Experience Belonging with Student Accessibility and Inclusion
Accessibility and inclusion are driving forces at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies (SPS). In 2020, when the University sounded the call for its community to foster a new Civil Rights Movement, SPS responded by working together as a community, immediately forming a working committee of members from across the school to develop programs to provide greater access to the school through fellowships, initiatives, and University resources at the School and beyond. “The School is poised to affect real change, thanks to our strong relationships across industries and our commitment to developing principled, effective leaders and compassionate, engaged citizens,” says SPS Dean Troy J. Eggers.
The HBCU Fellowship
In 2017, the Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS) launched the HBCU Fellowship Program to prepare talented and high-performing graduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to lead, develop, and advance their professional industries through program engagement, mentorship, and career development opportunities. “We are proud beyond measure of what our HBCU fellows have accomplished and gratified to know the impact this program has had on so many lives,” said Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Zelon Crawford, who has led the program since joining SPS in 2020. “We will continue to welcome bold new ideas and innovations, and invite new partners to join us in the effort.” The fellows receive a full scholarship to one of the School’s master’s degree programs, an incentive unique to Ivy League schools, as well as on-campus housing, mentoring, career counseling, internship opportunities, and a stipend.
The Wealth Management Fellowship
The Wealth Management Advancing Diversity Fellowship was established in 2022 to help diversify the financial advising industry as well as to retain and accelerate the careers of high-caliber professionals from underrepresented groups. “The fellowship is all the more laudable as it is a product of the initiative and generosity of the Columbia Wealth Management program’s inaugural cohort of students,” said chief diversity officer Dr. Erwin de Leon.
Jenai Patrick, an associate banker at JP Morgan Private Bank, was the recipient of the 2023–24 award. “We are thrilled to award Jenai this year’s Wealth Management Advancing Diversity Fellowship,” said Tracy Schwartz, Wealth Management’s senior program director. “Jenai stood out among many qualified fellowship candidates as an accomplished student, a leader at both her undergraduate university and JP Morgan, and someone who will bring a valued perspective to our program.”
The CUNY Fellowship
Following the success of the HBCU Fellowship, SPS has announced a new fellowship program, the CUNY Fellowship, for the 2024–25 school year. This program aims to provide high-achieving recent CUNY graduates access to Columbia’s vast academic, professional, and community resources.
The City University of New York is the largest urban public higher-education institution, and one of the oldest, in the country. It provides quality education and social mobility to thousands of New Yorkers every year. “We are thrilled to launch this new fellowship program for CUNY graduates,” says Dean Eggers. “Aligned with President Minouche Shafik’s vision for the University, this program will give New Yorkers from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to join Columbia and to add their valued perspectives to our community.”
We will continue to welcome bold new ideas and innovations, and invite new partners to join us in the effort. —Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Zelon Crawford
Yellow Ribbon Program
SPS is a proud participant of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon Program. The scope of benefits provided by the Post 9/11 GI Bill® and the Yellow Ribbon Program helps make a traditional Columbia education accessible to eligible veterans, regardless of socioeconomic status, who wish to pursue a rigorous graduate degree program.
Fostering Inclusion
The SPS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee is helmed by the School’s chief diversity officer, Nonprofit Management faculty member Erwin de Leon, Ph.D. The committee is composed of faculty, staff, and students, and its role is to narrow the opportunity gap by ensuring that these critical values of inclusion and access are omnipresent in its programming.
SPS fosters student belonging through its Office of Student Life and its many student organizations, including affinity-based groups such as the Columbia SPS Black Student Guild, the Women’s Sports Collective, and the Latin American Student Club of Columbia University. University-wide groups are also available to SPS students. The first gay student organization in the country was founded at Columbia University in 1966. Today, that tradition of access and inclusion continues with student groups like Columbia Pride, GendeRevolution, Queer and Asian, qStem, QFaith, JQ, and other groups.
SPS develops best practices in DEIA work through careful community strategizing. “Equity means that all members of our community are treated fairly and justly in our organizational structures, policies, procedures, and day-to-day practices,” said de Leon. “Inclusion means that each and everyone in our community, especially those who have been historically underrepresented, feels welcomed and heard.”
About The School of Professional Studies
The Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS) was founded in 1995 with a mission to provide innovative—and flexible—programs that help students reach their educational and professional goals. The School offers 18 accredited master’s degrees, 15 certificate and certification programs, and more than 100 areas of study through its Postbaccalaureate Studies and Visiting Students programs—all available on a part-time basis. Explore Columbia SPS’s part-time offerings, including master’s degrees, certificates, and other non-degree programs.
