…in the form of election to a search committee for the next Exec VP for Arts and Sciences aaaand Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences!  The fifteen-member committee, chaired by Robert “Bob” Jervis was (about) half chosen by the Policy and Planning Committee of the Arts and Sciences.  A majority of members are […]

Nicholas Dirks, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, has resigned to become chancellor (that’s California for “president”) of UC-Berkeley. Dirks is a celebrated anthropology professor who left UMichigan for Columbia in 1997 to overhaul our anthropology department. A few years later, Prezbo arrived at Columbia from UMichigan and asked Dirks to join […]

Earlier this morning, The Eye published an article about shakeups in the upper echelons of the Columbia administration. The piece contained a couple of new nuggets in this seemingly never-ending story—including a summary of the infamous McKinsey report and changes to financial aid—but it can be difficult to keep track of everything that’s happened since […]

Last night, Vice-President of the Arts & Sciences Nicholas Dirks delivered the annual University Lecture, entitled “Scholars and Spies: Worldly Knowledge and the Predicament of the University.” The following classified report was submitted by Bwog’s own scholarly spy, Peter Sterne (who—full disclosure—is in Dirks’ CC class). Classical music came from the speakers as people scrambled […]

Moody-Adams’ reasons for resigning probably surrounded decisions made by the Policy and Planning Committee (PPC) of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). Executive Vice President Nicholas Dirks focused his reaction to the dean’s condemnation of FAS on defending the PPC and stressing that whatever Moody-Adams found objectionable has not been set in stone. We’re […]

Bwog just recieved the following e-mail, sent by Executive Vice President for Arts and Sciences and Dean of the Faculty Nick Dirks. The e-mail is essentially a complete refutation of every concern that Moody-Adams expressed in her e-mail. Most importantly, Dirks says that there are no particular decisions that have been made, which seems completely […]

MiMoo’ email revealed animosities plaguing the administration. Only when you understand the university’s current structure can you begin to comprehend the implications of centralization and her departure. First, a bit of history. The massive administrative construct, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, traces all the way back to the late nineteenth century. In 1880, Graduate […]