Teshiro Aldonza

This 'State of the School' address reviews the institution's performance and strategic direction, reflecting on fiscal year 2013-2014 and outlining future initiatives. Key priorities include enhancing financial operations, reorganizing clinics for revenue growth, and strengthening research through faculty recruitment in areas such as stem cells, oral microbiome, and tissue regeneration. The plan emphasizes curriculum innovation, particularly transitioning to digital dentistry and personalized education, and fostering 'comorbidity science' to align with the university's mission. It also addresses tuition costs, global initiatives, and sets an ambitious fundraising goal for the coming five years.

This document provides an overview of Columbia's five-year postdoctoral training grant in Special Care Dentistry. The program aims to address oral health inequities among vulnerable and underserved populations by equipping trainees and facilities to meet the needs of individuals with special health care needs. It will achieve this through developing novel didactic curricula, enhancing clinical training and systems, fostering interprofessional collaboration with community organizations, and establishing connections with public health and special needs dentistry advocacy groups to ensure consistent and effective patient outcomes and foster career-long engagement.

This Annual Sustainability Progress Report for 2022-2023 outlines Columbia University's advancements in its ten-year sustainability plan, Plan 2030. The report details progress across key areas including campus energy decarbonization, transportation emission reductions through EV expansion and train travel, sustainable design and construction practices, and responsible materials management with a focus on zero waste. The university is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner, guided by science-based targets and an institutional approach to embedding sustainability.

The primary goal of the meeting was to discuss the students' current library experience and future planning concerning the return to campus following the COVID-19 outage. Key discussion points included current research material needs, with students noting challenges accessing digitized archives and reformulating dissertation plans. The general experience finding and using online resources was rated relatively positively, though technical issues with Simply-E and GIS data server access were mentioned. There was significant discussion regarding 'course reserves,' including low student awareness of the service and the challenges faculty face in adapting materials for remote access, such as films. Students also shared what they missed most about the physical libraries, citing dedicated workspace, the opportunity for serendipitous discovery in the stacks, and social/intellectual togetherness. Discussions about returning to campus focused on safety measures, such as the feasibility of social distancing, mandatory face masks, staggered entry, and implementing person-in/person-out counts. A debate ensued over prioritizing the reopening of open stacks versus open study rooms.

Key discussion topics included student requests for extended library hours in Burke and SEL, and consideration of making the SIPA library graduate student only during specific hours. Updates were provided on the water bottle refill station orders, which are expected to be installed by fall 2015 in Butler and SEL. The committee addressed the issue of 'camping' (reserving seats while absent) and discussed potential solutions, such as creating a Library Code of Conduct or better integrating the campus Density application. Additionally, the review of the 'Talk Zone' pilot in Butler indicated little change in room culture, suggesting future strategies like rebranding the space as a 'lounge' or better advertising to new students. Mobile-charging stations have arrived and are expected to be deployed in Butler and the Science & Engineering Library soon.