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Cornell University

Office of the Dean of Faculty

Connecting & Empowering Faculty

1. Organization of the University

Section 1.1Departments, Colleges, and Campuses
Section 1.2Central Administration
Section 1.3Assemblies
Section 1.4University and RTE Faculties

1.1 Departments, Colleges, and Campuses

Cornell has campuses, colleges, and schools. Within those are numerous departments. Cornell also has fields of study, and numerous labs, institutes and centers.

As a private university, Cornell operates four state-assisted “contract” colleges pursuant to the authority set forth in Article 115 of the New York Education Law: the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Human Ecology, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and the College of Veterinary Medicine. The remaining units on campus are endowed: the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Graduate School, Cornell Law School and the S. C. Johnson College of Business. New York City is the location of two additional endowed units, Weill Cornell Medical College, situated in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and Cornell Tech, located on Roosevelt Island. The statutory charter of the university delegates the administration of all schools and colleges – “contract” as well as “endowed” – to the Board of Trustees.

The Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station in Ithaca, and Cornell Cooperative Extension, administered from Ithaca but with an network of agents and offices throughout the state, are associated primarily with the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Human Ecology. The School of Industrial and Labor Relations Extension Division has offices and training facilities in the major metropolitan areas of the state where instruction is offered in human resource management, labor relations, and related subjects to practitioners in the field. Finally, the university maintains regional field offices in some of the major metropolitan areas of the country to assist in activities related to recruiting and admission of students, alumni affairs, fund-raising, and development efforts.

1.2 Central Administration

Senior Leadership Directory highlights the domains of the Vice Presidents and Vice Provosts and their respective units.

Organizational charts give a more detailed look at the reporting structure.

1.3 Assemblies

Faculty, students, and staff are represented through assemblies. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and employees contribute to campus governance through these assemblies:

In addition, there is a University Assembly (UA) with overarching responsibilities. The Office of the Assemblies provides support for the SA, GPSA, EA, and UA.

Historical Notes

The structure of the campus government system has undergone a number of transformations.  A university senate was established in 1970 and was replaced by a campus council in 1977. During the 1979-80 academic year, a special committee made a study of campus governance and proposed alternatives that were submitted to referendum in the fall of 1980. The resulting charters were subsequently approved by the Board of Trustees, and the current system took effect in 1981. It was comprised of three assemblies: the Employee Assembly, the University Assembly, and the Student Assembly. In the spring of 1993, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GPSA) split from the Student Assembly. The GPSA formed its own charter and received approval from the Board of Trustees.

The Employee Assembly is composed of elected nonacademic employee representatives from the endowed units, the contract units, and one chosen from either the Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station or at large. The term of service is two years. The Employee Assembly has the authority to examine the university’s personnel policies and to make recommendations to the appropriate university units and administrators concerning those policies; to examine other university policies affecting the employment environment at Cornell and to make recommendations to the appropriate agents; and to provide a mechanism for the informal exchange of information and views between employees and university administrators.

The University Assembly is composed of students, faculty members, and staff. Faculty and staff members serve for two years; student members serve for one year. The University Assembly has authority for those aspects of the conduct of members of Cornell University covered by the Campus Code of Conduct and the Statement of Student Rights; has the responsibility for selection of members of the Hearing and Review Boards; has legislative authority over policies which guide the activities of the Cornell Store, Cornell Health: Cornell University Health Services, Transportation Services, and Cornell United Religious Work; and has authority over matters concerning the internal operation and maintenance of the University Assembly governing system.  It conducts public hearings on topics of current community interest; makes recommendations to the University Faculty in academic matters; and may establish such standing and ad hoc committees as are necessary to the performance of the duties of the University Assembly.

The Student Assembly is composed of elected representatives who are registered students and who serve for one year. The Student Assembly has authority over certain nonacademic policies that primarily affect students. Specifically, it has legislative authority, subject to the approval of the president, over the policies of the Department of Campus Life and the Office of the Dean of Students, as well as the authority to review the budgets and actions of those units.

1.4 University and RTE Faculties

University Faculty is established by Article XIII of the University Bylaws (in the footer of Office of the Board of Trustees website) and includes those with the following titles:

  • Professor
  • Associate Professor
  • Assistant Professor
  • University Professor
  • Professor-at-Large

Research-Teaching-Extension (RTE) Faculty include those with the following titles:

  • Professor-of-the-Practice (all ranks)
  • Clinical Professor (all ranks)
  • Research Professor (all ranks)
  • Librarian (all ranks)
  • Archivist (all ranks)
  • Lecturer and Senior Lecturer
  • Research Associate and Senior Research Associate
  • Extension Associate and Senior Extension Associate
  • Instructor and Teaching Associate
  • Visiting Critic, Visiting Scientist, Visiting Scholar, Visiting Fellow
  • Senior Scholar and Senior Scientist
  • Research Scientist and Principal Research Scientist