Faculty Governance

SIPA Faculty Meetings

Faculty Meetings convene full-time SIPA faculty members with recurring appointments. Faculty are asked to hold Thursdays from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm for these meetings and are notified in advance of specific meeting dates. For questions about meetings please contact the Program Director for Academic Affairs.  

Faculty Committees

Standing, Review and Search Committees are appointed annually by the SIPA Vice Dean in consultation with the SIPA Dean and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Committee members must hold appropriate (higher) rank than the candidates for which they are reviewing. For questions about committee membership please contact the Program Director for Academic Affairs.

SIPA Faculty Committee on Instruction

The Committee on Instruction at SIPA is responsible for approving proposals for new majors and other academic programs, new courses, and policy changes. The COI also provides leadership on a range of academic matters, consulting with a broad range of faculty, students, and administrators where relevant.

University Senate

The Senate is a University-wide legislature, representing faculty, students, and other constituencies. It makes policy on a range of issues that affect the entire University or more than one school, including educational programs and priorities, the budget, academic freedom and tenure, the conduct of research, the libraries, information technology, Columbia's external relations, student sexual misconduct, rules governing political demonstrations, and the welfare of faculty, students, and research officers. Trustee concurrence is required for acts of the Senate.

The Senate has 108 voting seats, with 63 reserved for faculty, 24 for students, 6 for officers of research, 2 each for administrative staff, librarians, and alumni, and 9 for senior administrators including the president, who chairs monthly plenaries.

SIPA holds two University Senate seats (one tenured, one non-tenured) to represent the school for two-year terms. Elections are held every other year (or as needed) at a predetermined Faculty Meeting. Any category member may become a candidate for election by submitting a signed statement of intent to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or the Program Director.