A Message from University Life
Dear Students,
I am writing to introduce myself as the Interim Executive Vice President for University Life and provide some highlights about the work of University Life.
As someone with a background in psychology, medicine, and public health, I am honored to take on this role because I care deeply about the health and well-being of all students, a focus that has been central to my ongoing leadership of Columbia Health and my work as Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Center for Family and Community Medicine. I am fully committed to strengthening the student experience at Columbia on issues of campus-wide concern, including inclusion and belonging, anti-discrimination, sexual respect, anti-racism, and community citizenship.
The mission of University Life is to allow students to thrive in all dimensions of their lives. Through University Life’s programs, services, and partnerships across all programs and schools, we seek to support your educational enrichment and community life while at Columbia. University Life includes four departments:
I have initiated a series of listening sessions with student representatives from across our schools and will continue to have these throughout the year. We are assessing all our programs and services to ensure they meet the needs of students during this challenging time. We are looking to improve the process for reviewing and supporting student-led, community-building activities, including providing additional funding for student-led submissions to the Campus Climate Collaborative.
Given feedback we have received, we are working to improve communication about key university-wide processes that are important to students. As part of this commitment, we have created this web page that outlines Our Commitment to Transparency in Processes and to Continuous Improvement to provide resources and information about our disciplinary policies and processes, and to help ensure that our campus environment supports our mission and our students. We are also helping to support the redesign of the Office of the Rules Administrator to ensure appropriate administration of the Rules of University Conduct.
I know that we can do this. The key is working together, sharing ideas, and keeping channels of communication open. We welcome your input and suggestions. Please reach out to the University Life team at [email protected]. I look forward to partnering with each and every one of you to meet the needs of all students, all schools, and all campuses.
Best,
Melanie
Melanie J. Bernitz, M.D., M.P.H. (she/her/hers)
Interim Executive Vice President for University Life
Senior Vice President for Columbia Health
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Center for Family and Community Medicine