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            "type": "text",
            "value": "Though its deliberations largely remain shrouded in secrecy, Columbia has significantly scaled back its plans for expanding the Columbia College and School of Engineering and Applied Science student body from what was originally proposed as a 20 percent increase, Spectator has learned. The rollback comes after facing fierce <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/12/02/ccsc-and-esc-release-open-letter-opposing-potential-undergraduate-expansion/\">criticism</a> from faculty members, students, and alumni in recent months, who have said the increase would harm the student experience, degrade Columbia’s academic reputation, and push the University’s physical space to its limits."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The University previously indicated it would finalize a decision regarding expansion by the end of November 2025, before the <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/12/16/columbia-college-seas-see-slight-decrease-in-early-decision-applications-for-class-of-2030/\">release</a> of early decision admissions results for the class of 2030 on Dec. 16, 2025. However, Columbia has extended its deadline to late March, when it releases regular decision admissions results."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“Nothing has been officially decided,” a University spokesperson wrote in a Thursday statement to Spectator—the same statement Columbia has provided five times since Nov. 19, 2025, when first asked about its proposed expansion plans. “A robust examination of the many factors, academic and operational, is underway, and still requires active and thoughtful consideration by many stakeholders across our community.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "<i>[Read more: </i><a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/11/21/columbia-considers-expanding-undergraduate-enrollment-by-up-to-20-percent/\"><i>Columbia considers expanding undergraduate enrollment by up to 20 percent</i></a><i>]</i>"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "As part of this examination, Columbia created two committees—one led by faculty that assessed the expansion’s academic implications, and another within the administration that examined its operational feasibility. Both committees presented their findings to faculty members last week."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "But students and faculty members have questioned the expansion’s feasibility when Columbia’s considerations have been confined to a small group of stakeholders, most of whom are bound to keep the discussions confidential."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“I’m not a priori opposed to expansion,” Rosalind Morris, professor of anthropology and former chair of the policy and planning committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, told Spectator. She added that her resistance is specifically to “expansion that is not sufficiently resourced, that isn’t associated with a thorough reflection on what we mean by academic excellence, and that doesn’t entail a thorough commitment to the core mission of a liberal arts education.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The policy and planning committee is the only elected body within FAS and represents faculty to University leadership. Morris said that Columbia’s ongoing deliberations felt “unnecessarily pressured” amid a looming deadline and unclear commitments on the part of University administrators."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "More than 700 students and faculty members, including the entire Columbia College Student Council and former Columbia College Dean James Valentini, <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2026/03/05/more-than-200-columbia-students-and-faculty-members-sign-open-letter-to-the-board-of-trustees-opposing-undergraduate-student-body-expansion/\">signed</a> a Thursday open letter calling on the board of trustees, which is meeting this weekend, to publicly commit to academic and facilities investments before expanding enrollment."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "A University official told Spectator that any decision regarding expansion would be thoughtfully communicated using the University’s regular channels."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "But Columbia has not yet acknowledged publicly and explicitly to its student body that it is even considering expanding."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“We have far too much secrecy around these issues,” Morris said, “and it inhibits good decision making, and it also encourages suspicion.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "<b>‘In a secretive position’</b>"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Columbia initiated considerations for further expansion in late summer 2025, after it finished sending admissions offers to the class of 2029 in June."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Although the University set a November deadline for its decision, it only began consulting key constituencies in the month prior. Shipman first discussed expansion with the Columbia College Board of Visitors on Oct. 9, 2025, and the FAS policy and planning committee on Oct. 20, 2025, according to a Feb. 24 summary of Shipman’s consultations regarding expansion sent to faculty."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "By November 2025, Columbia’s expansion considerations proceeded with no material student input, as they had over the summer."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "When Spectator first reported that Columbia was considering expansion on Nov. 21, 2025, several student leaders told Spectator that they were not aware of the discussions until Spectator requested an interview with them."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "On Dec. 2, 2025, CCSC and Engineering Student Council released a joint open letter opposing the University’s expansion plans, writing that the University is “not currently equipped to sustain such an expansion.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Over a week later, administrators began meeting student leaders to discuss expansion."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“We initiated the discussion with the open letter,” Matias Hernandez, CC ’26, CCSC vice president for policy, told Spectator."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The University limited these discussions to six people: the presidents and vice presidents of policy of Columbia’s three undergraduate student councils—CCSC, ESC, and the General Studies Student Council. The six have met with administrators four times to discuss expansion since Dec. 11, 2025."