Melanie Bernitz Appointed Executive Vice President for University Life and Wellbeing

Dear members of the Columbia community,

I write to share the wonderful news that I have appointed Dr. Melanie Bernitz as Executive Vice President for University Life and Wellbeing, a role she has been expertly fulfilling on an interim basis for the past year. In this role, Melanie will continue overseeing both University Life and Columbia Health. Since joining the Columbia community more than two decades ago, Melanie has proved to be of invaluable service, again and again, as a gifted teacher, a skilled doctor, and a strategic and generous leader. In her posts at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), Columbia Health, and University Life, she has put student wellbeing and learning front and center, to the benefit of the entire University.

As Interim Executive Vice President for University Life, Melanie has led the office through a comprehensive and collaborative strategic planning process that puts it on the right path for the future. The work has strengthened connections across departments and established a roadmap to ensure continued responsiveness to student needs. Melanie has also deepened the infrastructure for community standards and accountability. She has directed new investments in student programs, funding for student groups, and expanded staffing in student-facing roles. Under her guidance, University Life has established regular, ongoing meetings with student leaders from across all 17 schools. She has also championed the use of data through the Lived Experience and Needs of Students (LENS) Survey, Columbia’s comprehensive tool for capturing student perspectives on belonging, wellbeing, and campus engagement.

As Senior Vice President for Columbia Health, Melanie has been laser-focused on student and community health as central to the educational experience here. She led the expansion of Columbia Health programs, services, initiatives, and resources in ways that aligned with the constantly evolving needs of our students. She has been the driving force behind an expanded research and grants portfolio, leading to improved services for students with disabilities, resources for survivors of violence, opportunities to reduce nicotine use, and more. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was instrumental in creating and carrying out the University’s approach to the public health crisis. Her work also included timely updates to the Columbia community and a mass-testing and mass-vaccination program serving more than 50,000 students, faculty, and staff.

Melanie’s positions overseeing University Life and Columbia Health follow on from her service as Associate Vice President and Medical Director of Columbia Health from 2016 to 2021. Prior to that, she was Executive Director of the Student Health Service at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She has also been a resident, chief resident, and faculty member in Columbia’s Center for Family and Community Medicine, where she remains an Associate Clinical Professor.

Please join me in thanking Melanie for her decades of services to Columbia and congratulating her on this well-deserved appointment.

Sincerely,

Claire Shipman
Acting President, Columbia University in the City of New York