Strategic Priority #2

Invest in Students’ Experience in Educational Programs to Make These the Best of Their Kind

GOAL: We will launch new initiatives to ensure Columbia’s long tradition of excellence in liberal arts education is stronger than ever, meets the needs of today’s students, and prepares them for careers of the future.

STRATEGIES
  • Transform undergraduate offerings in our largest majors to drive improvements at scale.
  • Create a Computer Science Learning Center in collaboration with SEAS.
  • Increase connections between students and faculty early in undergraduate programs and in Masters’ programs. Develop a series of creative capstones and MA theses that connect students to each other and the world and build post-graduation skills.
  • Significantly invest in the campus infrastructure for our educational mission and social connection.
  • Reimagine PhD programs in a changed environment.
  • Identify new topics and programs of high interest to students and prioritize faculty recruitments to support these.
  • Develop new tools to better understand student perspectives on learning and professional advancement; reimagine advising to ensure their continued growth.
 
SPOTLIGHT INITIATIVE
Two Student Conversing

Large Majors Pilot

Launched in Fall 2024, the Large Majors Pilot Initiative invites A&S departments and programs who serve students in our largest majors to undertake a two-year transformation of their undergraduate offerings, with a focus on improving key elements of the undergraduate experience.

A student’s choice of a major is central to their Columbia experience; it shapes their academic trajectory, provides an important sense of belonging on campus, and deepens their connections to our faculty and alumni.

Through the Large Majors Pilot Initiative, participating departments will identify innovative ways to enhance their majors. This includes designing an integrated undergraduate offering that will strengthen student-faculty relationships earlier, improve opportunities for mentorship, allow students to cultivate more research experiences within the context of their coursework, foster greater social and intellectual community, and connect students to alumni within their majors to help build peer and professional networks.