Barnard President Sian Beilock announced the cancellation of the college’s nationwide search for a new executive director of Public Safety in an updated safety plan released on Dec. 3. Instead, Barnard will restructure the role of Public Safety to focus on community safety under an umbrella organizational unit titled Community Accountability, Response, and Emergency Services, according to Beilock’s email.

Mary Boyce, the first female dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will serve as Columbia’s chief academic officer starting in July, University President Lee Bollinger announced in an email Wednesday afternoon. She will be the first woman to serve as provost in University history.

New York City’s first and only Black mayor and School of International and Public Affairs professor David Norman Dinkins passed away from natural causes in his home on Monday evening. He was 93 years old.

Avril Haines, a deputy director of Columbia World Projects, is slated for the role of director of national intelligence, announced President-elect Joe Biden alongside his intended nominations for five other key cabinet positions today.

International students who are pursuing degrees in the United States will have to leave the country or face deportation if their universities are operating entirely online, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declared on Monday. At Columbia and Barnard, which are both reopening with a mix of in-person and online classes, international students must be enrolled in at least one in-person class to remain in the United States and keep their visas.

Public health experts have projected that the growth rate of COVID-19 cases in jails and prisons would surpass that of New York City, which has the highest number of cases nationwide. While Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced efforts last month to reduce the prison population, activists call on the courts, correction commissioners, and mayors to intervene in a crisis that is acting faster than officials.

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.