Columbia Health

Alice! Health Promotion

Alice! Health Promotion recognizes that health is a vital part of learning and works to create and sustain a healthy campus community in which students can achieve their personal and academic goals. Alice! coordinates Stressbusters, CU Move, and Go Ask Alice!, a leading online health question-and-answer resource. Wien Hall, Main Floor; (212) 854-5453.

Counseling and Psychological Services

Counseling and Psychological Services supports the psychological and emotional well-being of the campus community by providing short-term individual counseling for students, couples counseling for students and their partners, student-life support groups, and medication consultations. Emergency consultations are available to the entire university community. Alfred Lerner Hall, 8th Floor; (212) 854-2878.

Disability Services

Disability Services facilitates equal access for students with disabilities by coordinating reasonable accommodations and support services, cultivating a campus culture that is sensitive and responsive to the needs of students.

Accommodations are adjustments to policies, practices, and procedures that “level the playing field” for students with disabilities and provide equal access to Columbia’s programs and activities. Examples include the administration of exams, services such as note-taking, sign language interpreters, or assistive technology, and coordination of accessible housing needs. Accommodation plans and services are specific to the disability-related needs of each student and are determined according to documented needs and the student’s program requirements.

Registration includes submission of both the Registration Form and disability documentation. The application and disability documentation guidelines are available online and at the Disability Services office. Students are encouraged to register within the first two weeks of the semester to ensure that reasonable accommodations can be made for that term. Please note that students are not eligible to receive accommodations until the registration process is complete.

Disability Services Liaisons are designated faculty or staff from each school, academic program, or campus service who work with Disability Services to coordinate accommodations for students with disabilities. The GSAS liaison, Kei Phillip, may be reached at kap2156 [at] columbia.edu or (212) 854-7892.

Columbia Disability Services Contact: Call (212) 854-2388 (voice/TTY), email disability [at] columbia.edu, or visit the Disability Services website. The Morningside campus office is located on the seventh floor of Lerner Hall, and the Medical Center Campus office is located at 101 Bard Hall.

Medical Services

Medical Services provides comprehensive care for routine, urgent, and chronic medical needs of students. Medical Services also provides sexual health services, reproductive and gynecological services, travel medicine, LGBTQ health care, immunizations, confidential HIV testing, and referrals. Medical Services includes the Travel Medicine Program, Columbia University Emergency Medical Service (CU-EMS), and the Gay Health Advocacy Project (GHAP). John Jay Hall, 3rd & and 4th Floors; (212) 854-7426.

Sexual Violence Response & Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center

Sexual Violence Response (SVR) provides trauma-informed, confidential support through crisis counseling/intervention, advocacy, prevention, and outreach focused on interpersonal violence and harassment. Our mission is to eradicate all forms of gender-based violence. Through collective community action, SVR is committed to social change and creating a culture of accountability.

For walk-in hours, visit SVR’s website.

Stay connected on SVR’s Facebook page.

(See the Columbia Health website for complete contact information.)

By paying the Columbia Health Fee, students enroll in the Columbia Health Program, and are granted access to the programs and services provided on campus through the five Columbia Health departments: Medical Services, Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS), Disability Services, Alice!, and Sexual Violence Response. The fee also includes coverage for specific off-campus services. Please visit the Columbia Health website to review the full program description and benefits under the Columbia Health Program.

The Columbia Health Fee is mandatory and automatically billed through the Student Account Statement to all full-time students and to those who elect enrollment in the Columbia Student Medical Insurance Plan (see below). Other students may elect enrollment in the Columbia Health Program. After paying the fee, students pay no additional charges when using services provided on campus, except for immunizations and travel assessments. For doctoral students in the Arts & Sciences who are fully funded or on appointments beyond their funded years, the Columbia Health Fee is covered by a GSAS fellowship, a transaction that is reflected in the Student Account Statement.

Part-time students who choose not to enroll in the Columbia Health Program are eligible to receive primary care services for a per-visit fee. For more information on fees, as well as policies for spouses and domestic partners, see the Columbia Health website.

Please note that students enrolled in programs on the Morningside Campus and students enrolled in programs at the College of Physicians and Surgeons or the Mailman School of Public Health pay the health service fee and health insurance premiums in effect at their respective campus.

University policy requires all registered full-time students to have health insurance coverage that meets the standards set by Columbia Health. Part-time students and non-degree special students and visiting exchange scholars are exempted from this requirement.

The Columbia Student Medical Insurance Plan offers the 90 Plan (formerly called Gold Plan) and the 100 Plan (formerly called the Platinum Plan). The Columbia Plan is administered by Aetna Student Health and is underwritten by Aetna.

To ensure that international students have access to the highest quality care on and off campus, the University requires that all international students (with the exception of non-degree special students and visiting exchange scholars) enroll in the Columbia Student Health Insurance Plan. Part-time domestic students may elect enrollment in the plan.

Each academic year, all registered full-time students must make an insurance selection by the open enrollment deadline. They must either:

• Confirm enrollment in the 90 Plan (Columbia University Student Health Insurance Plan)
• Upgrade to the 100 Plan (Columbia University Student Health Insurance Plan), or
• Request a waiver from mandatory enrollment in the Columbia University Student Health Insurance Plan (domestic students only)

Full-time students will be enrolled in the 90 Plan if they do not make an enrollment selection or if no waiver request has been submitted by the deadline.

Visit the Columbia Health website for full plan details and benefits. Questions may be directed to 503 Lerner Hall, (212) 854-3268, or studentinsurance [at] columbia.edu.

Please note that Aetna does not mail insurance cards. Students on the Columbia Plan may access and print their insurance cards through the Aetna Navigator website.

GSAS Fellowship

For doctoral students in the Arts and Sciences in their guaranteed funding years, or who are on appointments beyond their funded years, the 90 Plan insurance premium is covered by a GSAS fellowship, an arrangement that is reflected in the Student Account Statement. If they choose to upgrade to the 100 Plan, such students are entitled to a GSAS fellowship that covers half the difference between the 90 and 100 Plans. The GSAS Office of Financial Aid will apply the fellowship to eligible student accounts shortly after the end of the enrollment period. Please contact the GSAS Office of Financial Aid for further information about the fellowship.

Note: Students who receive a GSAS fellowship to cover the Columbia Student Medical Insurance Plan and are able to waive enrollment in the plan are not entitled to receive a refund of that fellowship from their student account.

Dependent Coverage

Students who enroll in the Columbia Student Medical Insurance Plan may also choose to purchase the optional insurance for eligible dependents. Funding-eligible doctoral students in the Arts and Sciences who choose to enroll their dependents in the Dependent Plan are entitled to a GSAS fellowship that covers the full cost of the 90-level Dependent Plan. The GSAS Office of Financial Aid will apply the fellowship to eligible student accounts shortly after the end of the enrollment period. Please contact the GSAS Office of Financial Aid for further information about the fellowship.

• Immunization information

New students must fulfill two immunization requirements at least 30 days prior to registering for classes. Students will not be able to register for their first term of study until the requirements are met, and late submissions will not be expedited.

You must:

• Document immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella
• Document that you have either received the meningitis vaccine or that you have declined to receive it

To provide documentation and for more information, see the Columbia Health website.