Seminar News

Spring 2024

Announcements from the Office

Access to the Morningside campus is limited to Columbia students and Morningside faculty and employees. Non-CUID-holders, seminar associates, and faculty and staff from other campuses and schools, including CUMC, Barnard and Teacher’s College, will not be able to access the Morningside campus. Restrictions will likely be in place through the end of the spring semester. Access to Faculty House and The University Seminars office is not available at this time, and will be limited through the summer months. For general inquires, our staff email is univ.seminars@columbia.edu.

CAMPUS ACESSS
For information on who can currently access Morningside campus and what gates are open, visit Public Safety’s Morningside Campus Updates page.

LIBRARY SERVICES
Please check the Libraries website for updates.

Welcome to the University Seminars, Gary!

The University Seminars office is excited to welcome our new Program Coordinator, Gary Mayta Lizarraga. Gary earned his degree in Political Science at the School of General Studies in May of 2023 and began at The University Seminars in March 2024. He has completed training and is available to help with scheduling, planning and logistics for the coming academic year alongside Pamela Guardia.

End-of-Year Reminders for Chairs

An end of year email was sent to chairs by Pamela Guardia on May 10, 2024. If you did not receive this email or have any questions regarding the content below, please email univ.seminars@columbia.edu.

ADMINISTRATIVE PORTAL
Planning forms, instructions and policies are available on the Administrative Portal. Refer to the End-of-Year Tasks and Planning Information page for all end of year documents and deadlines. Check the portal for up-to-date information before contacting the office.

NEW ACADEMIC YEAR PLANNING
All seminars must submit a New Academic Year Planning Form by June 30, 2024. This form communicates essential information about your seminar. If you need a rapporteur, email the central office univ.seminars@columbia.edu. All seminars are required to submit a planning form, even if they will not meet in Faculty House. The information contained in the form will be published on the individual seminar web page and in The University Seminars Annual Report: Directory of Seminars, Speakers, & Topics.

CHAIR ELECTIONS
Each year, elections should be held to select new seminar chairs or reelect current and continuing seminar chairs. Elections can be conducted over email by the rapporteur. Chairs for 2024-2025 must be indicated in the New Academic Year Planning Form. Deadline is June 30, 2024.

NEW CHAIRS
All incoming chairs must attend an online orientation. Contact Pamela Guardia for available dates.

ANNUAL REPORT: DIRECTORY OF SEMINARS, SPEAKERS, & TOPICS
Seminar chairs from academic year 2023-2024 are responsible for reviewing their seminars’ page in the Annual Report and submitting either corrections or confirmations to Summer Hart even if they are no longer seminar chairs. Expect an email from seminars.directory@gmail.com at the end of June.

TRAVEL FUNDING
If a seminar wishes to invite a guest speaker who will require travel funding, the chair must first submit a Travel Fund Request Form. Seminars are strongly encouraged to seek funding from other sources and co-sponsorship is recommended. In the 2024-25 year, seminars may not request funding for more than four (4) guest speakers who require travel funds to present at a regular seminar meeting. If funds remain after the deadline, we will consider additional travel funding requests. Travel funding is not guaranteed. Please wait for funding approval before inviting guests. The deadline for travel funding requests is June 30, 2024.

NEW DEADLINES FOR CONFERENCE AND PUBLICATION FUNDING
Please plan ahead. Starting in Fall 2024, applications for conference funding and publication subventions will be reviewed twice a year rather than throughout the year. The deadlines are September 15, 2024, and March 1, 2025. The application process remains the same. Applications must go through Submittable.

THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING
The meeting will be held over Zoom on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 4:00-5:30 pm
. Attendance by a chair or representative member is required. Rapporteurs may not serve as seminar representative.

End-of-Year Reminders for Rapporteurs

MINUTES
Check Submittable for correction requests. Please submit and/or correct all minutes by MAY 31, 2024.

The final deadline for corrections is JUNE 30, 2024. The form will close at 11:59 EST.

TIMESHEETS
Final deadline is June 15, 2024.