Columbia first established an in-house legal department in 1974. Before 1974, an outside law firm acted as counsel to the University. During this period any member of the University Community seeking legal services called directly on outside counsel. Starting in the late 1960`s, the cost of this uncontrolled use of outside lawyers became very high. To control these costs, the inside legal department (now the Office of the General Counsel) has since coordinated all outside legal services. As part of this control, outside law firms can be retained only by the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and bills for outside legal services will be paid only if the work was initiated or approved by OGC. To assure the integrity and independence of these decisions and of the legal services rendered to the University, the General Counsel reports directly to the President and the Trustees. OGC represents the legal interests of the entire University, including such geographically separate entities as the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Rockland County, Nevis Laboratories in Westchester County, Reid Hall in Paris, and the entire Columbia Medical Center (formerly Health Sciences campus) in Washington Heights. At present the office consists of the General Counsel, the Deputy General Counsel, 19 Associate General Counsels, an Assistant General Counsel, 3 paralegals, a Director of Budget & Human Resources, business manager, file manager, secretarial and clerical support staff and student help. The entire office resides in Low Library. The ongoing legal business of the University involves a broad array of services in connection with financings, contracts, trusts and estates, real estate and tax matters, labor and employment issues, commercial litigation, clinical trials, and science and technology agreements and licensing. All OGC attorneys are experienced in handling contract and general business legal matters, and all have a broad capability to handle the great variety of legal problems which arise in the context of a large university with substantial financial interests and real property ownership, in addition to the human problems which arise in the context of a large and diverse community.
A leader in providing career-focused education for 85 years, Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and enrolls approximately 8,300 students — including more than 700 international students — in its Baccalaureate and Associate degree and Certificate programs. The College has three New York locations — Midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn and White Plains. In New Jersey there are six locations — Woodland Park, Paramus, Woodbridge, Newark, Clifton and Dover. Berkeley College Online® also offers full degree programs. Bachelor`s and Associate`s degree programs are offered in over 20 career fields, as well as an MBA in Management.
Ivy Tech Community College is the state`s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation`s largest singly accredited statewide community college system. Ivy Tech has over 40 locations throughout Indiana. It serves as the state`s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.
Arizona Virtual Academy is a Tucson, AZ-based company in the Education sector.
The ground-based Giant Magellan Telescope will be one of a next class of "Extremely Large Telescopes" or ELTs that strive to revolutionize our view and understanding of the universe. The GMT will be operational in 2022 at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The telescope has a unique segmented mirror design that makes use of six off-axis 8.4 m (27 ft) diameter monolith mirrors surrounding a central on-axis mirror, forming a single optical surface with an aperture of 24.5 m (80 ft) in diameter. It will make use of a sophisticated adaptive optics system and enclosure and will have a resolving power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope.