26 Comments
Dear readers,
As you may know, Columbia’s gotten a few new bigwigs this semester, and for the first time, the administration’s letting us interview them. Yep, next week, we will be interviewing Provost Claude Steele, CC Dean Michelle Moody-Adams, and SEAS Dean Feniosky Pena-Mora.
But rather than entrust the questions to our own journalistic abilities, we’re hoping you can help us out with the questions from you, the readers. This is a chance to ask that one question you’ve been dying to know the answer to, but would rather not attend a tea/fireside chat for. You can either post your questions (anonymously) in the comments section of this post (which will remain in our headline box until we’ve received enough questions), or send them to bwog@columbia.edu. Happy interrogating!
Sincerely,
The Bwog Staff
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26 Comments
@twenty Please predict the SEAS ranking of next year
@i am still relevant I am really happy that the nickname I coined is still hot.
MMA is solid.
@to Dean Peña Mora SEAS students have a hard time studying abroad, not only because of heavy workload but because there seem to be less resources out there for us. Is there anything being done to add more study abroad programs for engineering students or to develop better resources for students?
@Bwog Sending in questions through comments is so stupid, i bet the deans have research assistants going through this right now and coming up with admin canned responses.
@is there something wrong with that?
@Commenter You’re giving them way too much credit.
@To Dean Pena-Mora Will there be any effort to create an engineering ABC/SDA free from Robert Taylor’s reign of terror so engineering organizations don’t need a thousand forms and a token Barnard/CC student to exist?
@Really? SDA *requires* ASCE, ASME, SWE, etc. to have a non-SEAS student? Wow, that’s just plain stupid.
@To all three Why is Columbia a bureaucratic nightmare? I say this not in jest – both professors and students alike note that the poor manner in which this school is run is awe-inspiring.
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Second question: Many cynics (including me) point to the exorbitant pay of administrators compared to the rest of the employees at universities. Would you be willing to take a pay cut if it meant lowering costs?
@To MMA What’s your favorite book? What’s your favorite poem? What’s the best book that you’ve read published in the past ten years? What’s one literary work that you’re “supposed to” like that in actuality you hate and would never want to read? What would you say to the Iliad-is-rap girl from NSOP?
@To all three Columbia has been reported as having weathered the recent economic crisis much better than other ivy leagues, in terms of finances. Has this occurred at the expense of reduced grants and support for graduate students?
@Well 1) Provost Steele: You said in an interview that Columbia is decentralized while Stanford was “unified.” What can you do to change the culture of territorial fiefdoms in the administration?
2) Dean MMA: While SEAS has had a reputation of having a strong culture of student loyalty and pride towards the school, CC under Dean Quigley’s tenure did not. How do you plan to be a more visible presence in the lives of students? Do you plan on attending touchstones of student culture and life at Columbia? (Orgo Night? a KCST midnight performance? the Kilmer poetry contest? Glass house? more than one sports game a year? maybe senior night for basketball and a few other games?)
3) Provost Steele/Dean MMA: As a Columbia undergraduate, you don’t realize how awful the administration is until you experience alternatives. Why are Columbia’s business operations so byzantine relative to our peers? Hell, even the Barnard administration isn’t as stone aged in paying its bills and reimbursing students for expenses as Columbia is. What do you plan on doing to alleviate the generally hostile-to-uncaring attitude of administrators to most students?
@Please ask them... Please ask them about the War on Fun. It’s unbearable in here!!
@To all three: Are you aware of the existence of the phrase: “War on Fun”? Do you think you have a good grasp of the student sentiment behind the phrase? Do you plan to do anything about it?
@Headline box? You already have enough questions
@To Dean Pena-Mora Could you please reassess the first and second year engineering curriculum? Despite the purposeful design of it, and efforts to improve it, it still feels disconnected from the experience of the third and fourth years.
@bob 1st 2 years needs help. also should ask about gateway. e.g., why do we take it? or: how many of jaques mcqwerty’s culpa reviews are autobiographical?
@To Dean Pena-Mora Some major engineering companies do not recruit at Columbia because our reputation in certain fields is not good enough. Is there anything being done about this?
@To Dean Pena-Mora Why is your top button closed? Dean Moody-Adams and Provost Steele seem to have gotten President Bollinger’s memo, why haven’t you?
@To Provost Steele What is the purpose of the Office of University Chaplain and the position of the University Chaplain? Do they actually do their job? Is it really necessary to have this office and this position in the twenty-first century?
@4444444444444444449 To #6: The University Chaplain is actually a very active office that manages multicultural programs at Columbia. They also bring in a lot of $$$ by conducting weddings at the chapel.
@To Dean Moody Adams What are your plans for the Core Curriculum? Do you plan on changing it in any way? And if so, how?
@To Dean Pena-Mora Columbia has many schools and departments that are highly ranked nationally, but the engineering school falls short of a place in the top-20 list. Are there any present efforts aimed at improving this general situation, especially in the graduate level?
@To all three It seems that most policies in the War on Fun (reslife rules, student group rules, facilities rules, etc.) come out of liability concerns. To what extent do you feel that Columbia should take on risk so that students don’t have to go through so much red tape to have a good time?
@To all three What is one thing you plan on doing with your newfound power?
@To Dean Moody-Adams Do you identify yourself with any religious group?