A Guide to Office of the Vice Provost for the Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact

The Office is building the infrastructure and partnerships to help Columbia leverage knowledge and research to create real-world impact and to serve the public good.

This work, which Columbia University considers its Fourth Purpose – complementing research, education, and public service – is highly interdisciplinary and requires collaboration with a range of entities.

Vice Provost Sam Sia was appointed in 2022 to help these important projects succeed.   

To do this, the Office aims to:

Strengthen collaborations

Build connections across Schools, Centers and Institutes on initiatives with social impact

Dissolve barriers to partnership

Dismantle obstacles to cross-disciplinary and multi-sector initiatives in research and education

Leverage research and scholarship

Work with partners to transform the University’s knowledge to societal, community, and global impact

Enhance opportunities for experiential learning

Support the development of opportunities for engaged learning through hands-on education and reflection

 

The Vice Provost for the Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact is often a resource for Deans, Directors of Centers and Institutes, and Deans of Research.

Our Goals

The Office builds connections for faculty, officers, and staff across Schools, Centers, and Institutes to collaborate on initiatives with social impact, especially in key thematic areas:

  • Health Equity: Achieve health and well-being for all, across lifespan, income, and geography

  • Social Justice and Resilient Democracy: Promote social justice and freedom of expression, and battle disinformation

  • Sustainability and Climate: Ensure a sustainable environment and planet for future generations

  • Pressing Issues: Current University projects to help the world recover from COVID-19, and to support war relief efforts in Ukraine

  • Society and Technology: Enable equitable uses of artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies.

The Office will work with University partners to dismantle barriers to cross-disciplinary and multi-sector initiatives in research and education. Activities include:

Appointments of Faculty and Officers

Working with Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, our Office will offer and facilitate University appointments for those working on Fourth Purpose initiatives.

Project Implementation


Working with Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and other University partners, our Office will identify and eliminate barriers for implementing projects with external non-research partners and ones with social and global impact.

Education

Working with Office of Academic Programs, our Schools and other University partners, our Office will enhance the opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in experiential learning and real-world leadership

Working with University partners, our Office will support the continuous learning and intellectual engagement with the public.

The Office will support our Schools, Centers, and Institutes in their work with external partners to transform the University’s knowledge to societal, community, and global impact. These partners include industry, government, non-profit organizations, and multinational agencies. 

The Office will help strengthen projects in areas including

  • Innovation and Entrepreneurship
    Working with Columbia Technology Ventures, Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, Columbia Entrepreneurship, and our Schools, our Office will facilitate our faculty and students to translate innovative ideas to commercialization and real-world impact

  • Global Impact
    Working with Columbia World Projects, Columbia Global Centers, Columbia Committee on Global Thought, and other University-level global initiatives, our Office will coordinate and support this work with those taking place across our Schools, Centers, and Institutes

  • Community Impact
    Working with Columbia’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs, Columbia’s Office of Government and Community Affairs, Columbia Community Advisory Council, and other University partners, our Office will deepen the University’s intellectual engagement with our neighboring communities in Upper Manhattan and New York City

RESOURCES

Our University Partners

 

Key Contacts

Sam Sia, Vice Provost for the Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact, [email protected]
Andrew Permaul, Administrative Manager, [email protected]