Global University

What really is a global university? This week's spread explores this question and gives suggestions on what Columbia needs in order to become just that.

There is nothing new about universities supporting international collaborative efforts—research projects, exchanges of students and faculty, specific short-term partnerships around urgent issues, etc. What then, if anything, is different in the project of “the global university,” one that a growing number of universities in the U.S. are now heralding?

Students, scholars, and ideas from all over the world plus the privilege of being in a city as culturally rich and alive as New York? This, to me, was the power of a global university—it could root itself locally and still open its branches globally. Before we try to establish ourselves in the global community, let’s take a look inside and around our own gates.

The lack of material support has led the University to pursue an agenda of projects that, while undoubtedly globally themed, have also been inwardly focused. Making Columbia a more global university, as opposed to just a better university, will require expanding its global reach and influence, and thus will require more outward-looking policies.

Last week, the eyes of the world turned their focus to Columbia University and its president, Lee Bollinger.