2023 GS Student Survey

Dear Columbia GS Students,

As we continue our celebration of the 75th anniversary of our amazing School, I am reminded of one of the most important constants in our history—how GS deans, from Louis Hacker to Peter Awn, have consistently reimagined and repositioned our School based on feedback from GS students. Truly, more than any other school at Columbia, the School of General Studies has been built with specific needs of its diverse student body at its core. With this in mind, I ask all of you to participate in the 2023 GS Student Survey to help us improve services, understand the student experience, and frame the way we think about future priorities. Every student who completes the survey by March 1 will have $25 added to their Flex account.

2023 GS Student Survey

Five years ago, when I was fortunate enough to begin my tenure as the first alumna dean of Columbia GS, one of my top priorities was a survey of all GS students on a broad range of topics that helped me better understand the needs of GS students and set priorities for the early years of my deanship. The entire GS staff contributed to the design and promotion of that survey, leading to a more than 60% percent completion rate. As a social scientist, I can tell you how impressive and essential that level of engagement is and was.

As a result of that unprecedented input from GS students, the team at GS was able to focus our attention, time, and resources on critical improvements that have significantly aided GS students in the succeeding years, including:

• Specific measures to address food insecurity
• Improvements to advising availability and scheduling
• The launch of a new dedicated space for the Academic Resource Center
• More programming for first-generation, low-income students
• The establishment of a well-being team in the Dean of Students Office
• Increased opportunities for GS students to connect with GS alumni
• A more nuanced understanding of GS students and their financial needs that helped shape financial aid policies

As we launch the 2023 GS Student Survey, our goal is to exceed the previous response rate and to receive input from every current GS student. As we know well, no two GS stories are exactly the same, which makes your unique experiences and opinions essential to gathering a complete picture of the needs of the GS student body. The 2023 GS Student Survey is comprehensive and includes questions across the full spectrum of the GS student experience—from academics to the language of the Columbia GS diploma. This is an opportunity for all Columbia GS students to be heard and to have a direct and lasting impact on the future of the School. It will take approximately 30 minutes, and can be completed all at once or in stages.

While I sincerely hope that every GS student will take the time to complete the survey and share their opinions and experience, please note that the survey is voluntary and completing it will not affect a student’s standing within the School.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to hear directly from you and hope you will all take this opportunity to contribute your thoughts and experiences to our ongoing efforts to ensure GS is supporting our extraordinary students in the best way possible.

Best regards,

Lisa Rosen-Metsch
Dean, Columbia University School of General Studies
Professor of Sociomedical Sciences