All students are strongly encouraged to consult their academic adviser before making any decisions regarding their Core registration.

Students register for Core classes on-line during the regular registration period (please be advised that incoming Columbia College students are pre-registered for Literature Humanities and either Frontiers of Science or University Writing in their first semester.

Students who are unable to effect changes in their Core registration via on-line registration, can do so by filing petitions at the Center for the Core Curriculum during the Core Registration Petitions period.

The Core Registration Petitions period runs concurrent with Change of Program period but ends earlier. It runs from the first Tuesday of classes to the following Monday. The last day to ADD a Core class will be that Monday. The last day to DROP a Core class is the Friday of the second week of classes. For the current semester, here are those dates:

Core Registration Calendar, Spring 2010

University Writing Petitions Date: Friday January 15, 2010

11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Please go directly to the University Writing office in 310 Philosophy Hall.

About University Writing Section Changes

Students will only be accomodated in the case of schedule conflicts with other Core courses or required classes or similar obligation. Students cannot be guaranteed a section change: it will be allowed only if there is space available. Sections of University Writing will not be oversubscribed.

Core Registration Petitions Period: January 19  to January 25,  2010

During this time, students may file petitions to add or change sections of Literature Humanities, Contemporary Civilization, African Civilization, Art Humanities, Music Humanities, Frontiers of Science (students should visit the appropriate departmental offices for issues regarding the Science, Global and Foreign Language requirements).

Last day to ADD a Core Class: Monday January 25, 2010

After this date students MAY NOT add a Core class. Students with questions and concerns should see their academic advisers.

Last day to DROP a Core Class: Friday January 29, 2010 by 5 PM

After this date students MAY NOT drop their Core classes. Students with questions and concerns should see their academic advisers. This Core Drop Date happens much earlier than the regular drop date, so it is imperative that students keep this deadline in mind as they work out their schedules.

Important Additional Information

Deferring Frontiers of Science until the Sophomore Year

Prospective science majors who in their first year are enrolled in: Literature Humanities, a Mathematics course, a language course at the Elementary II level or above and one of the following science major sequences:

• CHEM C3045-C3046
• PHYS C1601-C1602
• PHYS C2801-C2802

may petition the Committee on Science Instruction to postpone taking Frontiers until their sophomore year. Students wishing to do so should go to the Office of the Dean, 208 Hamilton Hall.

Important Additional Information regarding Spring registration

Literature Humanities and Contemporary Civilization

Students enrolled in Lit Hum and CC in the Fall will have their registration automatically rolled over into the Spring semester by the Registrar. Students wishing to switch sections of Lit Hum and CC in the Spring may do so through the regular petition process (see above).

Frontiers of Science

Students who did not take Frontiers in the fall will be automatically registered for the lecture (SCNC 1000) in the spring. However, students must register themselves for their Frontiers of Science discussion sections or SCNC 1100.

University Writing

Students who did not take University Writing in the fall must register themselves for a section of University Writing for the spring.

Student Attendance

Students are expected to attend every session of their Core classes. In the event that a student must miss a class due to religious observance, illness, or family emergency, instructors may strongly encourage (though not require) that students complete additional assignments to make up for missed class participation. Unless the emergency or illness does not permit them to do so, students are required to provide advance notice of absence and to get instructor permission. Instructors may require a doctor's note in case of illness. Students who miss class without instructor permission should expect to have their grade lowered.

Core instructors have discretion as to the specifics of their invidual attendance requirements within these general parameters. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with their specific instructor's expectations and requirements (all Core instructors outline attendance and grading policies on their class syllabus).
Please see the University Policy on Religious Holidays for further details.

Faculty Statement on Academic Integrity

The intellectual venture in which we are all engaged requires of faculty and students alike the highest level of personal and academic integrity. As members of an academic community, each one of us bears the responsibility to participate in scholarly discourse and research in a manner characterized by intellectual honesty and scholarly integrity.

Scholarship, by its very nature, is an iterative process, with ideas and insights building one upon the other. Collaborative scholarship requires the study of other scholars' work, the free discussion of such work, and the explicit acknowledgement of those ideas in any work that inform our own. This exchange of ideas relies upon a mutual trust that sources, opinions, facts, and insights will be properly noted and carefully credited.

In practical terms, this means that, as students, you must be responsible for the full citations of others' ideas in all of your research papers and projects; you must be scrupulously honest when taking your examinations; you must always submit your own work and not that of another student, scholar, or internet agent.

Any breach of this intellectual responsibility is a breach of faith with the rest of our academic community. It undermines our shared intellectual culture, and it cannot be tolerated. Students failing to meet these responsibilities should anticipate being asked to leave Columbia.

For more information on academic integrity at Columbia, please see the College and University Policies section of the on-line Bulletin (this link opens up a new browser window), and Facts About Columbia Essential to Students (FACETS).

Note to Core Faculty

Core faculty who suspect a student of academic dishonesty should contact the Center for the Core immediately.