We are excited to gather at the Columbia University School of General Studies this spring for the 7th FGLI Consortium Annual Colloquium. Below is all of the information you will need for our time together. If you have any other questions, please send us an email at admin@fgliconsortium.org.

Colloquium Theme:  Belonging in Context 

Colloquium Theme:  Belonging in Context 

This November, the FGLI Consortium gathered at our annual conference to discuss the increasing scale of the FGLI student population on our campuses–and how we might continue to best meet their emerging needs. As FGLI student recruitment efforts change to promote this growth, an additional outcome has been the increasing diversification of our FGLI students community. For instance, many of our campuses now include larger numbers of FGLI military veterans, adult learners, international students, and students coming from rural areas. Thus, while our FGLI community may be united by their financial aid status, they are radically diverse in terms of their race, ethnicity, religion, citizenship, gender, sexuality, and even lived socioeconomic experiences.

In a moment of increased social polarization, when cross-identity interaction may be rare or stressful, we look to collaborative, cross-institutional scholarship by social psychologists Greg Walton, Mary Murphy, Rebecca Carey, Nicole Stephens, and others to help us better understand the potential positive outcomes of engagement across difference. As these scholars note, these interactions may in fact help promote belonging and engagement among our students–but only when they occur in supportive contexts. 

We will use these readings as a foundation for broader conversations about our own practice in community-building and institutional change. As we work to foster inclusive FGLI student communities, what are best practices for them to engage across their diverse identities? How can we support our FGLI students in connecting with continuing-generation, higher-income peers in ways that feel positive rather than disempowering? And, more broadly, how can we foster institutional climates that promote student belonging even during (and indeed through) conversations across difference.

Discussion Readings

We will center our discussions on two recently published articles:

Walton, Gregory M., et al. "Where and with whom does a brief social-belonging intervention promote progress in college?." Science 380.6644 (2023): 499-505.

Carey, Rebecca M., et al. "Is diversity enough? Cross-race and cross-class interactions in college occur less often than expected, but benefit members of lower status groups when they occur." Journal of personality and social psychology (2022).

Tips for Approaching the Readings

We are looking forward to diving into the recent (and robust!) scholarship around social belonging and the impact sense of belonging has on their academic experience. Since this work is late-breaking, these readings are two primary source journal articles from social science fields. In case this is helpful, we offer these tips for navigating each reading:

  • For the Walton, et al. (“Where and with whom…”) article, please feel free to skim the Results section beginning on page 3, and then pick back up with the Generalizability paragraph in the Results section on page 5. 

  • For the Carey, et al. (“Is Diversity Enough?...”) article, please feel free to skim the Results & Discussion section beginning on page 895, and then pick back up with the Disentangling Cross-Race & Cross-Class Interactions section on page 902.

Agenda and Location
All events (except for dinner) will take place in Butler Library, Room 203 on Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus located at Broadway and 116th Street in Manhattan. A map of Columbia University campus can be found at this link. Dinner will be held at Fumo restaurant, located at 2791 Broadway.

Thursday, March 7

  • 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. Check-in and light refreshments

  • 3:30 - 3:50 p.m. Host Welcome

  • 3:50 - 4:30 p.m. Consortium Welcome, Introductions, and Group Activity

  • 4:30 - 5:45 p.m. Reading Discussion

  • 5:45 - 6:15 p.m. Spotlight on Columbia University School of General Studies

  • 6:15 - 6:30 p.m. Transition to dinner

  • 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Dinner at Fumo, 2791 Broadway

Friday, March 8

  • 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast

  • 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Welcome and Group Activity

  • 9:30 - 10:45 a.m. Reading Discussion

  • 10:45 - 11:15 a.m. Break and group photo

  • 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Tricky Topics roundtable conversations

  • 12:45 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch

  • 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Action Planning

  • 2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Wrap-up and Good-byes

Accommodations

We have reserved a hotel block with a discounted rate of $199/night.

Book online with this link. The deadline to book has been extended to February 28, 2024.

Please note, the hotel shared with us that they are waiving the amenity fee for our guests, but their website will still show the room rate that includes the amenity fee. Guests will also see the amenity fee on the confirmation email, but the hotel will remove the fee once folks check out at the hotel.

  • Renaissance New York Harlem Hotel

  • 233 W. 125th Street

  • New York, NY 10027

The hotel is a 15 - 20 minute walk from Columbia University. Note that the route is slightly uphill. If you need support in getting from the hotel to campus, please let us know.

Public Transportation to Campus from Hotel 

OMNY is a contactless payment system using your contactless credit or debit card, smartphone, or wearable device to tap and go. You'll pay the same base fare — $2.90 — and still get free transfers.  Fare for most riders on subways and local, limited, and Select Bus Service buses: $2.90.

By subway:

  • MetroCards can be purchased at any subway station and the fare is $2.90 per ride. The #1 train stops at the Columbia University station at West 116th Street and Broadway.

  • The #1 train also stops at both Pennsylvania Station (34th Street) and the Port Authority BusTerminal (42nd Street). From Grand Central Station subway shuttle service (the S-train) is available to Times Square, where it is possible to transfer to the #1. The express (#2 & #3) stop at the 96th Street station where it is necessary to cross the platform and board the local. Visit the MTA website for up-to-date schedule and service information.

By bus:

  • Five bus lines (M4, M5, M11, M60, M104) serve the Columbia neighborhood. The M60 bus is a direct link between campus and LaGuardia Airport. The Columbia stop is 116th Street. The fare ($2.90) can be paid by MetroCard or OMNY Tap to pay.

  • The M60-SBS is the most direct form of transportation from the hotel to campus. MTA Bus Time shows real-time location of bus service.

Travel to NYC

By air:

  • LaGuardia Airport (LGA): 8 miles from campus (approximately 20 min to 45 min by car depending on traffic)

  • John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK): 17 miles from campus (approximately 30 min to 1 hour 20 min by car depending on traffic)

  • Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR): 26 miles from campus (approximately 40 min to 1 hour 30 min by car depending on traffic)

  • Curb New York City: Curb connects to almost every yellow and green cab across the five boroughs. Curb utilizes Upfront Pricing in New York City in order to provide price certainty and transparency to both riders and drivers alike. 

  • Uber/Lyft and other ride shares have surge pricing (higher fares) depending on availability of drivers.

By train:

By car:

  • Parking at Columbia is limited but information can be found at this link. 

  • Off-Site Parking for the hotel is at Laz Parking at 161 W 132nd Street (0.4 Miles from hotel).

Past Colloquia

Wesleyan University (2023)

Princeton University (2022)

Virtual Colloquium (2021)

Williams College (2019)

The University of Chicago (2018)

Northwestern University (2017)