Great name, great hair

According to the Morningside Post, sources in the administration have confirmed that Merit Janow, a professor in the practice of international economic law and international affairs since the fall of 1994, will soon become SIPA’s new dean. She will replace interim dean Robert Lieberman, who will be leaving Columbia University on June 30 to assume the position of Provost at The Johns Hopkins University.

Photo via Columbia University

Columbia’s convoluted administrative structure has undergone some major changes in the past year. To bring our freshest batch of freshpeople up to date, we’ve prepared this handy hyperlink guide to the major events surrounding the appointments of two of the most important administrators of the undergraduate community: James Valentini (Deantini), Dean of Columbia College; and Donald Goldfarb (Goldean), Interim Dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Downing a Deantini Takes the Edge Off of Moodygate

• In June of 2011, then-Dean of Columbia College Michele Moody-Adams (MiMoo) sent a letter announcing her resignation to a group of alumni. In the letter, she gave her reasons for resigning—involving a controversial report about Columbia from the McKinsey consulting firm—and said her resignation would be effective June 30, 2012.
• However, PrezBo had different plans in mind: our fearless leader tendered MiMoo’s resignation immediately, planning to replace her with an interim dean loyal to the party ranks administration before the start of the academic year.
• In the wake of what would come to be called Moodygate, administrators and student groups released reactions and explanations, while the drama drew media attention from outlets like the Times.
• Though a week late for 2015′s cancelled convocation, PrezBo appointed James Valentini, a chemistry professor and former chair of the chemistry department, as Interim Dean of Columbia College; Valentini was promptly affirmed by the University Senate’s Student Affairs Committee.
• Of course, no administrative appointment would be complete without a nickname contest; the people spoke (and received Milano), choosing Deantini as the new Dean’s “official“ name.

Read the rest of Deantini’s saga and the evolution of Goldean after the break

While we undergrads have been sunning ourselves and relaxing—read: feverishly catching up on the TV we missed during finals in a dark room, breaking only to snack—our profs and deans have been keeping busy, as usual. Read on to find out what they’ve been doing/saying/writing…

Making Headlines

• Admiral Eric Olson, who played a pretty big part in the raid that led to Osama bin Laden’s death last year, is coming to town. Specifically, our very own part of town—according to this piece, Olson will be teaching a class about military strategy come September. (NYT)
• According to an anonymous SEAS professor, 90 percent of the tenured faculty voted “no confidence” in Dean Peña-Mora. (Spec)
• Dean of Financial Aid Laurie Schaffler is resigning, and heading out West. KevSho says it might be awhile ’til she’s replaced. (Spec)

Getting Bylines

• Nick LeMann, Dean of the J-School, asks how valuable a college degree really is. The upshot: Ivy League schools are actually underpriced. (New Yorker)
• Meanwhile, chair of the Religion Department Mark Taylor says that competition is killing higher education. (City Wire)
• Phillip Lopate, the director of Columbia’s Nonfiction Writing program, reviews Jonathan Franzen’s essay collection, and sheds some light on his relationship with David Foster Wallace. (NYT)

Laying Down The Law

• The Law School is so fed up with professors giving grades out late that the Dean is allegedly now threatening to fine and publicly shame professors who don’t get their grades in on time. (Above the Law)
• In more positive news—at least for Columbia—Law School students released a 400-page report proving that Texas executed an innocent man. (The Atlantic)

The school year might be over as far as final exams and cat-naps in Butler go, but as we learned last summer, there’s never a dull moment for the admin.

As SEAS seniors and their Dean get ready to tear up South Lawn, their student council remind us that there’s more to the story, with a newly released statement reaffirming their confidence in Dean Peña-Mora’s “commitment to undergraduate students.” You can check out all two paragraphs after the jump, but bear with us for a few bullets if you need a recap.

