Archive for March 2009 – Page 3

How Cool is New York City?

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Monday, March 16th, 2009 
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The title question for this entry does not have to do with temperature, it has to do with the international flavor of New York City. 40% of the people who live in New York City were not born in the United States. SIPA typically enrolls students that represent over 90 different countries. We also have many U.S. permanent residents enrolled each year so the number of countries students hail from is most likely well over 100 countries per year.

New York City has a 311 telephone line that is meant to provide government information and non-emergency services. A fact you may not be aware of, the line provides immediate access to translation services in over 170 different languages. How cool is that?

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Categories : Admissions
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Counterterrorism Specialist Austin Long to Join SIPA Faculty

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Friday, March 13th, 2009 
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Austin Long has been appointed Assistant Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs, where he will teach security policy. Long most recently worked as an associate political scientist for the RAND Corporation, serving in Iraq as an analyst and advisor to Multinational Force Iraq and the U.S. military. He also worked as a consultant to MIT Lincoln Laboratory on the technology and urban operations of counterinsurgency.

Professor Long authored the book, Deterrence – From Cold War to Long War. The following description comes from the RAND Corporation Web site:

Since its inception six decades ago, the RAND Corporation has been one of the key institutional homes for the study of deterrence. Never a well-loved concept in the United States, deterrence lost any luster it held after the Cold War. The 2002 U.S. national-security strategy proclaimed deterrence’s irrelevance for most future national-security challenges. However, the 2006 version of this strategy reversed this move, recognizing that deterrence will be as indispensable for the “long war” as it was for the Cold War. This book examines these six decades of research for lessons relevant to the current and future strategic environments.

Among its conclusions are that U.S. domestic politics inevitably requires some considerable reliance on deterrence and that deterrence remains relevant to most of the threats the United States is likely to face, from near-peer competitors to regional states of concern and even to many terrorist organizations. It also makes specific recommendations about policies and force structures the United States should pursue to maximize its deterrent capabilities.

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Categories : News
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Time Line

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Thursday, March 12th, 2009 
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The Admissions Committee has been meeting all week and we continue to publish decisions as soon as we are able.  As a reminder, you will receive an email from us when your decision is ready to be viewed on the application Web site.  We cannot provide estimates on when individual decisions will be published.

I did want to provide a quick overview of the time line that will follow in the coming month or so. The following information is provided on an admitted student welcome page but I thought I would provide some highlights.

First, admitted students will have the opportunity to participate in a Web based Message Board starting later in March.  The purpose of the board is to give admitted students the opportunity to interact with one another and with current students.  SIPA students will be taking a spring break from March 16th to 20th and we will have the board up shortly after their return.  Details will be sent to admitted students once the board is activated.

Second, SIPA will host an Open House for admitted students on Tuesday, April 14th.  The Open House will take place on the Columbia Campus and it will be a full day event.

Third, April 20th is the date by which admitted students must pay a deposit confirming enrollment for fall 2009.

Finally, an email regarding financial aid opportunities is sent shortly after the admission letter is published.  The letter is meant to outline the general funds available to SIPA students.  More specific letters will follow at a later time for U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents who have filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  If admitted students have been awarded a SIPA fellowship this information will be in the admission letter.

Now back to Committee meetings . . .

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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Columbia University Launches Global Centers in Amman and Beijing in March 2009

Posted by Matt Clemons 
· Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 
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The first two Columbia Global Centers in Beijing, China and Amman, Jordan will be officially launched on March 20 and March 23, 2009. The centers are expected to strengthen Columbia’s academic partnerships and programs in the region, encourage collaboration across academic disciplines at Columbia, and offer opportunities for on-site research to faculty, for firsthand experience to students, for engagement with regional alumni and prospective students.

Some of the research and scholarly initiatives will be regionally focused; others will involve multiple centers, and in some instances the full complement of centers will be engaged across many continents. The University plans six to eight Global Centers when the program is completed.

Please visit this website for complete details on events in Beijing on March 20 and in Amman on March 23.

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Categories : News
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Waiting is the Hardest Part

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Monday, March 9th, 2009 
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I do not think that Tom Petty has a graduate degree, however the chorus to his song “The Waiting” is appropriate this time of year.  The chorus leads off with “The waiting is the hardest part.”  I know that waiting to hear of an admission decision can be hard.  We receive lots of phone calls and emails each day with people eager for more information.

Hundreds of files are still in process and we are working as quickly as we are able.  About half of our decisions have been sent which means we still have a way to go.  As referenced in an entry last week, when a decision has been rendered an email will be sent to the email account you listed when you applied on the online site.  We appeciate your inquires, however we cannot give exact information on when a decision will be rendered.

Hang in there if you have yet hear.

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Categories : Admissions, Application Tips
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"The most global public policy school, where an international community of students and faculty address world challenges."

—Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA, Professor of Practice, International and Economic Law and International Affairs

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