A&S Faculty Governance

Arts and Sciences fulfills its teaching, research, and service missions with the guidance of several deliberative faculty bodies. Two are especially prominent: the elected Policy and Planning Committee (PPC), and the Promotion and Tenure Committee (PTC). These provide leadership and strategic input for Arts and Sciences and the three schools that share our faculty, and steward faculty strength across all fields. A third committee - the Steering Committee on Curricular Governance - coordinates efforts related to curricular planning, governance, and decision-making.

Policy and Planning Committee

The Policy and Planning Committee (PPC) is an elected body that represent the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to the leadership of the Arts and Sciences.

Promotion and Tenure Committee

The Promotion and Tenure Committee (PTC) serves in an advisory capacity to the Executive Vice President. The PTC consists of 12 faculty who review departmental nominations for promotion and tenure.

Steering Committee on Curricular Governance

The Steering Committee on Curricular Governance (SCCG) consists of representatives from the faculty, PPC, and curricular bodies from three Arts and Sciences schools. Its primary purpose is to ensure the coordination and integration of curricular planning across the Arts and Sciences.

Additional committees address critical areas including: curriculum, academic review of departments and programs, faculty equity and diversity, the well-being of junior faculty and lecturers, the resource allocation, and other areas. Faculty also serve on curricular governance and other committees within Columbia College, the School of General Studies, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The partnership at the heart of shared governance would not be possible without the time, talents, and service of our dedicated faculty and staff.

Academic Review Committee

The Academic Review Committee (ARC) is charged with overseeing the periodic review of all departments, centers, and institutes in the
Arts and Sciences.

Committee on Equity and Diversity

The Committee on Equity and Diversity (CED) in Arts and Sciences is the key faculty governance body to address the recommendations of the 2017/18 PPC Equity Studies.

Junior Faculty Advisory Board

The Junior Faculty Advisory Board (JFAB) is a advising committee that serves as a structure to support the junior faculty in myriad ways.

Lecturer Advisory Committee

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.

Arts & Sciences Confidential Voting

Faculty votes in Arts & Sciences are confidential except when they are raised-hand votes live in faculty meetings or by agreement in other less formal committee settings. 

Full-faculty electronic votes are conducted using Qualtrics, a standard voting and survey software. Because eligibility to vote is based on Columbia uni identification, there is a marker attached to vote submissions that technically could be recovered. 

A&S has an iron-clad commitment to confidentiality of voting for all faculty. The Dean and EVP of Arts & Sciences has pledged never to seek to recover this information and will protect staff who refuse to provide it.