Friday, September 26, 2025

Senior Thesis Working Group!

Want to get a head start on your senior thesis? 

Come to our stress-reducing support group and share the thesis writing experience with classmates. The kick-off event will be next Friday, October 3rd at 1PM in the CEP (Milstein Center 126.) 

This will be the first of many meetings, full of snacks, drinks, and prizes! 

If you have any questions you can contact the program coordinators Alexa and Allie at aeaster@barnard.edu and ajohnsto@barnard.edu

Graduating after this semester? You must apply to graduate! -- DEADLINE = DEC 10

 

 
If you are planning to complete your degree requirements this semester, it’s time for you to apply to graduate.
 
NOTE: While we call this an application, it is just a brief form to get you on all the right lists to be considered for graduation and get your cap and gown.  As long as you know your name, major, expected grad date, and mailing address, you can submit this form today!
 
Deadline for February grads: December 10

To have your degree awarded, you must apply to graduate (even if you do not plan to attend commencement ceremonies).  

You can log in directly to student planning and access the Graduation Application from the main menu.
OR

portal.barnard.edu --> Graduation tab

If you expect to finish requirements this semester, apply for Winter 2026 graduation.

After submitting the form successfully, you will see an on-screen confirmation page -- there is no confirmation email.

If you are not planning to graduate this year, please complete this form so that we can update your record.

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Empirical Reasoning Center (ERC) Workshops!

The Empirical Reasoning Center is hosting several workshops on the upcoming Fridays. Please see what is being offered below:

SQL Workshop

Join us for a SQL workshop this Friday! Build your resume skills by learning to write SQL queries to retrieve and analyze data. Whether you’re strengthening career skills or just curious about new ways to work with data, there’s something here for you.

RSVP here
Date: Friday, September 26 at 12 PM
Location: Milstein 102

R Workshop

Join us for a series of R workshops! As we wrapped up our first intro to R last Friday, we are ready to dive into how to use dplyr to clean, analyze, and visualize your datasets! If you were not able to attend our first workshop, you can watch the recording here

Data Analysis in R: RSVP here
Date: Friday, October 3rd at 10:30 AM
Location: Milstein 102

Data Visualization in R: RSVP here
Date: Friday, October 10th at 10:30 AM
Location: Milstein 102

QGIS Workshop

Want to turn raw data into beautiful, interactive maps? Join us for a series of QGIS workshops! Learn QGIS to create maps and visualize your data spatially. No previous experience required. 

Intro to QGIS: RSVP here
Date: Friday, September 26 at 10:30 AM
Location: Milstein 102

Intermediate QGIS: RSVP here
Date: Friday, October 10th at 12 PM
Location: Milstein 102

Excel Workshop

Excel is more than a spreadsheet - join us for an Excel workshop in intermediate data analysis. Perfect for anyone working on research projects, internships, or student org budgets. If you were not able to attend our introductory workshop, you can watch the recording here

Intermediate Data Analysis in Excel: RSVP here
Date: Friday, October 3rd at 12 PM
Location: Milstein 102

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

How to drop a class by the Oct 7 deadline

Friday, 9/12/2025 was the deadline to add a class, but you can still drop up to the October 7 deadline (after the drop deadline, you can withdraw with a W on or before November 13)


Follow the easy online steps below to drop a class on or before the deadline. 

1. Contact your adviser to discuss and obtain their approval

Best practice is to have an advising conversation where you discuss options and any possible implications of this drop on your full-time status or your graduation progress, but depending on how much you and your adviser have already discussed things, they may agree to review and approve your form without such a meeting

2. Submit the online Drop Request Form

You will only be able to drop online if your adviser has granted this permission. Be sure that you are not attempting to drop below 12 credits unless approved via CARDS or as a final-semester senior  -- the system will not allow drop below 12 credits without additional approval.

 

3. As soon as your adviser grants permission, you will receive an email informing you that you have permission to drop the class(es) discussed.

While this adviser permission is for the specific class you request, functionally it reopens your ability to drop in general, so be sure to drop the right class and nothing else.

 

4. Log into Vergil to drop the class within two days and on or before the October 7 deadline.*

If you don't drop within the 2-day window, you will need to request permission again. 

*Note that you must drop on or before the drop deadline if you want the class removed from your transcript.

 

FAQ: I filled out the form and it was approved. Why is the class still on my record?

A: The form/permission does NOT drop you from the class; it just temporarily reopens your ability to drop a class yourself -- don't forget to do step 4 above!

 

FAQ: I dropped the class and it was removed from my transcript, and I just noticed that it is mysteriously back there now?!?! 

A: This is rare, but there is a known technical glitch that sometimes causes this to happen. If you notice a previously dropped class has returned to your schedule, please email registrar@barnard.edu.  

 

FAQ: I heard graduating seniors can take fewer than 12 credits in their last semester if they don't need 12. Why won't the drop form let me do that?

A: There is a separate process to request this permission. See recent blog post for directions and link.

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

2025 Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Conference!

Columbia Engineering is happy to invite interested Barnard students to join the Engineering 2025 Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Conference taking place on Thursday, October 9th, 2025 from 8:30AM - 3:00PM in the Davis Auditorium at the Columbia University, Morningside Campus!

