Following is the text of a Mar. 23 letter from Provost Jonathan R. Cole to faculty:

Dear Colleague,

Over the past several weeks, President Rupp, Vice President Cohen, Dean Quigley, and I have had extensive discussions about the plan to enhance the undergraduate experience at Columbia College. We have considered the original plan developed over several years in collaboration with faculty, students, administrators, and alumni, in light of the many useful comments and suggestions made in letters to us and at the dozen or so meetings that we have recently held with those interested in the scope of the plan and its consequences for the College and University. I write about our decision to move forward with the enhancement plan and to reiterate briefly what we believe this will mean for the students and faculty of Columbia College, and for the arts and sciences more generally. I want also to indicate several ways in which the original plan has been modified in light of our most recent discussions.

As the five to seven year plan is formulated, there will be substantial new investments made in the undergraduate experience without any reduction in Columbia's commitment to its Ph.D. programs. Columbia College's already extraordinary liberal arts education will be enhanced with resources obtained from the current capital campaign, and from reinvesting tuition revenues generated from an increase in the number of College students. These resources should accomplish many things. There will be an even stronger group of exceptional young people applying to the College and it will be increasingly difficult for them to gain admission - the College will become more selective; there will be a far better local environment for student activities, including the new Lerner student activities center, which will be the finest in the Ivy League. Columbia will have an undergraduate library in Butler that will more than double in size, be fully restored and renovated, and will be designed for those who use the most advanced information technology. It too should be equal to any such facility in the League. Modern, renovated, and well-equipped classrooms will replace many older facilities currently used by the faculty. Recreational facilities will be appropriate to the strong interest that our community has in physical fitness.

The quality of the student residence halls will be improved with additional renovations and the probable construction of a new residence hall ready for occupancy in the Fall of 1999. Various aspects of student services, particularly those that involve faculty advising of students, will change and be improved. There will be increased dedication to building a better sense of community for undergraduates, in part through the further development of a "house system" uniquely suited to Columbia and its location. New efforts will be made to match the quality of the classroom experience, which already receives high marks from students, with a higher standard of living on campus beyond the classroom. Columbia College will be connected to the City of New York more directly than it ever has been in the past. The sense of "place" on campus will be linked to opportunities for students to explore fully the resources in the City. Through organized programs involving institutional affiliations and agreements, the College will provide its students with a wide array of opportunities to enjoy the institutions of New York at minimal or no cost, and to work as volunteers or interns at many of the extraordinary institutions in the City.

Investments will be made to improve significantly the quality of faculty life through enhancements for the faculty and their academic programs. The capital campaign should produce a significant number of newly endowed professorships that will support those who teach both undergraduate and graduate students. In sum, over this period of time the College will make substantial progress toward its goal of making the nation's leading liberal arts college in an urban setting a still more distinguished place, both in fact and in reputational standing.

Throughout this effort, the University will adhere strictly to the basic principles of enhancement and limited growth outlined in my previous letter: the quality and size of the College's applicant pools will improve and grow; need-blind admissions and full-need financial aid will be maintained; the College will remain fully residential; the commitment to the core curriculum and to the limits on the size of those classes will be maintained; and the traditional high value placed on being among the leaders in the nation in offering educational opportunities for a diverse student body will be maintained. There will be no increases in enrollments unless we can maintain these principles. The vast majority of classes offered at the College will continue to have enrollments of under 30 students; and some staffing adjustments will be made in an effort to control the growth of more popular lecture courses in departments with large number of enrollments. Even with a maximum of a 15 percent increase in the College at the end of this five to seven year period, there will be very little overall upward shift in the class size distributions in College courses.

Let me turn to a number of the initial actions that are being taken now. Since notification of admissions must be sent to students by April 3, we have to decide on the appropriate size of the class of 2000. We have concluded, after discussions with the College leadership, that the strength of the applicant pool, which increased by 18 percent this year (to almost 10,300) would permit a significant increase in first year students while maintaining and enhancing quality. Moreover, if the number of applicants who apply to the College as transfer students reach last year's level of almost 1,000 (with SAT scores similar to the regular applicant pool), we have the applicant pool strength to increase the size of the College at the level contemplated in the illustrative model, which was 130. This is all very good news. However, after examining the availability of housing for first year students over the next four years, we have decided to modify the plan somewhat.

Although the applicant pool would permit an increase of 130 or more, the housing supply might not. Consequently, the number of first year students that will be added to the entering class will be limited to 80, plus no more than 14 transfer students beyond the current level. There might not be sufficient space in the residence halls to guarantee housing for four years to more than 80 first year students. A slower than maximum pace toward increasing the size of the College will permit a smoother and more seamless transition, and will permit the Arts and Sciences to assure that the core curriculum staffing needs are met. A somewhat slower pace of growth is appropriate given the many changes that will be made in the physical environment of the College over the next several years. In short, it is probably wise to proceed with caution and err on the conservative side as we carry out the plan.

