Seminar News
Announcements from the Office
Open Seminar Day to Commemorate the 80th Year of The University Seminars
We are pleased to announce an Open Seminar Day to commemorate the 80th year since the founding of The University Seminars. The format will be interdisciplinary dialogue and conversation among representatives of different seminars. Chairs: please read the call for participation sent by Susan Boynton.
At this event, we will also make available printed materials about all the seminars, as well as selected publications supported by the Schoff and Warner Funds, and we will present A Community of Scholars: 75 Years of The University Seminars at Columbia — the volume published for The Seminars’ 75th anniversary year.
2025 Leonard Hastings Schoff Memorial Lectures
Brent Hayes Edwards
Peng Family Professor of English and Comparative Literature
November 10, 17, 24, 2025
Title to be announced.
End-of-Year Reminders for Chairs
Planning forms for academic year 2025-2026 are due by June 30, 2025.
Seminar meetings will not be scheduled on the following dates in Fall 2025: November 10, 11; November 17, 18; and November 24, 25, 2025.
The University Seminars Administrative Portal is the hub for all seminar policies, forms and instructions. The End-of-Year Tasks and Planning Information page in the Administrative Portal contains all of the documents and instructions you need to plan the upcoming year.
Seminar chairs are required to meet with our Director, Susan Boynton, every year. To schedule a meeting over the summer, please contact her directly at slb184@columbia.edu. For meetings in the fall, a scheduling link will be made available in late August.
NEW ACADEMIC YEAR PLANNING
All seminars must submit a New Academic Year Planning Form by June 30, 2025. This form communicates essential information about your seminar. If you need a rapporteur, first try to find one; if you cannot, email the central office at univ.seminars@columbia.edu. All seminars are required to submit a planning form, even if they will not meet in Faculty House. It is crucial to convey to the office if there is a change of chair, as soon as possible (see also Chair Elections).
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.
TRAVEL FUNDING
The deadline for travel funding requests is June 30, 2025.
Travel funding is not guaranteed. Wait to receive funding approval before inviting guests.
If a seminar wishes to invite a guest speaker who will require travel funding, the chair must first submit a Travel Fund Request Form. Funding is very limited. Seminars are strongly encouraged to seek funding from other sources and co-sponsorship is highly recommended. In the 2025-2026 year, seminars may not request funding for more than three (3) 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). The highest priority will be given to seminars which have used the least funding in the past. Feel free to contact Susan Boynton for guidance on co-sponsorship. The office can provide advice on budget planning, but please make sure to use the resources on the administrative portal.
Travel budget request deadlines enable the office to work more effectively and purchase discounted fares. Please communicate clearly with invitees about exactly what travel and hospitality costs cover, so as to avoid misunderstandings about what expenditures are approved.
CHAIR ELECTIONS
Each year, elections should be held to select new seminar chairs or reelect current and continuing seminar chairs. Elections can be conducted in-person at a regular seminar meeting or over email by the rapporteur. Chairs for 2025-2026 must be indicated in the New Academic Year Planning Form. Deadline is June 30, 2025.
NEW CHAIRS
All incoming chairs must meet with the director and attend an orientation. For an orientation, contact Pamela Guardia for available dates. New chairs should contact Susan Boynton over the summer.
ANNUAL REPORT: DIRECTORY OF SEMINARS, SPEAKERS, & TOPICS
Seminar chairs from academic year 2024-2025 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. Look for an email from seminars.directory@gmail.com at the end of June. Please respond promptly.
DEADLINES FOR CONFERENCE AND PUBLICATION FUNDING
Please plan ahead. Applications for conference funding and publication subventions are reviewed twice a year. The deadlines are September 15, 2025, and March 1, 2026. Applications are only accepted through Submittable.
OTHER PROCEDURAL NOTES
Beginning in fall 2025, all seminars will follow the same policy of closed minutes. In addition, all registrants for meetings will be required to check a box agreeing not to record meetings.
GENERAL MEETING
This is the only organized opportunity for all chairs to meet and hear updates on The University Seminars policies and news.
- All Seminar Chairs are required to attend or send another seminar member as proxy.
- The General Meeting may require voting on issues or nominations.
- Only Chairs are invited; rapporteurs are not allowed to attend.
- In advance of the meeting, Chairs are encouraged to email agenda items to The University Seminars Director, Susan Boynton.
The 2025 General Meeting will be held over Zoom on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 from 4:00-5:00 pm.
Seminar meetings cannot be scheduled to take place during this meeting.
Invitation and link to follow.
End-of-Year Reminders for Rapporteurs
MINUTES
The deadline for academic year 2024-2025 meeting documentation is May 31, 2025. Please check Submittable for correction requests and submit and/or correct all minutes. Minutes are only accepted through Submittable.
The final deadline for corrections is June 30, 2025. The form will close at 11:59 EST. We do not accept minutes over email or those submitted beyond the deadline without specific approval. Please address any questions to Summer Hart.
TIMESHEETS
June 1, 2025 is the final deadline for submitting academic year 2024-2025 timesheets.
INCOMING RAPPORTEURS
New rapporteurs should contact the office in August. If you have any questions, contact Gesenia Alvarez-Lazauskas.
Morningside Campus Access
Morningside Campus is open to active affiliate CUID holders and approved guests only. Access policy is subject to change at any time.
If a guest, a chair, or a speaker without a CUID plans to attend a seminar meeting held on campus, they must be registered by the specific seminar rapporteur in the guest registration portal at least one week before the seminar meeting takes place:
Once the registration is processed and approved by the rapporteur’s Dean or head of department, the registered guests will receive a QR code pass to access campus.
If a chair or rapporteur needs assistance with guest registration, they should contact Gary Mayta: gm2965@columbia.edu no later than 48 hours before the seminar meeting takes place.
