2011-2012 Bulletin – PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University

Preprofessional Advising
The Office of Preprofessional Advising
works closely with the Center for
Student Advising and with the Center
for Career Education to provide
information for students who plan a
career in law or the health professions.
The Office advises and assists students
throughout their four years, but works
most closely with students during their
application year and with alumni who
apply for admission after graduation.
Information sheets, forms, and helpful
resources are available in the Office
of Preprofessional Advising. Students
will work with their advising deans
as primary preprofessional advisers;
these advisers will be instrumental in
writing committee evaluations for some
professional schools.
Community Development
The Community Development team
works to foster a vibrant and welcoming
undergraduate community through
organizational advising, leadership
development, advocacy, diversity
education, civic engagement, and
community programming. The
team includes the Office of Student
Development and Activities, the Office
of Multicultural Affairs, the Office of Civic
Action and Engagement, and the Office
of Residential Programs. Knowing that
students’ learning continues beyond the
classroom, Columbia University strongly
encourages students to become
involved in programs and activities to
enhance their educational experience
and personal growth. A wide array of
student organizations addresses both
student interests and professional
concerns, including the arts, politics,
identity, culture, and religion. Joining
such groups offers an exciting and
dynamic opportunity to develop
leadership skills that will serve students
well throughout their lives.
Student Organizations
Programs and activities at Columbia
are shaped primarily by students who
assume leadership and volunteer
positions in hundreds of organizations
across the campus. The Engineering
Student Council and its associated class
councils are the elected representative
body of undergraduates at Columbia
Engineering. Its members represent
student interests on committees and
projects addressing a wide range of
issues facing the Columbia community
and help shape the quality of life for
Columbia students.
Working in conjunction with the
Student Council, the Activities Board
at Columbia (ABC), Student Governing
Board (SGB), InterGreek Council (IGC),
Community Impact (CI), Club Sports,
and Interschool Governing Board (IGB)
oversee the management and funding of
more than 300 student organizations.
The ABC provides governance for
more than 160 recognized student
organizations, including cultural
organizations, performance-based
and theatrical groups, media and
publications groups, competition and
special interests groups and preprofessional
organizations and societies.
The pre-professional organizations
and societies are of special interest
to engineering students. These
societies reflect the range of academic
disciplines and interests to be found
among students and include the
Asian-American Society of Engineers,
National Society of Black Engineers,
the Society of Women Engineers,
the American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics, and the Biomedical
Engineering Society, just to name a few.
The SGB provides governance
for approximately 100 recognized
student organizations that are faithbased,
spiritual, political, activist, and
humanitarian and that encourage open
interreligious and political dialogue at
Columbia University’s Morningside
campus. The Interschool Governing
Board recognizes student organizations
whose membership spans across the
various undergraduate and graduate
schools.
For more information on the InterGreek
Council (IGC), see Fraternities and
Sororities, below. For more information on
Club Sports, see Intercollegiate Athletics
Program (page 209), and for more
information on Community Impact see
Office of the University Chaplain (page
215). All the governing groups provide
networking, leadership, and professional
development opportunities for students.
Columbia University graduate
students can participate in and enjoy
hundreds of diverse, University-affiliated
social, religious, cultural, academic,
athletic, political, literary, professional,
public service, and other organizations.
At SEAS, graduate students are
encouraged to become active
members of the Engineering Graduate
Student Council (EGSC). The EGSC
is a recognized group that consists of
representatives from each of the nine
academic departments at SEAS. The
objectives of the EGSC are to foster
interaction among graduate engineering
students, to serve as a voice for graduate
engineering students, and to sponsor
social and educational events of interest
to the graduate engineering community.
Office of Student Development
and Activities
The Office of Student Development and
Activities (SDA) provides programs and
services designed to support a wide
range of co-curricular activities that help
build a sense of community, support
responsible student governance and
student group involvement, and further
students’ leadership development and
personal growth.
Student Development and Activities
staff members advise student
organizations recognized through the
Activities Board of Columbia (ABC), as
well as the student governments of The
Fu Foundation School of Engineering
and Applied Science and Columbia
College. SDA serves as resources
for event planning, organizational
leadership, and budgeting. The Office
of Student Development and Activities
offers leadership training workshops
and helps networking among student
leaders and administrative offices. In
addition, the SDA administers the Urban
New York Program, the New Student
Orientation Program, the Columbia
Urban Experience Program, and the
Columbia Outdoor Orientation Program.
Orientation
All new students are required to
participate in an orientation program
that is designed to acquaint them with
the University and its traditions, the
administration and faculty of The Fu
Foundation School of Engineering and
Applied Science, upperclass students,
and New York City. The New Student
Orientation Program (NSOP) for new
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engineering 2011–2012