Jonathan Cole

"Just as Columbia has historically been a leader in the scientific revolutions of the 20th and 21st centuries, we have a critical role to play in the information revolution being created through the use of new digital media. The consequences of our three-part strategy are already apparent at the University and beyond. On campus, these new tools for our faculty enable great teachers to become still greater. When our teachers see what is possible for our students through the new digital media, they become excited about the possibilities. A year or two ago, only a small handful of early adopters used these new tools. Today, more than 1,000 of Columbia's faculty (with the help of a highly professional technical staff familiar with the possibilities for the new media) are using these mechanisms with their students. Moreover, the use of new digital media has advanced rapidly Columbia's strategic goal of cross-disciplinary collaborations. It is now not uncommon to see an art historian or classics professor collaborating with computer scientists, engineers, or anthropologists to produce research projects and new digital content of very high quality. And, these new media further another institutional objective: to form joint ventures with other universities and cultural institutions that will combine the unique talents of those institutions to bring high-quality digital content to the educated communities of the world. Thus, the many strings in our digital bow have helped us establish a leadership role in the revolution taking place in accessing and producing high-quality knowledge."

- Jonathan Cole
Provost and Dean of Faculties
John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University