News: Academics

In the wake of over 120,000 deaths due to COVID-19 nationwide and a massive economic downturn, universities are left with the task of reimagining higher education in the age of the pandemic. One of the many questions among students is “What will happen to the cost of tuition?” 

Journalism School professors joined their peers across the nation in writing and circulating an open letter to the owners of Fox News that urged the TV channel to stop the spread of “misinformation” and “false statements” regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Brendan O’Flaherty’s Tuesday afternoon lecture for Principles of Economics was hacked by three individuals who disrupted the class for about six minutes, playing audio containing racial slurs and inappropriate content, hurled insults at the professor, and later called a participant a racial slur, according to a course recording obtained by Spectator.

Among others, the University has joined Harvard Law School, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Wellesley College in instating a mandatory pass/fail grading system in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, all classes will be moved to a pass/fail grading system and classes will be canceled for the three days following spring break, according to an email from University President Lee Bollinger sent to University affiliates on March 20. Students will not be able to opt out or uncover their grades at the end of the semester.

Grace Bertelli, CC ’21, found herself scrambling for housing options on Sunday morning when she learned she had to vacate her dorm. Members of her family are immunocompromised, so going home could risk exposing them to COVID-19 and endangering their lives.

Columbia’s campus—including its dormitories and facilities—will remain open to students following their return from spring break while instruction will remain remote for the remainder of the semester, University President Lee Bollinger announced in an email on Thursday. While students are encouraged to leave their dormitories, housing will still be provided for those who cannot.

Columbia suspended all its upcoming affiliated or sponsored travel plans to foreign countries until further notice, notifying students in numerous abroad programs to determine options for their return back to the United States, according to emails by interim provost Ira Katznelson.

Columbia will be creating a new school dedicated to climate change—with the ability to grant degrees, hire its own faculty, and admit its own body of students—following a 104-page report by a team of administrators and faculty, the University announced on Jan. 30.