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“I know that the six of us obviously aren’t representative of the entire undergraduate student body,” Janie Zhang, SEAS ’26, president of ESC, told Spectator. “We do our best to relay all the concerns and opinions of our constituents, and we really tried our best to get a lot of opinions from our councils and from our peers.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "In advance of their first meeting with administrators, CCSC and ESC produced a video collecting testimonies from current students about expansion and showcasing long lines in John Jay Dining Hall, Dodge Fitness Center, and two campus libraries."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "In the video, which was filmed during final exams, it took student leaders over five minutes to find a seat in John Jay Dining Hall and over 15 minutes to find a seat in Butler Library. Student leaders could not find a seat in Avery Library or an available workout machine in Dodge Fitness Center."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The councils <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2pWJqlPs-k\">posted</a> the video to Hernandez’s YouTube channel on Dec. 15, 2025. It has since circulated widely among faculty and affiliates, including after Michael Thaddeus, professor of mathematics and vice president of the Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors, emailed it to faculty on Feb. 16."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“It was really intended to show administrators and professionals at this college and this University things that they don’t see,” Sam Cano Cabrera, CC ’26, president of CCSC, told Spectator. “They don’t have to live in a dorm, they don’t have to study in Avery, and they don’t have to eat at John Jay during dinner time.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The councils never released the video, which is unlisted on YouTube, to the student body—not in their newsletter nor their social media channels."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“The matter of us meeting with the administration has been very private,” Cano Cabrera said. “They do demand us to stay in a secretive position.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "A University official told Spectator that Columbia considered it important to keep stakeholder consultations confidential to prevent misinformation from spreading."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“We really have valued our collaboration with the University leadership,” Zhang said. “They’re treating us like trusted consultants, and they’re really valuing our input. I think that’s a really really powerful collaboration that we have right now as student council leaders that we’ve never had before.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Nevertheless, all three student leaders who spoke to Spectator continue to oppose any increase in undergraduate enrollment and have communicated their stance to University administrators."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "They did, however, express support for the academic and operational measures Columbia had proposed to enhance the undergraduate student experience. Most of these proposed measures have not been communicated to the student body."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“One of the biggest points of pressure that the student leaders have really worked on has been, ‘All right, it’s great that we’re in this room and we have this information. When are we able to distribute it?’” Cano Cabrera said. “‘When are we able to tell our students what’s going on?’”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "<b>‘A university, not an intelligence agency’</b>"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "By February, the University decided to scale back expansion from its originally proposed 20 percent increase and postpone the decision until regular decision admissions results on March 26. But administrators had still not made any concrete commitments to improving campus infrastructure or hiring more faculty members."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“Our leadership is so obsessed with secrecy that, because of their obsession with secrecy, they’re not willing to share hard information with the faculty in a meaningful way,” Thaddeus told Spectator."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "In light of the perceived secrecy of Columbia’s expansion considerations, Thaddeus called on faculty members to sign a petition to advance a motion opposing expansion in a Feb. 16 email to faculty obtained by Spectator."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“Given the absence of any commitment from our leadership to provide additional faculty positions or seats in classrooms, dining halls, and libraries, this Faculty cannot now endorse any plan to increase our undergraduate enrollments,” Thaddeus’ motion read."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The petition, which called for a vote on the motion, garnered 65 signatures, exceeding the requisite 40 signatures to enter a motion onto the agenda of the next FAS meeting."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The motion was placed on the agenda for the following Feb. 25 FAS meeting, but faculty members were not allowed to vote on it until a “special” FAS meeting on March 11, organized by the policy and planning committee. FAS rules generally prevent faculty members from voting on a motion until it has already been discussed at a previous meeting. Following the March 11 meeting, electronic voting on the motion will be available until March 16—10 days before Columbia plans to release its regular decision admissions results."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“What’s disappointing is that the PPC chair doesn’t seem interested in expediting this motion,” Thaddeus said in a Feb. 22 interview with Spectator."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“They could have scheduled a vote earlier that would have allowed us to have some significant influence on the outcome,” he added in a Thursday interview."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Corwin declined Spectator’s request for an interview."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The FAS’ stated rules allow for the policy and planning committee to arrange for faculty members to vote on a motion at the first meeting in which it is discussed. The committee did not apply this to Thaddeus’ motion."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Since Thaddeus first proposed the motion, the University has provided faculty with details about its proposals to improve the undergraduate experience. The Feb. 25 FAS meeting featured presentations from both the faculty-led committee on academic investments and the administration’s committee on operations, led by Robert Kasdin, senior executive vice president."