<p>So many of you folks know that I am an uncompromising optimist. I strongly believe you should reduce your skepticism as much as possible when you are dealing with people. “Attack the idea, not the person” as they say. Dealing with Columbia is no different. The folks there are not the enemy, sometimes its the policy, and often its a policy that is implemented to appease one group (faculty, cops, paper-pushers), and not necessarily is it against you as a student.</p>
<p>I say this in part because how you approach admins and bureaucrats often is related to how much you get out of an experience.</p>
<p>So first thing is first: Columbia and NYC are rife with bureaucracy, and worse yet different agencies share jurisdiction on an issue making life confusing at times. The worst is that bureaucracies in the city have a tendency to go too slow when you want something, or too fast when you want to have a conversation about something. Columbia is no excuse. It can be part DMV, part airport security at times. So take a deep breath and expect it. There are reasons why big cities are more bureaucratic, in part because they have more stakeholders who want a lot of different things. They require more agencies to do the task of governing than a small town in Massachusetts. Big universities have the same problem, and Columbia despite its small undergrad sizes is a very big university. So come in with some expectation of bureaucracy, but also know there is something you can do to make your life easier.</p>
<p>1) Make friends in the admin</p>
<p>This is a simple enough idea, but it actually is rarer than you think. The number of times I have seen someone demand something of an admin or feel entitled to something because of this or that reason, well let’s just say it makes your life worse than better. So I think for your sake, and for the sake of your fellow students, try and treat admins nicely. Their happiness helps them ensure your happiness. But it goes further, the closer you get to admins, the easier it is to figure out your way around the byzantine bureaucracy. First of all – unlike the DMV, Columbia is relatively flexible in carrying out its regulations (and there is no penalty of treason if that happens). Second, with enough convincing students are able to change policies, perhaps not in your own preferred span (think years, not months) and so you do have some agency in the process.</p>
<p>2) Put yourself in the university’s shoes</p>
<p>This is an exercise I often did not because I wanted to be a lackey for the university, but because I figured if I thought like an admin, I might figure out the answer. The first thing you realize is that there are a lot of competing interests beyond students involved in decision making that to you seems simple. Take the sexual misconduct policy that was decried by an outside group as suppressing freedom of students (note Columbia is a private uni and actually can restrict some freedoms), but it made news in the Post, and it was asked on a tour I gave a few years back. It means that you have to adjust yourself sometimes to the whims of people who don’t even attend your school. </p>
<p>But it also helps you see the levers you need to pull to get something changed, and often the lever you need to pull is NOT PrezBo. He rarely involves himself in campus issues, and when he does it is to make a statement, but not make any changes. It is almost always the Provost, Kasdin, a section chief, the General Counsel, your own Deans that hold the levers you want to pull.</p>
<p>3) Its not worth fighting rules that are based on law</p>
<p>If you’re like I was when I was 18, you wanted to drink. And if you arrive on campus and find yourself with stiffer fake ID rules in the neighborhood, and a lack of wild frat parties, you might feel it’s the Man trying to keep you from having a good time. And even if he is, the $200 fine or even jail time you might get from having a fake ID kind of tells you that well the Man has the law on his side. Columbia wont be changing or loosening its rules regarding illegal things anytime soon. Further, throwing ragers are hard when your neighbors are older folks that call the cops whenever a cat meows. So if you know the rules, live within the rules, you realize there is a lot of flexibility to have fun. And frankly I had a fantastic time getting around these rules. So don’t try to create a stir and have the uni change its rules, but there are moments where it is important to realize that there is no perfect surveillance on campus, and part of the excitement of college is figuring out how to get around the barriers presented you. (Also there are some Pub Safety folks that are nicer to deal with than others.)</p>
<p>4) Seek Long Term Solutions</p>
<p>Often students seek short-term solutions, mostly because they are more visible. Long term solutions like coalition-building, developing compromise, learning about the mechanics of the university, are not as much fun, but they are better for you and better for future Columbians. Mistakes are natural even from admins – they might, well, create a rule that actually is pretty dumb or useless. But don’t freak out at the first impulse. Sit back and figure out – who does this person report to, why did they act this way, what could happen to fix this now, what could happen to fix this in the end. There is almost always an answer to the problem. Its when you seek a short term solution (protests often being the answer) that a bad situation gets worse. So in a way, the best way to prevent Columbia from ramping up its bureaucracy is well almost a policy of detente. Don’t overreact, it will make your life and every other Columbian’s lives easier.</p>
<p>5) Make Friends with Alums</p>
<p>Lastly, your biggest friends whenever it comes to fixing the administration are not administrators—rather alumni donors. They are usually very interested in what is going on, and if you tell them big ideas (not small details), they sometimes can rally behind your thoughts and push for things. When all else fails realize that administrators are often only temporary caretakers of the university – students and alumni form long-term bonds. And I found many alumni and even some trustees that if you present an idea that the admin is either too cautious to support, you can do an end around and get something passed that way.</p>