DKU needs leaders and a vision

After a series of setbacks and delays, Duke’s global venture at Duke Kunshan University is at last beginning to plant its roots. It will do so, however, without key leaders that helped shape the vision and direction of the initiative. Last week, The Chronicle reported that Mary Brown Bullock, executive vice chancellor of DKU since 2012, will retire this summer. Her announced departure follows closely behind that of Nora Bynum, vice provost for DKU and China initiatives, who will leave to direct the Science Action Center at Chicago’s Field Museum. We wish the best for both leaders as they move forward beyond Duke. However, we remain concerned by the implications of their concurrent departures at a time so crucial for DKU.

During her tenure as executive vice chancellor of DKU, Mary Brown Bullock served as the head academic and administrative officer, helping to oversee the planning and launch of the university. She was instrumental in preparing DKU’s first academic programs and helped oversee the recruitment of faculty to embody those visions.

The administrative turnover that comes in the wake of Bullock and Bynum’s departures, regardless of who takes up the reigns next, disrupts the continuity of an already beleaguered launch to the DKU venture. At this crucial stage in the University’s development—it just recently opened its physical campus to academic activity, though the full form of both its curricular and co-curricular environment remains to be seen—it is essential to maintain leadership with clear vision for the direction of the University. Barring the question of why both administrators chose to leave and the proximity of their departures, it is important for the success and longevity of DKU to maintain a consistent and robust vision. Long-term plans require long-term leaders.

With new leadership comes opportunity for both important continuity and fresh perspective for positive change. One area for shift and expansion is diversifying and broadening what DKU has to offer both inside and outside the classroom. Currently, the University offers a semester-long undergraduate global education program, and three masters degrees in medical physics, global health and management studies. While the limited programs offered is understandable given the beginning stages of the University’s development, it will be essential for DKU to expand its academic offerings if it hopes to appeal to and attract students to its campus. If the University hopes to compete with the myriad study abroad opportunities—each with widely diverse and established programs—and the experiences here in Durham that tug at students incessantly, it must demonstrate its academic and co-curricular relevance to students. DKU has long stated its eventual plans to expand its co-curricular academic programs and develop its own undergraduate degree program. We urge these initiatives to happen as soon as possible, while also cautioning against hasty plans without considering input from students and faculty.

Despite its beleaguered start, we are optimistic about the positive reactions from students on its campus piloting the new global venture. We hope to maintain this positive momentum as DKU continues to establish its roots and expand. As new administrators take the reigns—the University has already announced that James Dobbins, director of the graduate program in medical physics, will replace Bynum and a search committee is underway for Bullock’s successor—it will be imperative to strike the balance between continuity in vision and longevity in implementation. Although DKU has much to offer—cultural exposure and research, among others—it now needs leaders and vision to implement that potential.