The quick-and-dirty:

• Last October, members of the SEAS faculty expressed dissatisfaction with Dean Peña-Mora’s stint at Columbia in the form of a letter to Provost Coatsworth
• However, we had no idea ’til it was leaked to/published by the NYT in early December; main complaints were that the Dean refused to listen to other staffers, and that his hiring decisions were made at the expense of academic interests
• At the time, Deaña-Mora declined to comment—but, last month, he sat down with Bwog and addressed some of the concerns outlined in the letter; Choice excerpt: “The departments are like states, and states have their interests. But the federal government has to do what’s best for the country as a whole. I need to make decisions that are best for SEAS as a whole.”
• But wait! That’s not all for leadership drama—way back when (and by “when” we mean “August”), former CC Dean Michele Moody-Adams rocked our worlds inboxes with a surprise resignation, to later be chalked up to lots of complicated questions about protecting the College and dubbed Moodygate
• Chem professor James Valentini took over as the interim Dean of the College back in early September, and earlier this month, he talked to Bwog about some of the issues facing the College.
• More than a month ago, PrezBo announced the formation of a student/faculty committee put in place to select a permanent Dean; just last week, the timeline for that decision got pushed back to the end of May “at the earliest”

And without further ado, check out ESC’s statement

A can't miss combo.

So tomorrow, our women’s basketball team is facing off against Harvard. In case you were planning on trying to squeeze onto those crowded bleachers for some Division I action, you can eat pizza beforehand for no money. After all, nothing goes with not playing sports like vegging out.

Here’s the deal: Deans Shollenberger and Martinez have set up this pizza party thing at 5:30 before the game. The location is TBD, because—and here’s the kicker—only 50 people can go, and it’s first come, first serve. According to CCSC President Aki Terasaki, “There will be foam fingers, pompoms, and plenty of food.” According to the Google Doc where you sign up, the “best part” is that “Dean Shollenberger and Dean Martinez will be there to make sure you’re having a great time!” (emphasis theirs)

Community—we’ve got it!

More boring-but-sorta-important administration news: PrezBo just sent word that Carlos J. Alonso, interim dean of GSAS since last September, will take on that position full time. Full email from ‘Bo below.

Also, apparently, “Arts and Sciences always have been, and remain, central to our academic calling of pursuing answers.” So there’s that.

Dear Fellow Members of the Columbia Community:

I am very pleased to announce that Carlos J. Alonso will assume the duties of Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences on a permanent basis, a position he has filled admirably as interim dean since September of last year. In that role, Carlos has demonstrated sensitivity to a range of academic concerns and a determination to advance our institutional goals. His continuing leadership will be extremely valuable in building on Columbia’s great legacy of graduate education.

Carlos has helped lead Columbia in a variety of academic and administrative capacities since arriving here from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005. As chair of the department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, he succeeded in elevating that department to the top ranks among its peers nationally.

For as long as Columbia has been recognized for its academic excellence, our reputation has been due first and foremost to the quality of our accomplished faculty. The Arts and Sciences always have been, and remain, central to our academic calling of pursuing answers to important questions and then leaving to subsequent generations the gift of new knowledge and insight. With the benefit of Carlos’s stewardship, we can be confident that these proud Columbia traditions will continue. I also must recognize and thank Nick Dirks, Executive Vice President for the Arts and Sciences and Dean of the Faculty, for guiding us through this transition and leading the search committee for the new dean.

Please join me in congratulating Carlos Alonso and wishing him success as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger

Image via columbia.edu.

What we got when we searched "friends" on Wikimedia

Sean Zimmermann reports from last night’s ESC meeting.

Theresa Martinez, Dean of Community and Multicultural Affairs, spoke at last night’s Engineering Student Council meeting. She was hired last year to help foster a greater sense of Columbia University community.

Dean Martinez explained that she is currently working on the open housing policy, the CUEMS proposal, and an electronic payer card system. She described some of the bureaucratic parts of Columbia as “archaic,” explaining, “I don’t recall the last time I saw a quadruplecate form before I went to Columbia.”

Much of the discussion on student life focused on the role of student groups and how to connect with students. Freshman Representative Siddhant Bhatt proposed that the Dean could help foster community by playing music in the dining halls, and providing “advertising” for student groups between pieces. Bhatt claimed that this would be a “less invasive” way to alert students about events on campus than knocking on doors. (more…)