Reports on the Changing Structure of the Faculty

To recognize the crucial contributions of this group, the Office of the Provost has proposed for the review of the Faculty Affairs, Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee on February 5, 2026, a Professor of Instruction track for current and future faculty whose primary responsibility is delivering instruction. This track is available for current Lecturers-in-Discipline and Senior Lecturers-in-Discipline to transition into until the end of the 2026-27 academic year.

This proposal has been ratified by the University Senate per the plenary meeting of April 10th, 2026.

The Board of Trustees updated the University Charter and Statutes to include the new titles in their August 2026 meeting.

In the discussions around this proposal, we prepared an updated document on the changing structure of the faculty, available here. 

• The data underlines that the share of Tenure and Tenure-Track Faculty has shrunk by over ten percent since 2003, with no accompanying change in the structure of the student body.
• This document compares Columbia University's share of Tenure and Tenure-Track Faculty to peer educational institutions, highlighting that Columbia's share of Off-Track Faculty is one of the highest in the peer comparison group and the second-highest in the Ivy League, even when excluding the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
• Data for this analysis was compiled from the Office of Planning and Institutional Research and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

The Changing Structure of the Faculty

The changing structure of the faculty over recent decades has become increasingly apparent and, with this, the
need for different pathways and protections for off-track faculty. Between 2003 and 2021, the total number of
full-time faculty increased by 39 percent (1266). The share of tenured faculty remained relatively constant at 27
percent. The share of tenure-track faculty halved over this period, declining from 24 to 12 percent of total faculty.
The share of off-track faculty in the total faculty increased from 48 percent to 61 percent. On Morningside, Off-
Track Faculty made up 31.5 percent of faculty in 2021, up from 15.7 percent in 2003. At CUIMC, Off-Track
Faculty made up 77.4 percent of all faculty in 2021, up from 68.4 percent in 2003.

The University Senate began to address this structural change in 2015 to 2016, with a call to strengthen
appointments for off-track faculty through longer notice periods in instances of non-renewal for faculty in good
standing to 18 months for faculty with seven or more years of service, and to 24 months for faculty with 12 or
more years of service. Adopted in Spring 2016 for the Morningside Campus, this proposal was adopted and
subsequently implemented University-wide in Spring 2020, with the Resolution to Amend the University Statutes
to Strengthen and Modify Appointments for Full-Time Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Across Columbia, introducing
12-month notice periods for CUIMC faculty with eight or more years of service. Read more here