Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:
I am pleased to welcome you to the Spring 2022 semester at Columbia!
If you are new to SPS, you are joining a wonderful and dynamic community. I have been heartened, inspired, and impressed by the ingenuity and school spirit of our students, faculty, and staff this past fall.
Over the holidays, SPS Student Government held a food drive in support of the Food Bank For New York City, as well as a toy drive in support of Toys for Tots, for which SPS students fulfilled every item on the requested list. Our Wealth Management students established and launched the Advancing Diversity Fellowship, which will fund full tuition for an accepted student in their program. On the occasion of Martin Luther King Day, the SPS DEIA Committee and Community Programs recommended a list of local organizations that accept volunteers all semester long.
Our Enterprise Risk Management program is hosting four different seminars each week, in the areas of coding, finance, mindfulness, and an introduction to quantitative risk management. The Technology Management, Information and Knowledge Strategy, Human Capital Management, and Negotiation and Conflict Resolution programs have partnered on five events to discuss fostering agility in organizations. Next week, the series is hosting a panel that includes IKNS Lecturer Gregory Robinson, who successfully launched NASA’s James Webb Telescope in December 2021. Our Insurance Management program is also looking to the skies, with a group of students having recently co-authored a white paper on the space insurance marketplace.
Over the next three weeks, the Student Affairs team is hosting a full roster of co-curricular welcome events, including an introduction to New York City; wellness workshops; and a session on how to launch a new club at Columbia. I encourage students to take advantage of these opportunities to get to know one another across academic programs and to learn something new.
A few reminders about how to keep the compact as we enter the new semester:
- All students should get a gateway COVID-19 PCR test from a Columbia testing location within 72 hours after returning to campus. Faculty and staff who are also students must also meet these student requirements.
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New faculty members or staff, or any individual who has not received a gateway test since January 1, 2021, must get a gateway COVID-19 PCR test from a Columbia testing location within 72 hours after accessing campus.
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If you had a PCR positive test within the past 90 days, and reported this to the University as required by the Columbia University Community Health Compact, you will be considered compliant with the gateway requirements.
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All faculty, staff, and students must receive their vaccine booster dose (if eligible) by January 31, 2022. Faculty and staff are now able to upload their proof of having a COVID-19 booster vaccine via the Columbia University ReopenCU website. Students should use the usual process for uploading their documentation.
- Cloth masks alone are no longer acceptable for indoor University settings. Surgical masks will be provided by Columbia in multiple locations on campus and in associated buildings. Tying the corners of a surgical mask can provide a better fit, and some may choose to wear a cloth mask over the surgical mask. Additionally, some individuals may choose to wear other mask types such as KN95s, KF94s, or N95s.
Thank you all for your cooperation in keeping the compact and complying with our public health requirements. Although we are launching classes remotely over these first two weeks, I am excited to come together as a School very soon. I am cautiously optimistic that as the days grow lighter, we will be able to enjoy larger gatherings safely once again.
Best regards,
Troy
