Posted August 18, 2024. Updated August 25, 2024.
TL;DR
- Faculties are the core administrative subdivisions at Columbia, which is home to 12 faculties.
- Most faculties serve a single school, but two faculties (Arts and Sciences and Health Sciences) serve multiple schools.
- The faculties have their own traditions and unique characteristics.
- The best Deans are not top-down command-and-control leaders, but those who navigate the complex landscape of competing interests—from tenured faculty and university administration to students and alumni—while advancing their schools’ missions.
What is a Faculty?
Faculties are the core administrative subdivisions at Columbia University, responsible for teaching, research, and assessing student progress. They govern themselves with the autonomy to make critical decisions, including hiring and tenure recommendations, and ensuring academic freedom for their members.
These faculties are established by the Trustees and codified in the University Statutes, each with its own by-laws and procedure. The President chairs every faculty, and the Provost (historically also called the “Dean of Faculties”) is a member, though the Dean of each faculty is the day-to-day leader.
Faculties and Schools
At Columbia, faculties may also function as schools, where students are directly enrolled, or they may serve multiple schools. In addition, Teachers College and Barnard College are technically independent but still function as faculties of Columbia University.
Columbia hosts twelve faculties, two of which serve multiple schools, while the rest are dedicated to individual schools:
- Faculty of Arts and Sciences: serves Columbia College, the School of General Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Professional Studies, and the School of the Arts
- Faculty of Health Sciences: serves the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the School of Nursing, the College of Dental Medicine, and the Mailman School of Public Health
- Faculty of Law
- Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Faculty of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
- Faculty of International and Public Affairs
- Faculty of Journalism
- Faculty of Business
- Faculty of Social Work
- Faculty of Climate
- Faculty of Barnard College
- Faculty of Teachers College
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is the oldest, tracing its origins back to 1754, while the Faculty of Climate is the newest, established in 2021. Faculty members can have joint or interdisciplinary appointments across multiple faculties, and in rare cases, they may be appointed by different universities.
Unique Characteristics of Some Faculties and Schools
Certain faculties and schools at Columbia have distinct characteristics:
- The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is further subdivided into three divisions of Science, of Social Science, and of Humanities. Each is overseen by a Divisional Dean. Interestingly, this invokes in spirit the organization of Columbia’s faculties from 1880 to 1979, when there was a Faculty of Political Science (1880), Faculty of Philosophy (1890), and Faculty of Pure Science (1892) covering what we would today understand to be social science, humanities, and science.
- The School of Professional Studies, part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, does not have permanent, tenured faculty. Its offerings are largely run by external professionals.
- The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, also part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, awards all PhD degrees across the university, irrespective of the faculty or school in which the work is conducted. Non-PhD doctoral programs, like the JSD at the Law School or the EngScD at the Engineering School, do exist but are rare.
- The Faculty of Health Sciences is the largest due to its affiliation with the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital System, where many doctors hold the courtesy title of “Professor” without teaching responsibilities. The Dean of this faculty operates with greater autonomy than other Deans due to the scale of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
- The Faculty of Climate began as a collective of faculty members with joint appointments from other faculties but is now developing its own distinct team as it grows.
University Professors—of which there are only eight at any time under the age of 70—are “are exceptional scholars with the highest distinction who have served the University extensively” and who serve the University level rather than at a specific faculty or department. They have the privilege to teach and conduct research across all disciplines and faculties. Former Provosts often receive the title of “John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University,” which is not the same as a University Professor but confers similar cross-faculty privileges.
Constructed Faculties
Some faculties were created as “administrative constructs” to consolidate existing faculties, share resources, and reduce administrative burdens.
For example, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was established in 1989 as an overarching structure for existing faculties of Columbia College, General Studies, and others. The University Statutes specifically provide for the original faculties to continue their activities, stipulating: “Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to impair the powers of the Faculties of Columbia College, General Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Arts, and Professional Studies, which constitute the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and of their several deans.” However while these original faculties still “legally” exist, they do not function independently in practice.
Similar arrangements exist for the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Climate, indicating that the constituent faculties within these larger entities are supposed to maintain their existence and powers. Unlike the Faculty of Arts and Sciences—which is a “merger” or “roll-up” of faculties—the constituent faculties in Health Sciences still meet separately. In fact, the Faculty of Climate—which was initially a collection of faculty members jointly appointed from other faculties—is the only true “constructed” faculty.
Faculties and Deans
Most Deans at Columbia simultaneously lead both a school and its associated faculty, balancing the needs of students and faculty members. Deans can wield significant influence, which they can exercise by calling for faculty votes to advocate for important causes, and are deeply involved in fundraising and university administration.
However, not all Deans lead a faculty. For instance, the Dean of Columbia College primarily interacts with students, parents, and alumni, while the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which includes Columbia College, focuses on faculty matters without regular student interaction. This division has led to efforts to bridge the missing feedback loop, such as forming a three-person executive committee among the Deans of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (a faculty Dean), of Columbia College (a non-faculty Dean), and of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (a non-faculty Dean). Nevertheless, tensions and potential misalignment of interests remain.
Some Deans have broader responsibilities than others. For example, the Dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science oversees a faculty, an undergraduate program, a masters’ program, a PhD program, an executive education program, and research portfolio. The Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences “triple hats”, leading a faculty that serves four schools, leading the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and acting as the Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
The most effective Deans are not top-down command-and-control leaders, but those who navigate the complex landscape of competing interests—from tenured faculty and university administration to students and alumni—while advancing their schools’ missions. Achieving this balance is particularly challenging when a Dean is structurally separated from their key constituencies.