Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Resources

AFFINITY-BASED RESOURCES

For Black Folx

Please refer to this working document for a list of resources that will be periodically updated by the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

For Asian Pacific Islander Folx

Please refer to this working document for a list of resources that will be periodically updated by the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

For Indigenous Folx

Please refer to this working document for a list of resources that will be periodically updated by the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

For Latinx Folx

Please refer to this working document for a list of resources that will be periodically updated by the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

For LGBTQIA+ Folx

Please refer to this working document for a list of resources that will be periodically updated by the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

REPORTING & SUPPORT: CSSW

Affinity Groups Support Spaces (ODEI)

The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion facilitates weekly Support Spaces for all Black, Indigenous, People of Color folx at CSSW, with the goals for creating a space that allows for processing and peer support among folx who may carry shared identities and shared experiences.

Contact: Zoom (BIPOC)
Meeting times: Fall semester (Wed., 4:30-5:30 p.m. ET) *For all Black, Indigenous, People of Color at CSSW.

Office Hours (ODEI)

The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion hosts weekly virtual office hours to support students’ success in remote learning environments. The DEI staff will be present to answer any questions, listen to concerns, and to share resources.

Contact: Virtual (Zoom) & In-person (Room 531 & 533) | Email Dean Lowe
Meeting time: Fall Semester (Tues. & Thur., 12-2 p.m. ET) *One-on-one first come, first served with waiting room

The Office of Advising

The Office of Advising supports students’ graduate success. Each student is assigned an advisor who is the ‘point person’ for their first and final year at CSSW. The advisor approaches the student’s education from a holistic perspective, considering academics, field education and life issues that may impact the students’ graduate school performance.

Contact: Email | Main Page

The Office of Enrollment and Student Services

The Office of Enrollment and Student Services helps students with course registration, cross-registration, transfer credits, summer session scheduling, providing policies on schedule changes, disability accommodations and much more.

Contact: Email | Main Page | Disability Services

BIPOC Staff & Instructors Directory

The Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Staff & Instructors Directory is an opt-in affinity-based resource of administrators, staff, faculty/instructors, and doctoral students. Community members must make written requests for access, and the DEI office will share based on the members’ contact preferences (i.e. invitation to participate in events, requests to serve as facilitators/moderators, 1-on-1 mentorship, personal advice/support, etc.)

Contact: Requests | Join the Directory

Stella Koltunov

Stella Koltunov, a licensed clinical social worker, is currently employed as a staff clinician and intern coordinator at New York Behavioral Health. She received her master’s from NYU’s Silver School of Social Work in 2011 and has been practicing psychotherapy in the community ever since. She provides individual, couples, and family therapy to individuals of various ages and cultural backgrounds. She has experience working with survivors of interpersonal trauma and utilizes techniques to administer trauma-informed care.

Stella uses a collaborative and strength-based approach to allow her clients to not only manage their symptoms effectively but improve the overall quality of their lives and relationships. She encourages her clients to develop deep insights and utilize supports to promote positive lasting change. She calls upon a variety of evidence-based therapies, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and motivational interviewing, to tailor the course of treatment to each client’s individual needs.

Financial Support

Students experiencing acute financial hardships may request emergency funding from the Office of Financial Aid. Funding is limited and requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, as funding is available. Also, current students who need assistance with an outstanding student account balance may apply for funding through the Current Student Appeal Form. For more information, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.

Email | Main Page | Emergency Funding Request Form | Current Student Appeal Form

REPORTING & SUPPORT: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA)

Confidential resource

The Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA) works to prevent and respond to discrimination and discriminatory harassment by developing and implementing policies and procedures that address discrimination, harassment, gender-based misconduct, consensual relationships, the duty to report and the duty to act, and by enforcing relevant federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws.

Contact: 212-854-5511 | Main Page | Form

Sexual Violence Response

Confidential resource

The Sexual Violence Response provides trauma-informed, confidential support through crisis counseling/intervention, advocacy, prevention, and outreach.

Contact: 212-854-4357 (24/7) | 212-854-3500 | Main Page

Sexual Respect and Community Citizenship Initiative (SRI)

The Sexual Respect and Community Citizenship Initiative invites you to examine the link between sexual respect and membership in the Columbia community. Created by students along with faculty and administrators, the Initiative asks each of us to do what we can to promote a campus culture that reinforces sexual respect and unequivocally rejects sexual harassment, sexual assault and other forms of gender-based misconduct, and empowers students to know where and when to get help.

