. We are pleased to welcome to Provost Claude Steele, Dean of Columbia College Michele Moody-Adams, and Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Feniosky Peña-Mora, as well as new faces in financial aid, academic advising, and various other areas of the University. The provost and the deans bring with them a dedication to the values and high academic standards integral to Columbia and its Core Curriculum, and they promise further success at our University.

Columbia must seize upon this moment of change and channel its momentum toward addressing students’ concerns. We call on administrators across all departments to bring about greater transparency and genuinely consider the input of students. We entrust Provost Steele with the work of streamlining and personalizing Columbia’s unwieldy bureaucracy, whose inefficiency and impersonality often prevent it from providing ideal residential and academic environments for students. We urge deans Moody-Adams and Peña-Mora to uphold and expand Columbia’s academic and cocurricular programs while frequently consulting and adhering to students’ suggestions in the decision-making process. And we remind students to continue to engage their peers and their professors in respectful discourse.

Columbia must not squander the opportunities of this academic year. Despite our economic circumstances, Columbia boasts a wealth of knowledge that can and should be tapped into in the months to come. In the semester ahead, we look forward to holding the University accountable to students, calling for improvement when it falls short, and acknowledging its achievements.