This annual event aims to educate and inspire women from all backgrounds to pursue graduate degrees and careers in science and engineering. It offers a unique opportunity for attendees to learn about the challenges, opportunities, and rewards of being a woman in these fields. Additionally, students will have the chance to expand their networks within the Columbia Engineering community and beyond, connecting with some of the brightest and most ambitious women in science and engineering. This experience will further empower you to make an impact as the next generation of leaders!

You can register for the event through this link and find the agenda!

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to Ying Xu, Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions at Columbia Engineering, at yx2783@columbia.edu

Thursday, September 18, 2025

The Barnard Writing and Speaking Center is Open!

 


We are excited to announce that the Writing and Speaking Center is open! Now, you can begin scheduling appointments to meet with our fellows.


The Center is here to support you at any stage of your writing or speaking projects—whether you’re brainstorming, drafting, revising, or preparing a presentation!


Writing Fellows are generous and critical readers who ask questions to help writers clarify, explain, expand, and explore their writing. We believe–and our practice reflects–that every piece a writer brings us belongs to the voice of the writer. We are active and interested observers. 


Speaking Fellows are trained peers who support students in all speaking-related projects and processes. This includes helping students overcome fears about speaking in public, preparing for presentations, facilitating or participating in classroom discussions, and more!


Science Writing Fellows are a subset of the Writing Fellows program. They support all students in developing tools to describe and interpret data, use scientific language clearly and concisely, and blend the skills learned in humanities classes with scientific ones. 


Creative Writing Fellows are a new subset of the Writing Fellows program. They support students working on creative writing of any form at any stage –brainstorming, revising, editing, receiving feedback, and more!


All fellows can work with all types of writing and students. You can make an appointment here


We look forward to working with you this semester!


Sincerely,


Pam Cobrin (pcobrin@barnard.edu)

Director, Barnard Writing Fellows Program


Daniela Kempf (dkempf@barnard.edu)

Associate Director, Barnard Speaking Program


Alex Watson (awatson@barnard.edu)

Associate Director, Barnard Writing Fellows Program


Diya Reddy (dkr2126@barnard.edu)

Program Administrator, Barnard Writing and Speaking Programs


Maisha Alam (malam@barnard.edu)

Science Fellow Coordinator, Barnard Writing Fellows Program

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Looking up courses by Mode of Thinking in the Searchable Foundations list? PRO TIP: Upperclass students should NOT use the "@BC" option

If you're using the searchable Foundations list as a junior or senior, be careful when searching for a Mode of Thinking 

Pro Tip: Be sure you're using the second list in the dropdown menu.  As a junior or senior, you are still permitted to take your Modes at either Barnard or Columbia and should use the search option with just the name of the Mode, without @BC (e.g. "Quantitatively and Empirically, not "Quantitatively and Empirically @BC") -- this will return both Columbia and Barnard classes.


The first list, which has @BC after the name of each Mode (e.g. "Quantitatively and Empirically @BC"), returns only Barnard courses -- and is what new first-years and future students will need, as they need to complete all the modes of thinking at Barnard.  


If you're already registered for a class, it should appear correctly in your degree audit based on your class year. 

Monday, September 15, 2025

Senior-Year FACT OR FICTION: Can't change your major in your final semester?


Welcome to a new series, Senior-Year FACT OR FICTION, wherein we address persistent rumors about credits, graduation, rules, exceptions, etc. so that you can distinguish Senior FACT from Senior FICTION.  

Heard a rumor and want to know if it's true?  Submit requests for this series to SeniorClassDean@barnard.edu

FACT OR FICTION:
Is it true that graduating seniors cannot change their major during their last semester?


YES; this is FACT. In general, graduating seniors cannot change their majors in their final semester.

There are just a few possible exceptions:
  • You may change from a double major to a single major if you will be unable to complete one of the two majors.
  • You may change your concentration within a major (e.g. from a general biology major to Cellular Molecular Biology).
  • If you believe you have an extremely good reason or extenuating circumstance that warrants changing your major in your final semester, you may petition the Committee on Programs and Academic Standing. Such petitions may or may not be successful. Meet with your class dean to discuss. 
  • Related: You may add a minor in your final semester if you have already completed or are in the process of completing all the minor requirements this semester. If you are working on an undeclared minor, please file the minor declaration ASAP. Deadline to declare a minor is March 1.



Heard a rumor and want to know if it's true?  Submit requests for this series to SeniorClassDean@barnard.edu


**NEW PROCESS** You can request permission to late-add in Vergil this 3rd week only!

During this 3rd week of classes, students can request a late add into courses using the approval workflow in Vergil.

When looking at the course information, instead of the Register or Join Waitlist buttons, you will now see a “Request Add” button:





If you request to add, it will be routed to the course’s instructor as well as the Registrar Office for approval.
 

If approved, you will need to go in and confirm registration to be added

Students can see the status of their requests from the “My Registration Requests” on the Vergil homepage. 



Research Funding Opportunities For Barnard Seniors!

Hello Seniors!


We wanted to share information about two funding opportunities for Barnard seniors!


The Lucyle Hook Travel Grant provides funding for travel related to research for the Barnard senior thesis.


The CJC for the Arts Grant provides funding for expenses related to senior theses or other independent projects in film, studio art, dance, theater, or related fields.

Electronic applications and full grant information are available at the links above, and are both due on November 10th, 2025.  

Students interested are encouraged to make an appointment with Dean Siegel (or stop by walk-in hours) as strongly advised to do so before submitting an application. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to her directly at esiegel@barnard.edu

2022 Museum Grants and Funding Opportunities – Gallery Systems