After being folded into a new office and undergoing a complete staff overhaul, the Office of Fellowships is finally on its feet and ready to assist students in applying for academic prizes.
Prior to this year, Michael Pippenger served as the first associate dean of fellowships. But in June, after his appointment as the first dean of global programs and the resignation of the only other full-time staff member in the Office of Fellowships, the office began a national search for two new professionals.
In January, a semester after the office was incorporated into the Office of Global Programs, Paul Bohlmann, assistant dean of fellowship programs, and Therese Workman, program coordinator for fellowship programs, were hired.
“I think we are very fortunate to be in a position now where we have two staff members who are devoted fully and solely to fellowships,” said Pippenger, who was fulfilling the responsibilities of both his old and new position from June to the arrival of the new staff members.
Erik Nook, CC ’12, who has applied to the Rhodes, Marshall, and Kellett scholarships, said that despite this readjustment, the transition was so seamless that he never would have known there were any changes to the office if he had not been told.
“The services that he [Pippenger] provided me didn’t change at all, so that was probably the most remarkable thing to me,” Nook said. “He stayed with me and followed through with me on the entire process.”
Although both Workman and Bohlmann said they were still settling in, they’ve already begun holding office hours and many students have been stopping by.
“It’s been really exciting for me, they are coming asking all sorts of great questions,” Bohlmann said.
Pippenger said that despite the lack of staff in the office prior to January, Columbia has a “full slate” of candidates for the scholarships this year.
“I know that the people who are there [working in the office] are people who are going to make sure that it does a really great job,” Nook said.
Bohlmann comes to Columbia after spending the last 16 years as director of fellowships at Harvard.
“Part of the attraction was the visions for the office. … Becoming bigger and better and more well-known on campus—it was really exciting to me,” he said.
In his role at Harvard, Bohlmann was responsible for managing educational programs and the application process for fellowship competitions, tasks similar to those of his new position.
Workman is returning to Columbia after spending time in Portland, Maine as a learning specialist. When she was at Columbia, she worked with the Learning and Development team. Before that, she served as an advisor in the Foreign Fulbright Programs Division at the Institute of International Education.
“As soon as I left, I was trying to get back to Columbia,” Workman said. “I think it’s important to be at a place where people are thriving academically and, in terms of workplaces, it’s a great place to work too.”
“We all serve the same purpose and visions and goal, which is of course to help a student really identify what they’re passionate about and just to really keep that fire lit in a student all the way through their undergraduate experience and beyond,” Workman said.
Pippenger said the reorganization under the Office of Global Programs will strengthen the Office of Fellowships and increase the support it can provide to students.
“The connection between international education and fellowships is a rich one that we can tap into more fully by being all in one place,” Pippenger said, pointing out that international study abroad experience makes applicants, even to domestic fellowships, more interesting and attractive candidate.
Anna Feuer, CC ’11, who won a Marshall scholarship and is currently studying at Oxford, described the office as an “incredibly friendly resource at Columbia.”
“I definitely could not have done it without their help,” she said.
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