Columbia University

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Lecturer Advisory Committee

The Lecturers Advisory Committee (LAC) was established at Columbia University in 2019 to support and represent the lecturers-in-language and lecturers-in-discipline across the divisions of the Humanities, Social Sciences, the Natural Sciences, and the School of Professional Studies. The LAC serves various functions:
 
(1) To provide a standing forum in which lecturers who are members of the A&S faculty can share and discuss their welfare and experiences concerning all aspects of professional life at Columbia.
 
(2) To articulate lecturers’ concerns, and represent their interests in conversations with university administrators, other committees of faculty governance, the University Senate, and department/program chairs.
 
(3) To offer recommendations to the Arts and Sciences on policies pertaining to lecturers.
 
(4) To organize events and provide web resources for lecturers so as to share information and experiences concerning all aspects of professional life at Columbia.
 
To access resources on a wide range of topics, please refer to the Resources Page.
 
The page is updated and maintained by the LAC, which may be reached at [email protected] 

 

Bylaws

The Lecturer Advisory Committee (LAC) is one of the Faculty Committees within the Arts & Sciences (A&S), created to support Lecturers on the Arts & Sciences faculty in their relations with the University.
 
FUNCTIONS
 
(1) The LAC serves as a standing forum in which lecturers who are members of the A&S faculty
(as defined at https://fas.columbia.edu/about-faculty-arts-and-sciences/faculty- 2 committees/policy-and-planning-committee#tab1 ) can share and discuss their welfare and experiences, and to which lecturers may turn for peer advising and assistance
(2) The LAC represents lecturers' interests, articulates their concerns, and makes corresponding suggestions, in conversations with university administrators, other committees of faculty governance, the University Senate, and department/program chairs.
(3) In conjunction with administrative offices, the LAC organizes events and provides web resources for lecturers so as to share information and experiences concerning all aspects of life at Columbia.
(4) The LAC recommends amendments to these bylaws to the Policy and Planning Committee (PPC) and the Executive Committee of the Arts & Sciences.
 
PROCEDURES
 
(1) The LAC will create its own procedures to consult widely among the community of lecturers in the Arts and Sciences at Columbia.
(2) The LAC will meet on the schedule that it deems necessary for its work, but at least twice per semester.
(3) The LAC or its officers will meet at least once per semester with the Policy and Planning Committee to report on lecturers’ concerns and any other issues the LAC or the PPC wants to discuss.
(4) The LAC or its officers will meet at least once per semester with the Executive Vice President for Arts & Sciences to report on lecturers’ concerns and any other issues the LAC or the Executive Vice President want to discuss.
(5) The LAC or its officers will be available to meet with the committee of the department chairs to discuss lecturers’ concerns, at the invitation of that committee.
 
MEMBERSHIP, ELECTION, AND OFFICERS
 
(1) The LAC will consist of thirteen members: seven from the humanities (among whom at least two will be language lecturers), two from social sciences, two from the natural sciences, and two from professional schools (ideally including one from the American Language Program and one from another program). Members must have passed their second-year review.
(2) LAC members can be nominated by themselves or by other A&S faculty.
(3) LAC members will be elected by electronic vote of all full-time lecturer-rank A&S faculty as defined in the A&S bylaws. The election of the first LAC will be conducted as soon as possible by the relevant A&S administrative office after the A&S Executive Committee’s approval of these bylaws. Subsequent elections will be conducted in May of each year.
(4) LAC members will serve terms of three years, counted from September 1 of a given year to August 31 of the following year. They can serve more than one term, but not consecutively. To the extent feasible, terms will be staggered. In order to achieve this, the first group of members will draw by lot terms of one, two, and three years. Those terms will not be deemed to have started until September 1, 2019.
(5) At its first meeting the Committee will elect a chair and vice chair from among its members. Each shall serve a one year non-renewable term. Thereafter, the LAC will elect a vice chair at the beginning of the spring semester each year. The vice chair must be a member whose term extends for at least one year after serving as vice chair. The vice chair shall become the chair for the following year. In the event of a vacancy in either position, the members of the LAC shall elect a replacement from among the members to complete the remaining term. The replacement chair shall not be eligible to serve as chair in the following year.
(6) The LAC will keep minutes of its meetings, which will be accessible to its members.

 

Committee members 2022-2023

Ellen Marakowitz (Co-chair)
Senior Lecturer, Department of Anthropology
[email protected]

Sarah Hansen (Co-Chair)
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Chemistry
[email protected]

Brittany Ober (Vice-Chair)
Lecturer in English as a Second Language in the American Language Program in the Faculty of Professional Studies
[email protected]

Rym Bettaieb
Lecturer in Arabic - Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
[email protected]

Gregory M. Eirich
Lecturer in the Discipline of Sociology
[email protected]

Alice Heicklen
Senior lecturer in the Discipline of Biological Sciences
[email protected]

Eric Matheis
Lecturer in French in the Department of French and Romance Philology
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

Aaron Ritzenberg
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of English and Comparative Literature
[email protected]

João Nemi Neto
Senior Lecturer in Discipline
Latin American and Iberian Cultures Department
[email protected]

Shaoyan Qi
Lecturer in Chinese
East Asian Languages and Cultures
[email protected]

Norman J Jacknis
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Technology Management
[email protected]

Maria Luisa Gozzi
Senior Lecturer
Department of Italian
[email protected]

Committee members 2021-2022

Sarah Hansen (Chair)
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Chemistry
[email protected]

Nikolas P. Kakkoufa (Vice-Chair)
Lecturer in Modern Greek – Department of Classics; Director of Undergraduate Studies of Hellenic Studies
[email protected]

