Archive for office

It’s snowing! again.

We don’t have much to complain about since New York has not been hit with as much snow as other parts of the country this winter.  But when we are hit with another blizzard, we groan because chances are we’re going to school or work in it.  Of course, we all look forward to “snow days” (when schools are closed) so we can catch up at home instead of treading our way through snow mountains and slippery roads.  Not to mention all the wet grit and grim from the streets. Gross!  But “snow days” are rare in New York City.  So needless to say, it’s snowing (A LOT) but we’re not closed; no “snow day” for us.  But we are here to support our students who have also made their way to campus.  Although it’s not easy to move around with all this snow, New Yorkers always find a way to get where we must go.  Our students who move here from other parts of the world, also quickly learn how to get from uptown to/from the boroughs in all conditions.  It means we plan a little more efficiently and we’re more resourceful…  And thank goodness for one of the more reliable mass transit systems.

With no where to go today and probably very few visitors (because who would risk coming to Columbia in this storm — besides us and all our dedicated faculty and students), we’ll have more uninterrupted time to review applications.  We’ll begin releasing admission decisions for our two-year MIA/MPA/MPA-DP programs in mid-March so there’s not much time to finish reviewing all the applications we’ve received for fall 2014 consideration.   That’s all I have for today (sorry it’s not as enlightening)– my head is in the applications…. and the snow storm happening outside my windowless office.

Travel safely where ever you may be.

snow day feb 13 2

a view of Columbia University Low Library

 

snow day feb 13

entrance to Columbia University Morningside campus

not singing Kumbaya in July

The SIPA Admissions & Financial Aid Office is still under repairs (see earlier post) and so our tiny team has been temporarily jammed inconstructionto the outer office space of two shared faculty offices on the 8th Floor of the International Affairs Building.  At first glance when you step off the elevators, you’re not sure if you’re in the right place — we appear to be a call center of sorts (the opposite of our warm and fuzzy group) in the middle of a construction site (see photo).  Howeverconstruction 2, you will still be greeted with warmth if you come by, although you probably will not hear us singing our version of Kumbaya –the Director of Financial Aid has banned us from singing while we are all sitting in close quarters; but we will share our Insomnia cookies or pastries from the Hungarian Pastry Shop (if there are any left).

So where is this going…   Just to keep you in the loop of what’s to come… We’re still making sure all our incoming students are happy and getting all the necessary information needed to prepare them for their arrival on campus for Orientation in a month .  We have set up a couple of community groups and updating the Welcome site — there has been a lot of chatter, which is always a good sign of people’s engagement and excitement.  We are also in the process of putting together our 2014 program applications; the spring MIA/MPA application will be available by late-August and the application for the MIA/ MPA/ MPA DP fall term will be available in early September.  In addition to the already planned fall trips we will make to meet you on the road at various graduate school fairs and APSIA forums, we are arranging times for you to come visit us in New York through class visits (will be offered beginning in late September after our students have settled into their classes), information sessions, and SIPA-sponsored events.

If you are thinking about graduate school, you should use this summer to research various schools and programs (because not all programs are the same — within a school there may be a few — at SIPA, we have seven), definitely invest time into searching for scholarships (every dollar helps) and you would hate to learn later you missed the deadline to apply.  We will continue to post information about fellowships opportunities that we hear about too.  And of course, plan your fall visits; make sure a stop at SIPA is on your travel itinerary — if we don’t have cookies, we’ll definitely offer you a good karma lollipop and some sound advice  :).

Happy New Year!

Please note that the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid will close at 5:00 P.M. on December 31st and will reopen on January 5th, 2009 at 9:00 A.M.  Happy New Year and we look forward to the application reading season.

"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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