News

NEW YORK, NY April 12, 2005 —Columbia University will implement a more formal procedure for students to complain about their professors. The move follows the controversy over a Middle East studies professor accused of creating an anti-Israel atmosphere.

The changes were announced in a letter by Columbia President Lee Bollinger as a way to unify procedures. The new system encourages students to try to resolve any problems with faculty informally through their deans. But there's also a new faculty committee that can review complaints; and there's an appeals process.

Sophomore Barri Weiss - of the group Columbians for Academic Freedom, said the changes are a testament to the power of student activism. She noted that Bollinger's list of potential offenses includes 'the misuse of faculty authority to promote a political cause within an instructional setting.'

But graduate student Sarah Rimmington, who's been defending the Middle East studies department, said the administration was responding to a public relations crisis.