Is Columbia scared of its students?

The title of this piece should be a rhetorical question, easily answered with a “no,” but unfortunately, it is not. Indeed, time after time, Columbia University seems to disregard or even actively minimize the input of students as if the powers that be are scared that students can’t appreciate nuance or complexity. In many of its decisions, the administration seems afraid that actually informing students about its motives would provoke an uproar. Instead, there has been a strong negative reaction not so much to the policy as to the process. Just in the last week, stories appeared in these pages about cancelled classes, scheduling winter break, and Barnard trying to secretly require all students to have a meal plan. None of these are simple issues, but it’s disconcerting that the Columbia administration has been so lax about informing and involving students in its decision-making processes.

I was one student whose class simply disappeared into the ether. I signed up for A Better Planet by Design, thinking it might be an interesting way to fulfill my science requirement. Just before this semester started, it still had no professor listed. Before the class met, it vanished from CourseWorks and Student Services Online without a trace. Another one of my classes had its time changed just days before it met. If not for the vigilance of a friend checking the time, I would have missed the first class. It is understandable and beyond refutation that changes are sometimes necessary. What is bizarre and unacceptable is the non-response of the administration. As Claire Stern reported in her article about the issue, the registrar simply denied the problem. Students aren’t stupid. We understand that things happen. It is disconcerting, though, that the University doesn’t feel a need to share those explanations or even notify students about important changes to their class schedules.

The issues regarding scheduling winter break are similarly veiled. Few would dispute that creating the calendar is a balancing act—in order to end earlier, we would have to start earlier or have fewer holidays. Yet students have been manifestly excluded from playing a part in creating the calendar, with Columbia President Lee Bollinger simply announcing the date for commencement without even consulting the University Senate, an opaque body that claims to represent students. A Facebook group calling for a revision in the calendar, which would end the winter semester on Dec. 23 again for 2010 and 2011, has collected over 2,000 supporters. Yet the administration has done little to even inform students about the rationale behind the current calendar, let alone work to meet student desires. Does the University think students are unable to understand the issue and the competing interests? Or are administrators just afraid of what students will see?

And it’s not just at Columbia, either. Across the street, Barnard faces a similar issue with its meal plan. Even today, it’s unclear exactly what will be required. President Debora Spar insisted last Thursday that nothing is set in stone despite Barnard students receiving an e-mail from Dean Dorothy Denburg laying out the details of the new required meal plans. The biggest problem was simply the lack of transparency. It’s unclear what will be required, and it seems that the Barnard administrators are only discussing the plan and at least appear open to compromise because they got caught.

All those instances exhibit the reverse of what should happen. Administrators should be open to discussing issues and finding solutions with students rather than simply making a decision and waiting for students to find out and get mad. It all begs the question: What is the administration afraid of? Are Columbia students not smart enough to figure these issues out? There have been backlashes in nearly every case not merely to the proposed solutions but also to the processes that brought forth these proposals. Students understand the complexity of these problems, and perusal of these pages offers examinations of the difficulties and suggested compromises. So why doesn’t the administration discuss these issues with students? What is it afraid of?

The author is a Columbia College sophomore.

Tags: Opinion, Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, academic calendar, administration, Barnard Meal Plan, cancelled courses