After a years-long freeze, faculty are ready to discuss new academic opportunities for Duke Kunshan University.
Academic Council approved a resolution to consider additional graduate academic programs for DKU at its meeting Thursday. The proposal passed with 52 council members voting in favor of the proposal, five dissenting and one abstention. This overturns a December 2009 council decision to refrain from considering other graduate programs beyond the Fuqua School of Business’ Master of Management Studies program until faculty believed they had adequate information about the risks of the project.
This resolution symbolizes renewed faculty support for DKU, said Academic Council Chair Susan Lozier, professor of physical oceanography.
“[This resolution] not only serves as a gateway for numerous opportunities abroad but is also an example of the cooperation and collective advocacy of Duke faculty,” Lozier said. “It confirms a strong faculty role in the development and review of DKU academic programs and finances.”
The council’s decision to consider future academic programs at DKU is a response to the substantial demand for program development, Provost Peter Lange said. Programs for DKU currently under review by Academic Council include a Master of Science in Global Health through the Duke Global Health Institute. The council will not review undergraduate DKU programs at this time, though some administrators have discussed various semester abroad programs.
The approval follows an Arts and Sciences Council decision March 15 to update the process for approving new programs in Duke’s global undergraduate curriculum. According to Thursday’s proposal, programs that lead to Duke degrees or credit must be reviewed within two or three years by the appropriate subcommittee regarding course changes, program changes or global initiatives.
Some council members said more measures are still needed to monitor the state of academic integrity on the China campus.
Karla Holloway, James B. Duke professor of English and professor of law, said DKU needs to implement a different mechanism for monitoring academic freedom than the one used in Durham.
“We have a [monitoring] system that faculty and students trust in the United States, but we have no way of making sure that it will be successful [at DKU],” Holloway said.
DKU will incorporate a community monitoring effort similar to the system enforced in Durham, Lange said. Even though maintaining academic integrity and freedom is not an explicit responsibility, faculty and administration have an instrumental role in making sure that preventative measures are in place. The small number of faculty in the initial phases of DKU will make it easier for academic integrity and freedom to be monitored and maintained.
“From the beginning, we knew we were engaging with a country whose culture and political system does not match those in the U.S., but we know that we’ll be able to adhere to our core values in that environment,” Lange said.
In other business:
William Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin professor of history, received the University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award for his contribution to University academics. President Richard Brodhead presented the award and praised Chafe for his mentorship and revolutionary efforts during his 41-year tenure at Duke. Chafe previously served as dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences and was instrumental in implementing Curriculum 2000.
“Any student or faculty member who has experienced Duke has been touched by the work and leadership of Chafe,” Brodhead said.
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