Donald Goldfarb, new Interim Dean of SEAS

Minutes ago, PrezBo and Coatsworth sent out the following email to the SEAS community, announcing Dean Peña-Mora’s sudden resignation. Could it have something to do with the faculty’s letters of no confidence last year (and this year)? Last fall, the Times reported that 80% of tenured faculty supported his replacement in a strongly worded letter. Faculty were dissatisfied with his handling of Columbia’s notorious lack of space, charging that he “repeatedly disavowed both written and oral agreements with individual departments.” Faculty also complained that he spent too much time fundraising off-campus.

The May issue of The Blue & White carried an interview with the former dean about those very issues. He had this simile to share with a B&W staffer: “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.”

“The faculty sometimes interpret my words to mean more than what I say,” Peña-Mora told The Blue & White. “I like to speak enthusiastically, but some take it very literally.”

“It is true,” Coatsworth told the Times, “that there are a number of cases in which Feniosky made a commitment and then found with further study that he couldn’t meet the commitment. Mostly they had to do with space.”

This is oddly reminiscent of last summer’s Moodygate. We’re calling it Peñamonium. Here’s the email that was sent to students:

July 3, 2012

Dear members of the SEAS community,

We write to say that Professor Feniosky Peña-Mora has submitted his resignation as Dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. We thank Professor Peña-Mora for his service as Dean and look forward to his future academic contributions as a faculty member in the fields of civil engineering and engineering mechanics, earth and environmental engineering, and computer science.

We are fortunate that Professor Donald Goldfarb will serve as Interim Dean while a search is conducted for a new dean. A faculty member of the School of Engineering and Applied Science since 1982 and currently executive vice dean, Professor Goldfarb has served once before as acting dean of SEAS and is therefore well positioned to lead the school effectively through this transition. With his experienced leadership, we are committed as a university to maintaining the forward progress of the School of Engineering and Applied Science in the months and years ahead.

Over the next several weeks, we will be discussing with the faculty and SEAS community how best to chart the future course for the School.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger

John H. Coatsworth

Update, 2:09 pm: KevSho sent along his thoughts, mentioning “many of the student-centered initiatives started by Feniosky Peña-Mora.”

Dear School of Engineering and Applied Science Students,

As many of you have seen by now, President Bollinger and Provost Coatsworth announced today that Feniosky Peña-Mora, who has served as Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science for the last three years, has submitted his resignation. Professor Donald Goldfarb, executive vice dean, has been appointed as interim dean.

We look forward to working with him, the senior leadership of SEAS, and the University to make this transition period as smooth as possible. As we continue our work in enhancing student life here at Columbia, we are committed to carrying on with many of the student-centered initiatives started by Feniosky Peña-Mora.

We look forward to welcoming you all for the 2012–2013 academic year.

Sincerely,

Kevin Shollenberger

Dean of Student Affairs

Columbia College | Columbia Engineering

Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Student Life

Arts and Sciences

Update, 2:37 pm: SEAS released an official statement via their website. Pretty standard, exceedingly neutral, quote from Interim Dean Goldfarb: “We have an extremely strong school, superb faculty, and excellent students—in short, an incredible community of scholars—and I am looking forward to working with them all in my new role as interim dean.”

Update, 7/4 2 pm: The inevitable New York Times article about this features a statement from Peña-Mora himself. He doesn’t sound happy.

In his own statement, Dr. Peña-Mora said that under his watch, the engineering school had greatly increased its number of student applicants, doubled the size of its annual fund and risen in the national rankings of engineering graduate programs. “Differences of opinion are inevitable at times of change, and criticism of a leader bringing about the change can be expected, particularly, I suppose, when the person is an outsider both institutionally and in other ways,” he wrote.

“When certain senior faculty then saw fit to press their own interests through personal attacks on me, I was disappointed,” he added. He went on to say that his critics “did not, in my view, serve Columbia well, and, in the end, the discourse offered no model to our students of how faculty in a diverse and thriving academic environment should conduct themselves.”

Update, 7/5: ESC has released a statement; it’s much of the same. Check it out:

Dear Columbia Engineering Students,

As many of you may have already heard, Dean Feniosky Peña-Mora submitted his resignation as Dean of Columbia Engineering. We, the Engineering Student Council, would like to thank the Dean for his impact on students and service to our school for the past three years. Many of the goals we were able to accomplish on behalf of the students would not have been possible without his support and guidance.

As we look to the upcoming school year, we hope to develop a fruitful partnership with interim Dean Donald Goldfarb. We welcome Dean Goldfarb and look forward to working with him on developing the next steps for our school.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to email us atesc@columbia.edu.

Sincerely,
Engineering Student Council

Goldberg via SEAS

Mmm...compost

Sean Zimmermann reports from last night’s ESC meeting.

