Since Claude Steele officially assumed his role as Columbia’s provost at the beginning of the semester, he’s been getting a crash course in the University’s administration, budgets, students, and the Manhattanville expansion.
In a recent interview with Spectator, Steele discussed his progress in learning the ins and outs of Columbia, as well some of his hobbies—reading Joan Didion books or walking his golden retriever, Theo, in Riverside Park.
While Steele says that his transition from professor of psychology at Stanford to provost at Columbia has been relatively smooth because of the similarities between the schools—which Steele describes as being of similar caliber—he also mentioned that the structural differences between Columbia and Stanford make the provost position at each school very different.
The main structural difference Steele described is Columbia’s decentralization, with funds coming in through individual schools to the University, as opposed to coming in through the University and out to the schools. Stanford, on the other hand. is much more centralized and unified, Steele said.
During the past few months, Steele has become acquainted with Columbia in part through meetings with each school’s dean.
“Lately I’ve been ‘speed-dating’ the deans,” Steele said. “So that’s fun. They are a delightful group people, and I don’t say that easily. Meeting them and learning about the schools, and their ambitions for the schools—it’s been exciting.”
As for the people on campus in general, Steele said, “I find people at Columbia very direct, and I really like that.”
Additionally, Steele has familiarized himself with the University’s finances, which are under particular scrutiny in light of the recent financial crisis.
“The thing that excites me the most is, in these times, figuring out ways to sustain and enhance the quality of the University, particularly the academic quality, and usually that translates into strengthening the faculty and strengthening the students,” he said.
Steele also mentioned that he found Columbia’s budgetary processes to be particularly interesting. “Budgets really tell you the story of an institution and how things work,“ he said. And, in light of the current economic climate, Steele is sure that the school is in a good position.
“Columbia has a positive story compared to many of its peers at this point,” he said. “Other schools have the dual problem of having lost bigger percentages of their endowments and having been more dependent on their endowments for operating costs.”
Among the projects that Steele will become involved with in the future, he cites the Manhattanville campus expansion as one that he is most excited about.
“The president has some initiatives that I find very attractive, and part of the reason that I was excited to take this job is [University President] Lee Bollinger’s commitment to expanding the University into Manhattanville. That’s a major challenge and an interesting opportunity.”
Steele also hopes to see the globalization of Columbia, with more of a focus on the University’s international presence.
“Columbia University is in among one of the most international cities in the world, so it’s its birthright to be an international institution.”
Another one of Steele’s goals is increasing campus diversity, which he says is already very prevalent at the undergraduate level. Now, he says, the University has to figure out “how to bring that diversity to the graduate level and the faculty level. That’s another challenge.”
For now, Steele is mostly learning the ropes. But he foresees some challenges in his future as provost.
“I haven’t yet had to make difficult decisions. I can see some on the horizon, but I haven’t had to make them yet.”
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