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Columbia released the faculty-led committee’s report to faculty members on Feb. 25, more than two months after the committee first sent its report to University leadership in early December. The report modeled the academic investments Columbia would need to make if it expanded the undergraduate student body by 20 percent."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Amy Hungerford, dean and executive vice president of FAS, committed to following the faculty report’s recommendations, scaled to the pending increase in the size of the student body, at a Tuesday meeting with faculty members."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Still, some faculty members are unsatisfied."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“Those were really admirably sincere presentations from the faculty. But when it comes to actually making changes and changing infrastructure, that’s when the administration takes over,” John Hunt, professor of biological sciences, told Spectator. “The specifics of their proposed solutions were band-aids, they were the minimal changes you can imagine, not producing a really embarrassing situation.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Kasdin’s committee on expansion’s operational implications proposed several facilities improvements, including a new recreational athletics facility and late-night dining hall, modeled after JJ’s Place, in the space currently occupied by the visitors center. It has not, however, released a report to faculty members, and it is not clear if it ever will."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“This is a university, not an intelligence agency,” Thaddeus said. “Why can’t we be more open? Why are students not allowed to know about the decisions that are being made about their own welfare?”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "For Thaddeus and several other faculty members, the University’s expansion considerations are part of an effort to raise more tuition revenue."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“It’s sort of commoditizing education. To some extent, it’s just turning it into a brand,” Hunt said. “To some extent, the attitude of the administration is that this is something that can be sold, that we have a financial problem and we can sell this.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "In its July 2025 deal with the federal government, Columbia agreed to “examine its business model and take steps to decrease financial dependence on international student enrollment,” and the University subsequently experienced a <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/11/05/columbia-sees-drop-in-international-student-applications-for-upcoming-admissions-cycle-shipman-says/\">decline</a> in international student applications for the current admissions cycle. Columbia College and the undergraduate division of SEAS are far less dependent on international students than their graduate counterparts."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The University plans to launch a large capital campaign after incoming University President Jennifer Mnookin takes office on July 1. Administrators have indicated that the undergraduate experience, FAS, and expansion are also priorities for Mnookin. Proving that Columbia can invest in itself through a focus on undergraduates, administrators believe, would inspire alumni donors to follow."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Some alumni remain unconvinced."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "The Columbia College Alumni Association held two “feedback sessions” on undergraduate expansion with 27 members of its board of directors in early February, according to a report prepared by Michael Marino, executive director of alumni relations for Columbia College, that was obtained by Spectator."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "Alumni feedback indicated a “desire for more transparency” into the University’s decision-making on enrollment expansion and how resources will be allocated to support an increased student body, according to the report."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“Alumni worry that the difficulty and resource competition to support students currently has a negative impact on their engagement after graduation,” the report reads."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "It is not clear whether the University has consulted with the CCAA board since these feedback sessions. The Feb. 24 summary of Shipman’s consultations did not mention the CCAA board."
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "“The question is: Is it appropriate for an outgoing interim administration to impose significant growth on the undergraduate community?” Brian Krisberg, CC ’81, Law ’84, former president of the CCAA, told Spectator. “There is nothing on paper as to what are the tangible benefits for undergraduate education. I wonder how responsible an act this would be for an administration to do this in advance of an incoming administration starting in three months.”"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "<i>Staff Writer Matt Luo can be contacted at </i><a href=\"mailto:matt.luo@columbiaspectator.com\"><i>matt.luo@columbiaspectator.com</i></a><i>. Follow Spectator on X </i><a href=\"https://twitter.com/columbiaspec?lang=en\"><i>@ColumbiaSpec</i></a><i>.</i>"
          },
          {
            "type": "text",
            "value": "<b><i>Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our </i></b><a href=\"https://columbiaspectator.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a3d2eeb1ae5560ca04f82f042&id=e51c51d62d\"><b><i>email newsletter </i></b></a><b><i>and like Spectator on </i></b><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/columbiaspectator\"><b><i>Facebook</i></b></a><b><i>. </i></b>"
          }
        ],
        "headline": "Shrouded in secrecy, Columbia scales back undergraduate expansion plans as backlash mounts",
        "dek": "Senior administrators have indicated that any expansion would be a significant step back from their original proposal to increase undergraduate enrollment by 20 percent.",
        "date": "March 6, 2026",
        "byline": "By <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/contributors/matt-luo/\">Matt Luo</a>",
        "cover_asset": "https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/spectator/ZZ3VYFEEZNH4ZOHUTXIHTRZKVI.png",
        "cover_caption": "Shanying Liu / Deputy Editor of Illustrations",
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        "DOC_URL": "https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uotAknB_LDajDPUvr_pNsvEpP3WHuajq4zahV7waGXw/edit?usp=sharing"
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