Since its founding in 1887, Teachers College has paired humanitarian concerns with a broad-based scientific approach to human development premised on three complementary and interrelated areas of study: education, health and psychology.
Teachers College combines research, theory and practice to pursue our vision to create a smarter, healthier and more just and equitable world. Having educated more than 100,000 students globally, we prepare scholars, educators and practitioners; pioneer research and fields of study; provide critical expertise and advance the dissemination of knowledge for the public good.
Today, we face challenges and a volatile environment not unlike the world from which TC originally emerged. The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred tremendous economic, social, racial and health-related inequities, tensions and uncertainties. It also created forward-thinking opportunities.
Teachers College has a responsibility to explore and uncover the far reaches of educational and pedagogical possibilities that will strengthen the world’s ability to respond to new challenges and effect positive change. We have a moral imperative to lead the way in addressing inequality.
To meet this challenge, we have first turned inward, with the goal of evaluating and refining the College’s own structures in order to empower its students, faculty, staff, alumni, partners and external constituents in practice.
When I became president of the College in 2018, I envisioned five Strategic Priorities that would not only help us to realize TC’s vision of combating the vast health, education and economic disparities that afflict our society, but also help us to thrive as an institution:
As I have completed my first five-year term, I am proud of what we have accomplished and I am eager to continue to build on this foundation to demonstrate impact well beyond the campus.
We aim to deliver the teaching, research and educational experience that most effectively meets the needs of our constituencies and maximizes impact on the public good.
Building the optimal academic organization will create a strong foundation for an enriched faculty and student experience, boost program excellence and impact for the public good and enable TC to grow and thrive as an institution into the future.
We aim to reinforce TC’s foundational commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion through its policies, training, outreach, campus development and other mechanisms that position the College to model the type of anti-racist community and broader society we want to build and foster.
TC’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will develop and cultivate a diverse community where each individual is supported to meet their potential, and in turn, will help to lead the fight against systemic racism and advance social justice for all.
We aim to assess, understand and refine the student pathway experience, such that each step along a student’s educational path offers robust, coordinated and highly effective systems of support that enable student success and promised outcomes.
Providing comprehensive support to students throughout their academic experience and beyond will help to ensure TC students and alumni reach their full potential, and will create a pipeline of exceptional candidates for employers in the education, health and psychology sectors.
We aim to strengthen the College’s research infrastructure to facilitate the flow of resources to TC, promote faculty success and productivity and provide students with financial support and rich learning experiences, which will magnify the impact of the College’s research on policy and practice to address and solve societal challenges.
By bolstering our research enterprise we will bring more resources to the College, offer more opportunities and financial support for our students, and boost the impact of our faculty research, which in turn, will magnify the impact of the College’s research on policy and practice.
We aim to situate the College at the forefront of pedagogic innovation, advancing the intersections of education and technology such that our faculty and students are equipped with — and influence — the latest scholastic approaches, and are positioned as visionaries in this space.
By integrating and harnessing our collective firepower in digital pedagogy and research, the Digital Futures Institute will position Teachers College not only to better serve the needs of our students and faculty, but also to lead the way in driving digital innovation throughout higher education and the broader public.
Share your feedback or questions via email at TCGeneration@tc.columbia.edu.
Interested in supporting TC’s work to create a smarter, healthier and more equitable world?