Advising for the Major

As the Director of Undergraduate Studies for your department or program, you will oversee a variety of academic advising responsibilities:

  • guiding students through the process of declaring, designing, and completing a major course of study: you are the individual from whom all majors, concentrators, and prospective majors receive authoritative information about everything connected to the major or concentration;
  • assisting students who elect to study abroad in understanding how they can integrate their intellectual experiences with their academic pursuits at Columbia;
  • offering advice on pursuing an advanced degree, research opportunities, internships, career opportunities, fellowships, and other postgraduate options;
  • making all definitive departmental judgments about the appropriateness of courses for the requirements: you should have the endorsement of the department both to interpret departmental rules and to make exceptions to departmental policies when necessary and appropriate;
  • communicating information about policies and procedures to other faculty advisers.

Familiarity with the College's academic requirements and regulations as set forth by the faculty Committee on Instruction (COI) is necessary to make these decisions and to provide correct information to both students and your faculty colleagues.

If you have questions about the College's academic requirements and regulations, please contact any of our staff in Academic Affairs at cc-academic@columbia.edu for information, and you can contact Lisa Hollibaugh, dean of Academic Affairs, at directly at lkh5@columbia.edu.

Note for Directors of Undergraduate Studies regarding exceptions to grading policies for majors, concentrations, and special concentrations between 2020 and 2024:

Due to circumstances considered to be unusually disruptive to conditions for student learning, the CC-GS Committee on Instruction approved the following exceptions to policies regarding majors and concentrations and special concentrations:

  • In Spring 2020, all courses in the University were graded on a pass/fail basis. Any course in this term earning a grade of "P" can be applied to a major, concentration, or special concentration (or a Core Curriculum course).
  • In Fall 2020, students were permitted to use the Pass/D/Fail grading option for one class without restriction -- i.e., one course in this term earning a grade of "P" can be applied to a major, concentration, or special concentration (or a Core Curriculum course).
  • In Spring 2021, students were permitted to use the Pass/D/Fail grading option for one class without restriction -- i.e., one course in this term earning a grade of "P" can be applied to a major, concentration, or special concentration (or a Core Curriculum course).
  • In Fall 2021, students were permitted to use the Pass/D/Fail grading option for one class without restriction -- i.e., one course in this term earning a grade of "P" can be applied to a major, concentration, or special concentration (or a Core Curriculum course).
  • In Spring 2022, the CC-GS Committee on Instruction determined that typical rules and regulations would apply again to majors and concentrations, as articulated in the Columbia College Bulletin as follows: "All courses taken to complete a concentration or major (whether they are designated as required or elective within the concentration or major) must be taken for a letter grade and must be passed with a grade of C- or higher. Some academic departments permit an exception to this policy, allowing the first one-term course taken by the student in his or her eventual major to be taken for a mark of "Pass." Students should consult the director of undergraduate studies (DUS) for any permissions or restrictions on grading options for the concentration or major." These rules and regulations remained in place in Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, and Fall 2023.
  • In Spring 2024, students were permitted to use the Pass/D/Fail grading option for up to two classes without restriction -- i.e., two courses in this term earning a grade of "P" can be applied to a major, concentration, or special concentration (or a Core Curriculum course). Also, the deadline for students to declare the P/D/F option for a course was extended until the end of the change-of-program period of Fall 2024--i.e., September 13, 2024.