Policies and Guidelines for Conducting Impact-Oriented Projects at Columbia

Guidelines have been developed to guide the internal Columbia community with respect to the review and execution of “non-traditional agreements,” e.g. sponsored project activities that extend beyond the performance of research, education, and public service.  Examples include agreements that are related to the University’s Fourth Purpose.

Guidelines can be downloaded here.

Columbia University routinely hosts visitors whom it considers vital to its intellectual and educational missions.  These people, who come for limited periods of time to teach, conduct collaborative research, pursue their own independent research, or receive training by observing specific research or clinical techniques, are categorized into five types, depending on the purpose of their visit.

To learn more, please click here.

To help facilitate cross-disciplinary and cross-school/department/institute/center appointments and hires at Columbia, this memo lays out best practices for potential joint and interdisciplinary hires and appointments, whether external or internal.

Best Practices - Full Version

The Office of the Provost has an RFP for Cross-Disciplinary Frontiers Courses. This initiative aims to provide faculty with opportunities to expand the reach of their teaching beyond their own school and department, and to advance the frontiers of Columbia’s educational offerings by supporting the creation of cross-disciplinary courses that count toward the degree programs for students at two different schools. It responds to the interests of students in enriching their knowledge through courses addressing scholarship at the boundaries of distinct fields, and where they can learn alongside students from other disciplines.

Crafting Your Course Code

• You have two options for the Subject Code: Hybrid Course Code or Course Code hosted by one school, with the other school cross-listing. If the course counts toward the degree programs at two schools, it is recommended you set up a Hybrid Course Code (e.g. AHCE for a class co-taught by faculty in Art History & Archeology and Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics)
• Two departments can technically be “owners” of a course. The department that is mounting the course can add a second department as an owner when submitting their proposal. When multiple departments are owners, it requires approval from each department and respective COIs. The department mounting the course will go through COI approval first followed by the proceeding departments.  Departments should follow “Workflow 2” in this link:  https://sishelp.sis.columbia.edu/content/5-proposal-workflows

Plan Your COI Meetings Early

• Each school has a different schedule around COI meetings. Plan ahead in the event you need to make revisions leading up to class registration. You may not have another opportunity to have your COI meeting until the following semester.
• Be mindful of the class registration deadlines, so that the course (with a course code, and approved by the two COI committees) is available to students for registration by the deadline.

Plan Ahead to Optimize Class Size

• In order for students to know about this cross-disciplinary course, you may need to promote it between departments.
• In your Course Description, you may add at the end: “A Columbia Cross-Disciplinary Course” to facilitate a search of cross-disciplinary courses by students from across the university.
• In your Class Notes, please add at the beginning: "Columbia Cross-Disciplinary Courses are co-taught by faculty from two schools, where students learn alongside those from other disciplines" to facilitate a search of cross-disciplinary courses by students from across the university.

Columbia recognizes that generative AI is a tool that is transforming higher education and society, and encourages our campus community to explore its possibilities while being mindful of the potential security and privacy risks that it poses.

To learn more, please click here.