Recent developments surrounding Moodygate have left all parties stunned and confused, but everyone can be certain of one thing: Columbia University is an organizationally complex machine, perhaps too much so. Investigations into the origins and circumstances of Moody-Adams’ resignation have revealed existing and historical rifts between deans, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and central administration. In order to better understand the current situation, there needs to be a clearer understanding of the internal structure of Columbia University.

Bwog has obtained an unofficial organizational chart (298K, PDF) from an alumni tipster that breaks down Columbia’s administration and hierarchical structure, from the Trustees and PrezBo all the way down to deans and their assistants. It’s quite a beast to look at, but it illustrates just how massive and intricate the University truly is. Our tipster notes that parts of the chart are outdated (it dates from early 2010), and due to the complex structure of the administration, perhaps oversimplified or drawn with fuzzy lines. It’s also incomplete, because certain areas of Alumni Affairs and Development are very difficult to figure out.

To help digest this information, we’ve taken this org chart and distilled it to only include personnel relevant to the resignation of Moody-Adams. We’ve also taken care to update positions so it more accurately represents the current administrators. For those we show having direct reports, all direct reports are shown—although for presentation purposes, some personnel may have been condensed into a single box. The original org chart more accurately portrays relative ranking amongst officials by preserving strict levels, but ours more clearly demonstrates connections between key personnel and direct report relationships. Look at ours below or view the .png file directly.

People that are bolded in our org chart represent those that have been in the news lately. The chart’s arrows are pointed in the direction of seniority, i.e. there is an arrow pointing from any given position to their superior. It’s clear that Nick Dirks and Robert Kasdin have enormous responsibilities.

And in case you were wondering, the relationship between Coatsworth and Dirks is accurate to the best of our knowledge. The Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences (FAS) reports to the Provost, and the Dean of SIPA reports to the Dean of FAS; however, because Coatsworth is serving as Interim Provost while maintaining his position as the Dean of SIPA, Coatsworth currently has Dirks as a direct report while still reporting to him. A behemoth indeed.

Well-informed alumni sources have also conjectured about MiMoo’s replacement. Basically it could go one of two ways. Either a “caretaker,” a harmless, experienced professor with administrative experience—possibly a former dean— will fill the position until an appropriate long-term replacement is found, or else one of the younger, relatively unknown but tenured professors with strong links to the College will be chosen for the permanent deanship.