Contact: Main Page | Student Rights

The Ombuds Office

Confidential resource

Independent of University Administration, the Ombuds Office serves as a confidential and informal resource for students, staff, and faculty, who may have a University-related concern–active-listening, negotiation, mediation, facilitation, conflict coaching, resolution.

Contact: 212-854-1234 | Main Page

The Office of the University Chaplain

Confidential resource

The Office of the University Chaplain offers virtual confidential pastoral counseling and care–faith-based, spirituality, pastoral care.

Contact: 212-666-7770 | Email | Main Page

The Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS)

Confidential resource

The Counseling and Psychological Services supports the psychological and emotional well-being of the Columbia community–counseling, virtual support spaces, online coping tools.

Contact: 212-854-2878 (24/7) | Main Page | Support Groups | Coping Tools

The Food Pantry at Columbia

Confidential resource

The Food Pantry at Columbia is open to any student within any of the 20 Schools within Columbia University – undergraduate or graduate, full-time or part-time. Any student who has any level of food insecurity can reach out to the Food Pantry to get a disbursement catered to your individual dietary and household needs. All students can feel rest assured that any information they provide to us will remain within the Food Pantry and will not be shared with anyone outside of the Food Pantry without their explicit permission.

Contact: Email | Main Page
Open Hours: 5th Floor Lerner Hall 2920 Broadway (Tues. & Fri., 3-6 p.m. ET) | 50 Haven Avenue (Mon., 7-9 p.m. ET, Tues., 4-6 p.m. ET, Fri., 3-6 p.m. ET) | 125 LeFrak Center Barnard Hall (Temporarily closed)

ACTION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: CSSW

Action for Black Lives Initiative (ABL @Action Lab for Social Justice)

The Action for Black Lives Initiative is a student-run organization established to bring together social workers and communities in action to build a just and equitable society where Black people can thrive free of oppression, fear, and violence.

Contact: Email | Email Ovita Williams | Email Naomi Mae Wright | Main Page

Professional Development & Self-Awareness Workshops (PDSA @ODEI)

PDSA recognizes that forms of oppression often lead to the pain and silencing of many students, faculty and administrators. PDSA understands that there are many students, faculty and administrators that consistently work to achieve these goals, and supports these existing efforts by providing grants, administrative resources, and spaces for significant discussions and actions to occur. PDSA supports CSSW in upholding the connection between social work and social justice.

Contact: Email | Email Mikaela Berry | Email Kadence Mitchell | Main Page

The Space for Uprooting Whiteness Group (SfUW)

Weekly space where white-identified/-identifying social work staff/administrators/faculty examine and uproot their relationship to white supremacy and domination. The SfUW was founded on three principles: 1) provide a space for white people to interrogate (their own) whiteness without the normative reliance on the labor of BIPOC; 2) support folks in building everyday practices of considering and confronting their own racial positionality and role in sociopolitical systems of white racism; and 3) challenge staff/administrators/faculty to engage in these (antiracist) practices in their everyday and intimate lives where whiteness and racism normatively exist without any thought or challenge.

Contact: Email Susan Witte
Meeting times: Mon., 9-10:00 a.m. ET

DEI Glossary of Terms

Here are 100 common terms you may see or hear used in class, during discussions, and at your field placements. Of course, there are many beyond those included below, and the vastly complex terms are simplified in definitions for initial digestion with the call for ongoing learning and understanding.

Link: DEI Glossary 2022

DEI Media Archives

Find fully captioned video recordings of previous events – lectures, workshops, conversations, celebrations – hosted by our office as well as the student-led Professional Development & Self-Awareness (PDSA) initiative. We encourage you to engage with the content with intention, and hope that the wisdoms may inform your deeper understanding of current events and issues related to power, race, oppression and privilege.

Link: Media Archives

2016 Demands List (updated April 2016)

The 2016 Demands List can be found here.

ACTION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

The Office of Multicultural Affairs Identity & Inclusion Series (OMA @Columbia College)

The Identity & Inclusion Series is a set of interactive diversity and inclusion workshops on building a socially conscious community, including CU Safety Zone training on building solidarity with LGBTQ+ communities, unconscious bias training, and anti-racism training for staff.

Contact: Main Page

The Office of University Life Inclusion and Belonging

The Office of University Life facilitates university-wide programming and initiatives centering inclusion and belonging including commitment to anti-racism, the Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging, and resources for anti-Black violence, LGTBQ+ communities, and for DACA and undocumented students.

Contact: Main Page