Task Force on the Relationship of the Arts & Sciences and the College
Dear colleagues:
Last May, I reported to the Faculty of the Arts & Sciences that I believed it was time to review the fundamental structure of the Arts & Sciences and the College. This relationship has a long, storied history. It also has profound effects on the governance, culture, and fiscal realities of the Arts & Sciences, the College, and, indeed, the entire University. Over the summer, after consulting with many people and groups, I appointed the members listed below to the Task Force on the Relationship of the Arts & Sciences and the College.
The goal of the Task Force is to review how we got to the current structure, evaluate how that structure works in fact, take stock of the strengths and weaknesses that structure yields, consider how peer institutions organize themselves with respect to these matters, and, finally, produce a report before the beginning of the spring term with recommendations for the future. This process will require deep knowledge, good judgment, and institutional wisdom. It will not be a critique of any individuals, especially those who have faithfully served the University in the roles our structure assigns. And the Task Force will have no power of enforcement or implementation. The upshot will remain to be determined based on promises already made (in particular, my assurance that the Arts & Sciences faculty will have the opportunity to discuss and express its collective views) and institutional governance authority (the University Trustees, in the end).
I know this is an area of University organization that can sometimes be highly controversial, even contentious. I ask that we all treat this as a matter of the utmost importance, by which I mean both the process as well as the outcome. I am very grateful to the members of the Task Force for their service.
Sincerely,
Lee C. Bollinger
Task Force on the Relationship of the Arts & Sciences and the College
- Lee C. Bollinger (Chair), President and Seth Low Professor of the University, Columbia University
- Sian Beilock, President, Barnard College
- Mary C. Boyce, Provost and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University
- Michael Cole, Howard McP. Davis Professor of Art History, Columbia University
- Thomas Cornacchia, Member, Columbia College Board of Visitors; former Co-Head of Global FICC Sales, Goldman Sachs
- Ruben Gonzalez, Professor of Chemistry, Columbia University
- Robert Gooding-Williams, M. Moran Weston/Black Alumni Council Professor of African-American Studies; Professor of Philosophy and of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Columbia University
- Wanda Holland Greene, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, Columbia University; Head of School, The Hamlin School
- Jean Howard, George Delacorte Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University
- Kellie Jones, Chair, Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies; Hans Hofmann Professor of Modern Art, Columbia University
- Brian Krisberg, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
- Eugenia Lean, Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures; Director, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Costis Maglaras, Dean, Columbia Business School; David and Lyn Silfen Professor of Business, Columbia University
- Susan Pedersen, Gouverneur Morris Professor of History, Columbia University
- Molly Przeworski, Professor of Biological Sciences and of Systems Biology, Columbia University
- Claire Shipman, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, Columbia University; Journalist and Author
- Josef Sorett, Chair, Department of Religion; Professor of Religion and of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Columbia University
- Brent Stockwell, Professor of Biological Sciences and of Chemistry, Columbia University
- Miguel Urquiola, Chair, Department of Economics; Professor of Economics and International Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Andreas Wimmer, Lieber Professor of Sociology and Political Philosophy, Columbia University
- Kathryn Yatrakis, Faculty Advisor, Columbia University