Columbia University New York, N.Y. 10027 Office of Public Information (212) 854-5573
Columbia University has appointed Gillian Lindt dean of its School of General Studies, further strengthening the school's teaching mission to non-traditional undergraduates.
Acting dean since last October, Dr. Lindt's new title is effective Oct. 23. Columbia President George Rupp announced her appointment, saying "I am delighted that Gillian Lindt has agreed to serve as dean of the School of General Studies and look forward to working with her in further strengthening G.S."
The school was reorganized in July to give greater attention to its undergraduate liberal arts degree programs. Except for the post-baccalaureate pre-medical program, its special programs and non-degree offerings were placed under other University divisions.
"We now have a very clearcut objective--to give the best liberal arts degree to the mature, highly motivated non-traditional student--men and women who have had to postpone or interrupt their higher education," said Dean Lindt in an interview. "We're ready to move forward now with major initiatives--to complete our building renovations and the assembly of our administrative team, enlarge our pool of qualified applicants, develop new alumni support, improve our academic advising and enhance our students' sense of home."
David Cohen, Columbia's vice president for arts and sciences, said Dr. Lindt had overseen the transformation of the school with "extraordinary competence" and stressed the importance of the continuity of leadership herappointment maintained. "I look forward to this revitalizing period for the school, which is deeply rooted historically here and is a real asset to Columbia," he said.
Barbara Gimbel, an alumna of the school and chairman of its advisory council, said: "We are extremely pleased. Gillian brings to the school faculty support, knowledge of the University, leadership and vision that will ensure that it is on the right course. We will try to give her every bit of backing she needs."
The School of General Studies began as Extension Teaching in 1904, was renamed University Extension in 1921 and assumed its present name in 1947, serving primarily adult and commuter undergraduates. Over the years it began teaching high school students in a special pre-college summer program, giving English lessons to newly arrived immigrants, operating programs in Europe, offering computer and credit courses to non-degree candidates, and awarding master's degrees in several specialties. With the exception of the master's programs, now administered by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, these activities were moved to the new Division of Special Programs in July. General Studies now serves only undergraduates earning bachelor's degrees and post-baccalaureate students who need additional training to qualify for medical school admission.
A nearly total renovation of Lewisohn Hall, the school's home, is scheduled for completion in January, when a new dean of students and a director of planning and budget are expected to be in place. Improved services to students is the new dean's principal goal.
"We're looking toward developing new types of financial planning for students alongside their academic planning, to take them all the way through their undergraduate careers," she said. "We need to find ways of improving counseling, to give them better planning skills to take advantage of existing loans and scholarships, and we will seek contributions for this purpose from a replenished, vital group of alumni and friends of the school. We hope to be more activist and interventionist in assisting students in planning their academic studies so that they will complete their degrees successfully. And we will try to answer their need for an identity and home of their own by providing physical facilities--a lounge and classrooms--for their exclusive use."
Dr. Lindt, professor of religion and an authority on religious sects and cults, has been a Columbia faculty member for 22 years. She was dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 1984 to 1989 and became acting dean of General Studies after historian Caroline W. Bynum stepped down last September.
Born in London in 1932, she earned a sociology degree at London University and her master's and Ph.D. degrees at Columbia, the last with the distinction of the Bancroft Dissertation Award. Her book, Moravians in Two Worlds: A Study of Changing Communities, was published in 1967. After teaching at Howard University and American University, she returned to Columbia in 1973, where she has been chairman of the Religion Department and director of graduate studies. She was the first women to be appointed dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the first women from a private university to head the prestigious Association of Graduate Schools.
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