ESC sat down for a chat. Sean Zimmermann got to watch.

Elections just aren't what they used to be

• Reminder: FRESHMAN ESC ELECTIONS END AT NOON! Vote Here!
• VP—Policy Logan Donovan called for council members to help her work on current CCE improvements. She urged members to “remember their campaign promises.” Accountability!
• CCSC Liaison Linda Sun resigned. The GSSC liaison, Rebecca Frauzen, has resigned from her position, and was elected the new CCSC liaison. The GSSC liaison position is now open, and interested engineering students can email their class council. Assuming their class council doesn’t resign first.
• President Nate Levick reported that the promised EC turnstiles will not be installed until next summer. Sorry seniors. And Barnard.

Die gute alte Zeit via Wikimedia Commons

Brian Connolly, Associate Vice President for Public Affairs from the Office of Communications, has released the following statement (emphasis ours) from President Bollinger regarding the resignation of Columbia College Dean Michele Moody-Adams. Bollinger writes that “under the circumstances,” Moody-Adams will step down immediately, rather than on June 30, 2012, as she proposes in her statement. Bollinger plans to choose an Interim Dean in the next few weeks.

I have accepted Dean Moody-Adams’s decision to resign as Dean of Columbia College and Vice President for Undergraduate Education. In her position as dean and vice president, we had looked forward to her playing a central role in shaping the academic administration of the College to ensure the finest educational experience for our students, and had hoped that she would be a key voice in the ongoing discussions involving faculty, alumni and administrators about how to position the College even more centrally in the life of Columbia’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences. Under the circumstances, it is in the best interests of the College and the University that she step down immediately so that we can have an Interim Dean in place at the beginning of the new academic year.

While we are still waiting for official comment from the University administration, we have received multiple confirmations from a wide spectrum of students, alumni, and faculty that Michele Moody-Adams has resigned as Dean of Columbia College, and that the news was sudden, unexpected, and as of yesterday afternoon, a complete surprise to many administrators, up to the executive vice-presidential level. There are indications that the resignation is symptomatic of significantly larger disagreements between the university and its constituent schools.

The Student Affairs Committee of the USenate sent out the following press-release at 3 am, which does not support Moody-Adams’ decision or provide any context, but assures us that the SAC will remain strong.

Update, 10:05 pm: Shollenberger confirmed Moody-Adams’ resignation in an email to Columbia College students. KevSho stresses his commitment to maintaining dialogue with students: “In order to update students on the evolving transition, in the coming days, I plan to schedule meetings with student leaders and relevant senior administrators.”

Update, 3:11 pm: The CCSC exec board issued another statement in response to the resignation. The board promises to “delve into the circumstances surrounding” the resignation and keep the student body updated on its findings.

All statements after the jump. (more…)

An active member of the alumni network who wished to remain anonymous forwarded us the following email, purportedly sent by the Dean of Columbia College, explaining her resignation as of June 30, 2012. Dated yesterday, August 20th, the message has quickly spread by email, according to two active alumni tipsters. Although it is addressed to “friends,” and has been passed to alumni, it is unclear who the original recipients of the message were. It is possible that the ”friends,” were The original recipients of the email were Trustees, a select group of prominent alumni and members of the Board of Visitors.

Michele Moody-Adams has served as the Dean of Columbia College since February 2009. We have bolded the most important parts her strongly-worded email. Moody-Adams does not go into detail about the “planned changes,” that prompted her to step down, but promises these “structural transformations” have eliminated “the authority of the Dean of the College over crucial policy, fund-raising and budgetary matters” and will “fundamentally alter decision-making in and for the College.”

We have reached out to all the appropriate channels of official communication for comment, but at the moment have not received confirmation of Moody-Adams resignation from any Columbia source besides alumni recipients of the e-mail.

Dear Friends,

It is with a very heavy heart that I send you this news. Columbia
University has begun plans to transform the administrative structure in Arts
and Sciences. The planned changes will have the effect of diminishing and
in some important instances eliminating the authority of the Dean of the
College over crucial policy, fund-raising and budgetary matters.

During my tenure as Dean, I have repeatedly voiced concern that changes of
this kind will ultimately compromise the College’s academic quality and
financial health. In my time here, I have quietly and respectfully sought
the counsel of many of you about how to have my voice heard. I believed
until very recently that, given the quality of my contributions to Columbia
and the success of many of my efforts here, my concerns might be taken
seriously. Just a very few days ago, it was made clear to me that the
structural transformations intended to fundamentally alter decision-making
in and for the College cannot be stopped.