Rym Bettaieb
Lecturer in Arabic – Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
[email protected]

Angelina Craig-Flórez
Senior Lecturer in Spanish – Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures
[email protected]

Gregory M. Eirich
Lecturer in the Discipline of Sociology
[email protected]

Susan Elmes 
Andrew Barth Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Economics
[email protected]

Alice Heicklen 
Senior lecturer in the Discipline of Biological Sciences
[email protected]

Babi Kruchin 
Lecturer in English as a Second Language – American Language Program in the Faculty of Professional Studies
[email protected]

Agnieszka Legutko
Lecturer in Yiddish – Department of Germanic Languages
[email protected]

Eric Matheis
Lecturer in French in the Department of French and Romance Philology
[email protected]

Brittany Ober
Lecturer in English as a Second Language in the American Language Program in the Faculty of Professional Studies
[email protected]

Aaron Ritzenberg
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of English and Comparative Literature
[email protected]

Jutta Schmiers-Heller 
Senior Lecturer in German – Department of Germanic Languages
[email protected]

Committee members 2020-2021

Jutta Schmiers-Heller (Chair)
Senior Lecturer in German – Department of Germanic Languages
[email protected]

Sarah Hansen (Vice Chair)
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Chemistry
[email protected]

Rym Bettaieb
Lecturer in Arabic – Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
[email protected]

Angelina Craig-Flórez
Senior Lecturer in Spanish – Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures
[email protected]

Jeremy Dodd 
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Physics
[email protected]

Gregory M. Eirich
Lecturer in the Discipline of Sociology
[email protected]

Susan Elmes 
Andrew Barth Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Economics
[email protected]

Nikolas P. Kakkoufa
Lecturer in Modern Greek – Department of Classics; Director of Undergraduate Studies of Hellenic Studies
[email protected]

Babi Kruchin 
Lecturer in English as a Second Language – American Language Program in the Faculty of Professional Studies
[email protected]

Agnieszka Legutko
Lecturer in Yiddish – Department of Germanic Languages
[email protected]

Rakesh Ranjan 
Senior Lecturer in Hindi-Urdu – Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
[email protected]

Shelley Saltzman 
Senior Lecturer in English as a Second Language – American Language Program in the Faculty of Professional Studies
[email protected]

Nicole Wallack
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of English and Comparative Literature; Director of Undergraduate Writing Program
[email protected]

Committee members 2019-2020

Nicole Wallack (Chair)
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of English and Comparative Literature; Director of Undergraduate Writing Program
[email protected]

Jutta Schmiers-Heller (Vice Chair)
Senior Lecturer in German – Department of Germanic Languages
[email protected]

Angelina Craig-Flórez
Senior Lecturer in Spanish – Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures
[email protected]

Jeremy Dodd 
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Physics
[email protected]

Susan Elmes 
Andrew Barth Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Economics
[email protected]

Maria Luisa Gozzi 
Senior Lecturer in Italian – Department of Italian
[email protected]

Pascale Hubert-Leibler 
Senior Lecturer in French – Department of French and Romance Philology
[email protected]

Babi Kruchin 
Lecturer in English as a Second Language – American Language Program in the Faculty of Professional Studies
[email protected]

Agnieszka Legutko
Lecturer in Yiddish – Department of Germanic Languages
[email protected]

Ellen Marakowitz 
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Anthropology
[email protected]

Fumiko Nazikian 
Senior Lecturer in Japanese – Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
[email protected]

Karen Phillips 
Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Chemistry
[email protected]

Rakesh Ranjan 
Senior Lecturer in Hindi-Urdu – Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
[email protected]

Shelley Saltzman 
Senior Lecturer in English as a Second Language – American Language Program in the Faculty of Professional Studies
[email protected]

 

Elections

Elections will be held in the Spring 2022

 

Below is the information about elections from LAC BYLAWS:

(1) LAC members can be nominated by themselves or by other A&S faculty.

(2) LAC members will be elected by electronic vote of all full-time lecturer-rank A&S faculty as defined in the A&S bylaws. The election of the first LAC will be conducted as soon as possible by the relevant A&S administrative office after the A&S Executive Committee’s approval of these bylaws. Subsequent elections will be conducted in May of each year.

(3) LAC members will serve terms of three years, counted from September 1 of a given year to August 31 of the following year. They can serve more than one term, but not consecutively. To the extent feasible, terms will be staggered. In order to achieve this, the first group of members will draw by lot terms of one, two, and three years. Those terms will not be deemed to have started until September 1, 2019.

(4) At its first meeting the Committee will elect a chair and vice chair from among its members. Each shall serve a one year non-renewable term. Thereafter, the LAC will elect a vice chair at the beginning of the spring semester each year. The vice chair must be a member whose term extends for at least one year after serving as vice chair. The vice chair shall become the chair for the following year. In the event of a vacancy in either position, the members of the LAC shall elect a replacement from among the members to complete the remaining term. The replacement chair shall not be eligible to serve as chair in the following year.

 

Documents

 

Summaries of LAC meetings

LAC INFORMATION SESSION (February, 2021)

lecturer review study 2018

Glossary of Abbreviations

News

This page highlights recent events, policies, and achievements of lecturers. For information about past years, please see the following pages: 

 

Feedback

One of the important components of establishing a board to serve the lecturer faculty is the exercise of taking an active role in listening to the needs of lecturer faculty. Please contact LAC, with feedback, comments, suggestions and other points of information: [email protected] . Any correspondence will be treated as confidential and kept within LAC unless you specify otherwise.