At the annual University Faculty Meeting, President Nan Keohane and Academic Council Chair Leonard Spicer addressed the current problems and potential future direction of the University.
Keohane discussed the importance of a smooth and effective bureaucracy, while at the same time re-evaluating some policies that are based upon common practice-such as the University policy regarding offensive messages painted on the East Campus Bridge.
"The whitewashing of gay slogans was directly in opposition to our university policy of non-discrimination against gay people," she said. Keohane added, however, that the whitewashing occurred in compliance with an apparently long-standing policy of covering indecent messages on the bridge.
Although the current undergraduate liberal arts program is successful, Keohane said, the University must remain cautious about its future. As more moderately priced institutions increase their competitiveness, she explained, "it will be harder and harder for poor and even middle class families to justify the cost of an elite private university."
As the University has done in the past, faculty and administrators must constantly rethink their current programs, Keohane continued. To that end, the University must increase its use of new technology in the classroom, although she said, "Duke will never become a virtual University."
Addressing many of the same points as Keohane, Spicer discussed the importance of ensuring fairness within the University.
"This simply has to be a way of life on this campus," he said, "and I urge every faculty member to make this a priority in their interactions with students, faculty and all Duke employees."
In addition to the emphasis on equity, Spicer said the University must always maintain its commitment to education.
"Solutions which lead to equity and fair treatment for all should never be viewed in competition with, or for, a tradeoff of scholarship," he said. "We should never lose sight of our principal reason for being here as an institution of higher learning."
Spicer also addressed the role of the University as a leader and role model for other institutions. For example, he noted that in the late 1980s, other universities were beginning to contemplate the role of interdisciplinary education after Duke had already done so. "Duke had been pioneering this way of life," he said.
He further emphasized the University's contribution to global education and the use of technology. He noted, however, that the University has reached a plateau in these initiatives and encouraged faculty members to experiment with technological advances.
Following the faculty meeting, the athletic department presented the Academic Council with the findings of its two-year self-evaluation. The self-evaluation is a component of the NCAA reaccreditation process, through which the athletic department reviews its current status. The next stage involves a study of the department by a peer review committee that will visit the University next week.
The findings of the self evaluation process include the potential development of formal diversity workshops for those working with minority student-athletes, in addition to the University's continued efforts to comply with Title IX.
The committee also suggested that the provost review the scheduling of lab courses in order to ensure that student-athletes have the opportunity to take such courses.
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