Each year, Cornell attracts hundreds of visiting scholars and fellows — academics from other institutions or researchers who temporarily conduct research or collaborate on projects at Cornell.
However, many receive no compensation from the University and are required to pay a program fee while struggling with Ithaca’s high cost of living.
Cornell Law School, for example, charges its unsalaried visiting scholars $5,000 per academic year. In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, visiting fellows are unpaid and must fork over $1,000 to be appointed. The Einaudi Center for International Studies requires prospective visiting scholars to “obtain [their] own source of support.”
Visiting scholars and fellows are also not guaranteed housing. Instead, these academics are placed in the same housing pool as graduate students. Graduate students have three University-owned housing options — Hasbrouck Apartments, Maplewood Apartments and limited cooperative housing options — resulting in 95 percent of graduate students living in residences that are not University-owned.
Prof. Jane Marie Law, religious studies, has served on several University committees focused on supporting visiting scholars and fellows, including Global Cornell. Law said that the University is not doing enough to ensure adequate financial and housing support for visiting scholars and fellows, especially for those traveling to Cornell internationally.
“Visiting scholars and fellows come here to experience a research university, and it is not sustainable for people,” Law said. “People go home in debt, or they just simply can’t come because they can’t afford it.”
Law explained that these researchers can sometimes receive limited help from their home country’s government, amounting to just $600 to $800 a month for living expenses.
“This is nowhere near enough for them to live and research here,” Law said. “For the short term, Cornell can say, well, we put them in Hasbrouck, or we do this, or somebody gets a homestay, but that does not fix the real problem.”
Senior visiting fellow Pedro Erber was formerly an associate professor of Luso-Brazilian studies at Cornell and is currently an associate professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Erber remains affiliated as a visiting fellow in the Einaudi Center’s East Asia Program and flies to Ithaca from Tokyo whenever needed.
He said that Ithaca’s expensive rental market means he cannot afford to have prolonged stays in Ithaca.
When he has to be in Ithaca overnight, Erber stays at the Dorm Hotel or the Hilton Garden Inn. The Statler Hotel, he noted, does not offer discounted rates for visiting fellows.
“If more resources were available, it would definitely help,” Erber said. “I might even consider staying for longer periods.”
Law has repeatedly proposed that Cornell establish free hostels and expand finances, but she said that the administration has routinely dismissed her ideas.
“Every time I suggest it, Cornell says, ‘We could never do that. Oh, that’s too difficult. Oh, that’s too complicated,'” Law said. “I might as well shout into a hurricane.”
Visiting Fellow Norhafiza Mohd Hed explained that the lack of housing and financial support took a toll on her family.
“The high demand and limited options for family-friendly housing made the process lengthy and sometimes stressful,” Mohd Hed said. “Additionally dealing with high upfront costs added to the difficulty.”
When asked about what Cornell is doing to support its visiting scholars and fellows, Nishi Dhupa, associate vice provost for international affairs and executive director at the Einaudi Center, described the establishment of International Scholar House in 2023.
“In September 2023, the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs launched the International Scholar House to address the housing needs of international visiting scholars, providing month-to-month rentals in a fully furnished, five-bedroom home,” Dhupa wrote.
The University did not respond on whether there are any plans to expand support for visiting scholars and fellows going forward.
Emma Galgano ’27 can be reached at [email protected].