Committee on Instruction

A Committee on Instruction (COI) is an academic committee that oversees the curriculum of a school. Almost every school at Columbia has this committee in one form or another, and usually it is made up of senior faculty members and administrators from that school or faculty.

Columbia College

The Columbia College COI is comprised of six tenured faculty members and one untenured faculty member as well as Dean of Columbia College Michele Moody-Adams. In 2010, the committee was merged with the same committee of the School of General Studies, as both schools fall within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, chaired by Nicholas Dirks. This committee oversees changes to the curriculum, including those proposed by the Committee on the Core Curriculum, which reports to the COI. The committee also deals in academic policies, such as those surrounding plagiarism.

Along with the Dean and several other key administrators, the committee oversees the process of tenure as well as approval of all new courses.

Columbia Engineering

The Columbia Engineering COI is comprised of faculty members from each of the nine departments of the school, as well as several administrators and Dean Feniosky Peña-Mora. The committee serves a similar purpose to that of the CC/GS one, except it must also consider the academic affairs related to granting graduate degrees.