FAQ

Most seminars meet at the Columbia University Faculty House about once a month during the academic year. Each seminar has a page on The University Seminars website with a schedule.

Each seminar has a different policy on guests. Graduate students may be invited by their professors to participate in seminar meetings with the consent of the seminar.

Each seminar has a different privacy policy. Although complete confidentiality cannot be guaranteed, some seminars choose to keep their minutes private for five years prior to their inclusion in The University Seminars Archive. To encourage an unfettered exchange of ideas, each seminar decides whether minutes are “closed” or “open.” If the minutes are “closed,” they are not to be posted online, emailed, or otherwise distributed.

Even if a seminar has an open policy, The University Seminars office will not post minutes on the department website. Should a seminar wish to publish additional material, Columbia University’s Information Technology Department (CUIT) offers various options for members of the Columbia community. After five years, minutes are included in The University Seminars Archive.

No. Recordings of Zoom meetings are for the rapporteur’s use only and must be deleted once the minutes are completed. Recordings may not be shared with anyone, including the speaker. Minutes may be distributed in accordance with the seminar’s privacy policy if the policy is open.

No. A University Seminar is not a public event. If a seminar would like to reach a broader audience, The University Seminars encourages seminars to plan a conference or symposium.

According to the Current Campus Access Status Level: “I”, only CUID holders and pre-registered guests can access campus. 

If you plan to attend a Seminar meeting and don’t have a CUID, contact the seminar’s rapporteur to be pre-registered as a guest at least one week before the Seminar meeting takes place.

You can find the most recent information regarding access to campus at the Columbia University Public Safety website. 

Immediately after you are pre-registered by the seminar rapporteur you will receive an email containing a QR code that will serve as a pass to be presented alongside a government-issued ID at any of the available gates to access campus during the day of the seminar meeting.

Formal membership in a University Seminar is by nomination only. Seminar chairs nominate new Associate Members. Associate Members are non-Columbia affiliates with equivalent experience to postdoctoral scholars, or other academic and non-academic professionals. An electronic form for Associate Member nominations will be available to seminar chairs for this purpose in Spring 2025. The Director of The University Seminars reserves the right to reject a membership nomination.

Associate Members are appointed for renewable terms of three years.

For more information about Membership in The University Seminars visit The University Seminars Administrative Portal.

Email univ.seminars@columbia.edu the following: full name, date of birth, UNI (if applicable), and the name of your seminar. Please be sure to cc your seminar chair/s in order for them to sign off on your request. A staff member will confirm the active status of your membership and, if necessary, update you in the system. Once you receive confirmation from a member of the office team, you may go to the Columbia ID Office in 204 Kent Hall to be issued a new ID card.

Associates have free reading and borrowing privileges at the University’s libraries; these privileges include physical access (with CUID), off-campus access to online resources (with UNI and password) and borrowing privileges with no monthly fees. With a valid CUID, seminar associates are eligible to use Dodge Fitness Center for a monthly fee.

Formal membership in a University Seminar is by nomination only. Seminar chairs nominate new Members. Members are faculty or postdoctoral scholars affiliated with Columbia (including Barnard College, Teachers College, and Union Theological Seminary). An electronic form for member nominations will be available to seminar chairs for this purpose in Spring 2025. The Director of The University Seminars reserves the right to reject a membership nomination.

Columbia-affiliated Members retain their appointments to the seminar until:

1. they resign from Columbia,
2. they resign their membership,
3. or the seminar requests that they be dropped for non-participation

For more information about Membership in The University Seminars visit The University Seminars Administrative Portal.

Yes. Dinners at Faculty House are catered and offered to members at a subsidized rate. The University Seminars office is charged for each seat. Dinners outside Faculty House are, likewise, reserved. RSVPs are collected by the rapporteur the week prior to the meeting.

Seminar members and guests are expected to pay for dinner. Speaker & respondent, rapporteur, and chair meals are covered by the office.

Anyone with a PhD or equivalent expertise in any given field, may submit a new seminar proposal, as long as one of the founding chairs is a Columbia affiliate. All seminars must include participants from more than one department, and from outside Columbia. Members (from Columbia), and associate members (from elsewhere). Proposals are accepted through Submittable, our online submissions manager.

Members, Associates, Rapporteurs, regular guests, and speakers who have presented work at a seminar which has subsequently been accepted for publication may apply through Submittable, our online submissions manager.

Seminar chairs may apply for conference funding through Submittable, our online submissions manager. A conference proposal must come from the work of a seminar. All or some of the members of the seminar must be committed to being central to the conference and the organization of it, and members must agree on the basic need and goal of the conference.