Because I cannot in good conscience carry out a role that I believe to be
detrimental to the welfare of the College, I have submitted my resignation
as Dean of Columbia College, effective June 30, 2012. In my final year as
Dean, I will work towards a seamless transition and continue to adhere to
the values that I have promoted for 27 years in higher education: academic
excellence, professionalism at every level of the organization,
administrative transparency and fiscal responsibility. On July 1, 2012 I
will look forward to strengthening my connections to my tenure home in
Philosophy as the Joseph Straus Professor of Political Philosophy and Legal
Theory.

I believe in offering my best as an administrator, educator and scholar and
in doing the right things by the constituents I serve. Columbia is
developing a structure that will no longer allow me to do that as Dean. I
nonetheless thank you for your support during my tenure as Dean.

Sincerely Yours,

Michele M. Moody-Adams

Sean Zimmermann reports from the first ESC meeting of 2011.

• Since Senior Class VP Eric Hirani is graduating early, Senior Class President Amanda Tan announced that she will accept applications to fill his position until end-of-day on January 28th. Class council VPs are chosen internally by current members of the class council, along with two other members of ESC’s E-Board. Kamal Yechoor, SEAS ’11, runner up for Senior Class President last year and Class President from 2007-2010, announced that he intends to run for the position. has withdrawn his name.
• Good news, everyone! SEAS Senator Tim Qin reported that the registrar will now publish exam schedules “as early as possible.” In the past, the registrar did not release exam schedules until late in the semester because the schedules occasionally need minor changes. Qin reports the register will now release this information earlier… Whether or not you’ll be able to book your flight in time still remains to be seen.
• JJ’s Place will now offer à la carte items for students without dining plans. This responds to a common complaint since JJ’s switched from a pay-per-item grill/mini-mart to a dining hall at the beginning of last semester.

• The council spent most of the time before the election discussing the current dining survey, and the results so far. Common student complaints on the survey included the extensive crowding of Ferris, especially on the weekends, the lack of takeout in JJs, and confusion with the new Eco-Token system.

• As of now, students are split 50-50 over whether John Jay or Ferris should be open on the weekends. ESC is working with CCSC to prepare a dinning report to inform students of the results of the dinning survey, and what the councils are doing to address student concerns.

• VP Internal Carla Williams spoke about implementing either an Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) or Single Transferable Vote (STV) system for council elections. Both systems are preferential voting systems that would prevent ties in council elections.

• Academic Affairs Representatives Patrick Han resigned tonight for personal reasons. This brings the number of unoccupied spots on council to 2, as the council also decided to postpone the election of a new Alumni Affairs Representative.

• Council members voted to allow freshmen to enter the SEAS New York lottery. SEAS New York, which allows SEAS students to attend various cultural events, in the past only allowed upperclassman (or second semester freshmen) to participate because freshman were able to enter into a similar lottery, Urban New York, which was canceled this semester.

Less than 24 hours after CCSC filled one vacant seat, another spot has opened up. This time, it’s CC ’09 Class Council vice-president Mallory Carr, who resigned earlier today.

Carr won election this past year as part of Mark Johnson’s Fusion Party, after running the year before as VP for Policy on Natali Segovia’s Voice Party ticket. She has also been involved in the Multicultural Recruitment Committee and the Undergraduate Recruitment Committee.

UPDATE (9:55 PM): Carr told Bwog in an email, “I know that with my many other commitments this semester, I would not be able to continue in my role as VP to the best of my ability.” She continued: “However, I have the utmost faith in the rest of our council to continue to fulfill our promises to the senior class.” Sources also confirm to Bwog that CC ’09 President Mark Johnson has appointed class rep Heather Oh as the new VP and Brandon Shulman to fill Oh’s representative position, as per the council’s constitution.

UPDATE (11:18 PM): Seems ESC has the resignation bug as well – VP for Alumni Affairs and Professional Development Pradeep Bandaru resigned over winter break. ESC will hear speeches from interested candidates and vote on a new VP next week.

Earlier this evening, University Senator Tiffany Dockery CC ’09 resigned her seat in a letter to the Student Affairs Caucus. Dockery, last year’s BSO president, was on trial for impeachment for not attending enough meetings of the Student Affairs Caucus.

In her letter, Dockery lists several reasons for her resignation, including her belief that “there are certain structural issues that preclude me from achieving many of the things that I aimed to do as a progressive student of color.”

She also addressed her repeated absences, citing personal family reasons as well as over-commitment.   She closed by saying “I have displayed my commitment to the Senate through my work in the Columbia College Student Council.”

UPDATE 12:38 AM: Earlier, we had mistakenly posted the entirely of the Dockery email when we had only meant to excerpt quotes. The email was only on the site for about 45 minutes, and we removed it as soon as we realized our mistake. We sincerely apologize that it was posted at all.  — Ed.