A Guide to the Office of the Provost

The Provost is the University’s chief academic officer, charged with ensuring the excellence of academic programs and faculty.

With the support of several Vice Provosts, the Provost directs the development and implementation of the University’s academic plans and policies, and builds strong administrative support for academic activities.

As leader of the academic enterprise, the Provost:

  • Governs policies and processes for academic appointments and oversees academic personnel. The Provost decides, with the support of the Tenure Review Advisory Committee, who should be recommended to the President and Trustees for tenure.
  • Works in partnership with senior leadership to develop the University’s annual budget and long-term financial plans.
  • Oversees resources for educational advances and cross-disciplinary collaboration, helping faculty push the boundaries of knowledge, scholarship, and pedagogy.
  • Oversees a range of units that support the academic life of the University, including the Libraries, the Center for Teaching and Learning, Columbia University Press, and University Seminars.
  • Leads the administration of numerous programs to support faculty professional development as well as work/life needs, and guides the allocation of important resources for faculty, including housing.
  • Is the senior administrator for the Trustees Academic Affairs Committee.

Vice Provost Offices

The Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Programs (OVPAP) is responsible for overseeing the University’s academic programs and educational partnerships and for leading the University’s accreditation process.  

The office supports the creation of new educational programs, working with schools to develop innovative curricula, and securing University approvals as well as approval from the New York State Education Department. OVPAP ensures that schools across the University have the support necessary to deliver high quality academic programs and serves as a platform to share information, innovation and best practices across and between units.

OVPAP is responsible for the conduct of periodic, rigorous academic reviews of schools, institutes, and other university-wide units. The office is also engaged in supporting faculty development, administering university-wide awards for faculty and graduate students, managing internal funding competitions for faculty, and facilitating interschool fellowships for graduate students. The office also has shared oversight of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research (OPIR) in partnership with the Office of the Senior Vice Provost. OPIR provides analytical and research support to the Provost and other senior administrators and reports historical and current information about the University for both internal and external audiences.

The Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Programs works closely with Education Deans at each school.

[email protected]
provost.columbia.edu/academic-programs

The Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) oversees the review and arbitration of all reports of discrimination and discriminatory harassment at Columbia. That includes alleged violations of Title VI and Title VII on the basis of race, color, or national origin; reports that involve alleged violations of Title IX and the University’s Gender Based Misconduct Policy; as well as reports that relate to violations of the Protection of Minors Policy. In this expanded capacity, OIE will be responsible for reviewing, investigating, and managing all incidents from inception through resolution, whether the respondent is a student, faculty, staff member, or affiliate. 

OIE also develops and implements policies and procedures that address all types of discrimination and harassment, including sex discrimination and sex-based harassment, prohibited romantic and/or sexual relationships, and describes and monitors reporting obligations, in compliance with federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws. This Office also educates students, faculty, staff, and affiliates about these policies through comprehensive training programs to ensure compliance. This Office is also responsible for the maintenance and management of the University’s Affirmative Action portfolio, academic hiring process, federal and state EEO compliance reporting, and assisting with the overall recruiting mission of the University. Additionally, it hosts the Metro New York and Southern Connecticut Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), providing resources and networking to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion across over 700 member institutions.

[email protected]
institutionalequity.columbia.edu

The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement (OVPFA) aims to nurture and promote a vibrant climate of inclusive excellence through creative collaboration with University partners. OVPFA’s primary focus is on fostering faculty development and community-building initiatives that will allow current and future faculty to thrive. 

Our vision is for Columbia to be the go-to place for the world’s greatest scholars. We imagine a University community that embodies inclusive excellence, where all faculty feel welcome and supported. We aim to foster a climate where faculty can confidently focus on their scholarship and teaching, and where there is growing space for collaboration and innovation across disciplines. We cannot achieve this without realizing our core values of inclusion and excellence.

Given its broad portfolio, this office works closely with offices across the University and with a range of people at schools, including Deans, Chairs, and Faculty Affairs leaders, among others.


[email protected] 
facultyadvancement.columbia.edu

The Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs manages the University’s tenure review process and implements policies and processes for academic personnel, and oversees the Office of Faculty Retirement.

The most prominent responsibility of the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs is supporting the Provost in their role deciding, with the assistance of the Tenure Review Advisory Committee, whom to recommend to the President and Trustees for tenure.

The office is also responsible for policies governing academic appointments. It approves salaries, leaves, and promotions of academic officers on behalf of the President and administers policies relating to them. The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs works with both the faculty affairs and human resources teams at individual schools.

[email protected]
[email protected]
provost.columbia.edu/faculty-affairs

The Vice Provost and University Librarian oversees Columbia’s academic research libraries, which host over 3 million in-person and over 20 million online visits annually. 

Collections – in 450 languages and spanning 4,000 years of human thought – plus library programs and services are informed by curricula, the needs of a diverse student body, emerging areas of research, and perspectives from diminished or entirely lost voices of historically oppressed, marginalized, and underserved populations and communities. 

Columbia's library staff lead in many areas: digital preservation, global collection development, shared collections with partner institutions, support for research and digital scholarship, and metadata and resource discoverability.

The University Librarian meets frequently with the Executive Vice President of Arts and Sciences and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

[email protected]
library.columbia.edu

The Vice Provost for Campus Integration provides strategic and operational leadership to strengthen collaboration and integration across Columbia’s campuses, working closely with deans, faculty, and academic and administrative leaders to connect research, education, and institutional initiatives that span schools and units. 

The Campus Integration portfolio focuses on building durable structures that support interdisciplinary programs, shared resources, and joint initiatives. It also advances University-wide academic priorities by strengthening coordination, project planning, and communication across campuses, with the goal of amplifying Columbia’s collective impact.

provost.columbia.edu/content/office-vice-provost-campus-integration 

The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Support and Work/Life provides expert guidance and resources and supports policy development to help the Columbia community navigate the intersection of work and life in New York City and its surroundings.

[email protected]
provost.columbia.edu/content/office-vice-provost-faculty-support-work-life

OTHER REPORTING UNITS

RESOURCES

Faculty Handbook
facultyhandbook.columbia.edu

University Policy Library
policylibrary.columbia.edu