The first Faculty Forum organized by the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences pointed out departmental facilities upkeep, computer support, and housing as three major concerns among professors.

"Our material needs are not being met," Christia Mercer, chair of ECFAS said, pointing to rats and burst pipes. Mercer said that those at the forum were very outspoken about the conditions they faced. The forum was one of several steps that ECFAS has taken to "become much more proactive at identifying concerns of the faculty and working with the administration to address them," Mercer said.

Now, ECFAS and the administration are working together to address those concerns. They are improving the condition of departmental facilities by quickly identifying areas of disrepair, aiding faculty with their computer needs by creating a computer upgrade program, and financially supporting faculty housing by providing subsidies and mortgages at below market rates.

In an effort to quickly identify areas in need of maintenance, the facilities refresh program will plan a walkthrough of certain buildings every Friday. Director of Space Planning and Management Kevin Fox and representatives from Vice President for Arts and Sciences Nicholas Dirks' office, ECFAS, and Facilities Operations will take part in these walkthroughs.

On top of concerns regarding maintaining departments' existing facilities is the need for expansion. There is currently a "gridlock in the departments" with "no room for faculty expansion," Dirks said at the last ECFAS meeting.

In an effort to relieve the crowded science departments, plans for a new interdisciplinary science building have already been put into action.

The Northwest Corner Science Building will cost approximately $179 million and provide 188,000 square feet for the chemistry, biology, engineering, and physics departments. Site preparation and excavation for the building on the corner of Broadway and West 120th Street have already begun, and the project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2010.

Dirks responded to the faculty's wish for more computer support by proposing a plan similar to one in place at the University of Michigan where he once taught. According to him, the Faculty Research Allowance Program, for which faculty can apply and receive up to $1,750 to cover expenses such as travel, manuscript preparation, and equipment, may not be enough for the purchase of a new computer. Although Columbia provides faculty members with a new desktop when they first begin work at the school, there is currently no program to replace old computers.

In his March 2007 letter to the faculty, Dirks wrote, "Faculty should not be asked to choose between attending a professional conference and upgrading a computer." By the next academic year, "faculty without ongoing research support will be entitled to request funding towards a new computer every four years," Dirks said in the letter.

Provost Alan Brinkley said during the last ECFAS meeting that a housing purchase plan and housing subsidies will be introduced. Although not yet approved by the University trustees, the housing purchase plan will "offer [a] University-organized mortgage program with ... normally one point or one and one-half points below market rates," Brinkley said.

The second option is catered toward senior and retired faculty members who may choose not to pick from Columbia's housing stock. These individuals would receive about $40,000 a year for residential costs.

These two plans come at a good time, according to Mercer. "We're at this moment where there's just not enough housing for faculty," she said. "It's very difficult to recruit top faculty if you don't have appropriate housing for them."

Devika Bhushan and Taylor Napolitano contributed to this article.