Thus, admission to Columbia College this year will be more competitive than at any time in its history - about one in five students who apply will be admitted - producing a level of selectivity that only a handful of colleges in the nation can match. Even with increased numbers, the College will become more selective. This bodes well for future years. If the recent success in attracting exceptionally gifted students continues, the College should have little problem increasing its numbers while also increasing its quality in the years ahead.

Several other modifications have been made in the original residence hall plan. First, the original decision to close River Hall will be reevaluated in light of views expressed by College students at our meetings. It is not clear what the outcome of that review will be, but the benefits of having River as a place that students find highly desirable for living will be weighed against the costs of alternatives. Second, the feasibility of accelerating by several years the timetable for a phased renovation of Wien Hall is being examined, without its requiring any resources from the tuition revenue generated by the larger class size. Consequently, the earlier financial models for the enhancement plan will be unaffected by this positive change.

David Cohen and Austin Quigley have already formed a working group that is focusing on the instructional requirements of the enhancement plan, with particular focus on the needs of the core curriculum. The group will examine in detail the instructional needs of the departments responsible for instruction in the core. Not only will needs for additional sections be met, but there will be an analysis and clarification of departmental responsibilities for staffing the core curriculum.

The special staffing needs of the art and music humanities courses will be addressed in collaboration with the affected departments. This may lead to a modest increase in the opportunities for faculty and graduate student support connected to instruction in the core. The proposal to staff some sections of the core with post-doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences is being assessed by the working group, and that group is reexamining the scheduling of classes and laboratory spaces to ensure a better use of existing space. The staffing models and associated expenses outlined in the enhancement model will be revised to meet the new needs if it turns out that the actual needs exceed the original projections. Finally, the Arts and Sciences is continuing to recruit senior faculty (in an effort to fill gaps created by recent departures and retirements) in a number of departments that have had larger than average classes and large numbers of majors. Over time, these additional faculty should relieve some of the pressure on larger classes, but they will not, of course, alter the fact that some of our professors will continue to attract large numbers of students to their most popular courses.

The Executive Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will be discussing aspects of the enhancement plan with members of each division. The results of those discussions will support the continuing conversation with the faculty about the implications of the plan for each arts and sciences department.

The positive financial effects of the enhancement plan will be retained in this modified plan. The more gradual increase in the number of additional students will not result in a negative cash flow, even in the initial years. In fact, the more gradual "ramp-up" in the size of the College (net of expenses) produces a steady increase in the resources that will be available for improving the quality of students and faculty of the College and the Arts and Sciences.

Some members of the faculty have voiced concern about whether this undergraduate initiative will siphon off resources and commitments from Ph.D. programs. I speak for George Rupp, David Cohen, and myself in reiterating again our deep commitment to maintaining and enhancing the quality of our graduate faculties and programs. Columbia, and other research universities, face some serious problems in funding graduate education because of policies that may be implemented in Washington. The University is working to overcome those difficulties, but the problems would exist entirely independently of the undergraduate plan. In fact, the undergraduate effort can only help us deal with some of the uncertainties in federal revenues that we face.

This University's greatness has been built on the quality of faculty and programs associated with its departments, institutes, and centers. It continues to be an international leader in many areas of the sciences, humanities, and social sciences. We are dedicated to maintaining the quality of programs in those areas where we are already among the world's leaders, and we are committed to improving further those departments and programs that need to be renewed. As most of you know, investments are being made now to recruit very distinguished faculty in a number of fields where Columbia enjoys continued great strength. The University will continue to make significant investments in the research efforts of the faculty through the Provost's Strategic Research Initiative. Broader university initiatives, which capture the intellectual energy that often exists at the intersection among disciplines and that focus on major scientific and scholarly problems, will also be supported in the years ahead. Since almost all our faculty have responsibilities for both graduate and undergraduate education, the increased revenues that are obtained from the enhancement plan will only help the further development of both the undergraduate and graduate programs.

When this phase of the enhancement effort is completed, Columbia College will still be the smallest college in the Ivy League. It will continue to be renowned for its faculty, its curriculum, its standards of excellence, and its record for offering opportunities that young people might otherwise not have. It will do so in a far more hospitable environment with better services, better facilities, and a stronger sense of community than ever before. It will be better connected to a unique international city and it will have earned an even greater national and international reputation as one of the most extraordinary undergraduate colleges in the nation.

With your help and collaboration, we look forward to implementing the plan we have developed and will continue to develop together. With best regards,

Columbia University Record -- March 29, 1996 -- Vol. 21, No. 21 | Office of the Provost