A Welcome Message from Laila Maher
Dean of Student and Alumni Affairs
Now more than ever it is crucial for artists to be supported as they pursue their craft. The life of an artist as well as that of a student involves much more than the classroom and the work itself, and this is where the Office of Student Affairs comes in. In addition to guiding new students through the process of transitioning to the School of the Arts, we plan the School-wide orientation, School of the Arts Convocation, and support student groups, events, and activities.
We also play a critical role in connecting School of the Arts students to the larger university and necessary services, and help students navigate many of the central offices including Health Services (which houses the Office of Disability Services, Insurance, Immunization, and Counseling and Psychological Services), Columbia Residential, Public Safety, University Life, the International Students and Scholars Office, and the Registrar's Office. Our office also helps to uphold many of the School and University-wide policies and we manage the School’s disciplinary procedures.
The Artists’ Resource Center, also part of our Office, maintains information on funding opportunities and career resources for students and alumni at the Columbia University School of the Arts, and provides consultations to students and alumni to help them look for professional development opportunities and more.
After graduation, the Office of Alumni Affairs provides more than 7000 alumni artists, creators, and leaders with opportunities to stay connected with the School of the Arts, the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA), and one another through alumni programming, benefits, a monthly newsletter, and collaborations with CAA Arts Access.
Our ultimate goal is to support our students and alums while they pursue their education as valued members of our dynamic community and as they navigate their time after graduation.
Student & Alumni News
Alum So Young Shelly Yo ’18 discusses their journey as an artist and creator.
In a unique collaboration between programs and disciplines, Theatre alum Alle Mims '23 and Film alum Wes Goodrich '23 came together to produce Mims thesis production, A Soviet Film on Negro Life in America as Told by Langston Hughes and Others—and their collaboration has continued beyond graduation.
Several School of the Arts alumni and faculty will feature in this year’s Whitney Biennial, Even Better Than the Real Thing, which opens on March 20, 2024.
The Sundance Institute recently announced its selections for the acclaimed Screenwriting Lab and Screenwriters Intensive, and several School of the Arts filmmakers were selected to participate in the two opportunities.
How To Become Stupid, a poetry chapbook by Peter Patapis ’20, has been published by Bottlecap Press.
First-year Theatre Management and Producing student Melissa d'Arabian is working as a co-lead producer of White Rose: The Musical, a new production currently running off-Broadway at Theatre Row.
Professor David Henry Hwang is leading the creation of Billion Dollar Whale, a new television series; and nearly all the members of the show's producing and writing teams are Columbia alumni.
Writing alumni Jane Marchant ’18 (GS ’15), Meg Matich ’15, and Mary South ’14, are three among thirty-five writers who have been awarded National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships.
Invasive Species, written & directed by Film student Annie Ning and produced by Film student Aisha Amin, just screened at Slamdance Film Festival last week, in the Narrative Shorts program.
Film student Emily Everhard just won the 2024 Sundance x Sloan Episodic Fellowship for her TV pilot, Tektite, and accepted the award at the Sundance festival last week.
Every spring, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference & Bookfair is the must-attend destination for writers, teachers, students, editors, and publishers of contemporary creative writing. This year, a host of Columbia writers, alumni, and faculty will be stealing the show as the conference takes over Kansas City, Missouri.
Visual Arts alumna Jacqueline Silberbush '19 has published a book of photos, What Shod I be!!!!? with Dashwood Books. The book, which is an extension of her ongoing photographic series by the same title, follows the lived experiences of a young woman’s life from the moment of her birth to that of her child’s.