The Arts and Sciences Council met Thursday to discuss suggestions set forth by the Interim Report on the Undergraduate Experience and to hear a presentation by representatives of the Undergraduate Judicial Board.
Provost Peter Lange kicked off the meeting with a general overview of the interim report, which expanded ideas from last Spring's Report of the Campus Culture Initiative Steering Committee into viable policy suggestions.
"[One goal is] getting our students to behave in a more socially responsible manner all the time, not just most of the time," he said.
Lange added that though Duke has a statistically diverse campus, the way in which diversity is handled needs improvement.
"What was suggested [in the report] was less [about] having better numbers, it was making more of that diversity in the lives of individual students so they would get the benefit of that diversity," Lange said.
He also said the improvement of currently underdeveloped student-faculty interactions is another concern for the University.
"This is an error where the faculty is going to have to take the lead if we're going to make real change," Lange added.
Later, in response to questions from council members concerning future changes to academic spaces, Lange said the administration is considering introducing more social spaces to academic buildings.
Following Lange's report, Stephen Bryan, director of judicial affairs and associate dean of students, and Valerie Kolko, senior program coordinator for the Office of Judicial Affairs, gave an overview of judicial policies at Duke and, in particular, the role the Judicial Board gives to professors who suspect academic dishonesty.
In response to a column run in The Chronicle questioning student rights at Duke, Bryan said he hopes faculty members view the board as a fair, objective group.
"What you read is not always accurate, and hopefully those of you who have been involved in the process have seen it as a fair process," he said.
Dean of Undergraduate Education Steve Nowicki said he is assembling a review of judicial processes that will include Noah Pickus, associate director of the Kenan Institute of Ethics at Duke.
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