by Tarang Jain

While all eyes were on Columbia University at the start of the Fall 2024 semester, in light of the student protests last spring, students at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) were faced with a different crisis. During the final week of August, just days before classes began, students received an email stating that some of the courses they had registered for were being canceled due to low enrollment. 

Under this policy, a total of 11 courses were canceled. While the administration claims that this policy was always in place, most students—especially those entering their second year—were caught off-guard. According to The Morningside Post (TMP) sources, while the contracts of adjunct professors do stipulate minimum enrolment requirements, some of these contracts lacked specific numbers, leaving ambiguity about what constitutes “minimum enrollment.” More significantly, the enforcement of this policy had not been so stringent in previous years. Some of the students TMP spoke to revealed that they have previously taken classes with as low as 5 students.  

For some students, the sudden cancellations disrupted their academic schedules. For Sana Asif Ahmad (MPA ‘24), the cancellation of Cyberspace in Strategy and Grand Strategy affected her ability to meet the 12-credit minimum required to maintain a full-time student status. For others, the policy’s opaque implementation raised several questions. Why wasn’t this policy communicated to the students before the registration period? Why were courses canceled mid-registration? And why was the enrolment threshold set at 15 students? 

In response to these concerns, Hazel May, the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, told TMP that the administration was working “to reintroduce [canceled courses] in future semesters.” The Academic Affairs committee also emphasized that SIPA offers 500+ courses during the academic year. Yet, it remains unclear how realistic it is for all 500+ courses to consistently meet the minimum enrollment cap of 15, especially when it is set to rise to 20 by Spring 2025. 

At the heart of this issue is not just the cancellations themselves but the lack of transparency and mismanagement in the way this information was communicated to the students and professors alike. According to TMP sources, some professors were only informed of the course cancellations a week before classes started. This last-minute communication to many of these professors, particularly adjuncts who have been affiliated with SIPA for decades, could damage SIPA’s reputation and undermine its relationship with long-standing faculty members. 

For students, this has added to the anxiety of planning their Spring semester. TMP reached out to some of the students, who revealed that the SIPA administration swiftly dismissed their petition to reinstate a canceled course, which had 15 student signatures. 

When asked whether budget cuts influenced the cancellations, Dean May said that course cancellations were unrelated to financial decisions. However, TMP has found that SIPA has not published an Annual Report detailing the school’s finances since 2021, raising further questions about transparency. 

Moreover, the course cuts do not seem to end with the fall courses. Race and Journalism, taught by Karen Attiah, a SIPA alum and a prominent editor and writer for the Washington Post, was canceled for the Spring 2025 semester despite having 22 students enrolled last Spring. Speaking to TMP, Karen described the cancellation of her course as a “cruel full-circle moment,” given that as a student at SIPA 14 years ago she herself was “concerned about the marginalizing of non-western perspectives” at SIPA. She added that as a black woman professor, she wanted to provide the students with perspectives on how “socially constructed notions of race and identity shape our view of international relations.” SIPA’s decision to cancel her course, which was hugely popular among students, raises further questions on how committed the administration is to maintaining the diversity of their course offerings. 

Anya Schiffrin, Director of Technology, Media and Communication (TMaC) Specialization at SIPA, wrote in her TMaC weekly newsletter that it was more important to understand why a particular course remained under-enrolled - “it could be timing, it could be a conflict with a required course, it could be a change in student demand, lack of publicity….”.  TMP contacted other Concentration and Specialisation directors, but none commented on the course cancellations. 

These cancellations raise concerns about SIPA’s academic offerings and spotlight deeper issues related to communication, decision-making, and transparency from the administration. A similar pattern was observed when SIPA announced the roll-out of its new curriculum, which left many incoming students with more questions than answers about how these changes would impact their studies.

Ultimately, these events call for a reassessment of SIPA’s commitment to its students and faculty. Without clear communication and transparency, the school risks eroding the trust essential to its community. If SIPA wishes to maintain its standing as a premier institution, it must address these structural shortcomings—before more students and faculty feel the impact.

Tarang Jain (MIA ‘25) is the Editor-in-Chief for The Morningside Post.