President Nan Keohane announced Monday that Jim Clack, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, will serve as interim vice president for student affairs.
Clack will be vice president during the national search seeking a replacement for current Vice President for Student Affairs Janet Dickerson, who will leave July 1 for a similar position at Princeton University.
The search committee has not yet been named.
"[Clack] is very highly regarded both by people in Student Affairs and in other parts of Duke, and is clearly someone people respect and enjoy working with," Keohane said. "He is also enthusiastic about using the post for active service, really making a difference on some key issues, during his time in office."
Both Keohane and Clack pointed to alcohol, diversity, residential life and academic integrity as the four primary issues that would come up during his term.
Clack stressed his interest in ensuring that students who drink do so responsibly.
He said he wants to be sure that "if it is going to happen, it's going to happen in healthy and safe ways."
Instead of focusing on top-down solutions to excessive drinking, Clack is interested in making student interaction the best way to ameliorate a dangerous culture.
"I think students get caught in the thing of where they might be aware of fellow students [with drinking problems]... but they're reluctant to confront fellow students about it because of fears of loss of friendship," said Clack, who is currently co-chair, with Dickerson, of the alcohol task force's subcommittee for intervention and treatment. "Until students help students, it's going to be extremely difficult."
Clack said he would like to see his philosophy about interpersonal relationships extend into every aspect of Duke life.
Describing his practice of saying "good morning" to everyone he passes on his way to work, Clack said students frequently seem shocked by his friendliness.
"I would hope that I can help Duke in some small way to become a more friendly, caring, compassionate, civil place, and that means students being concerned about caring about each other and behaving in that way," he said.
Dickerson said Clack's personality is characterized by a balance of seriousness and humor.
"He's willing to speak up and help any group he's part of come to a conclusion in a way that is timely," she said. "He's good. He's great. I hired him."
As director of CAPS, Clack works mostly with individual students and small groups of staff and faculty.
Although he is teaching a freshman seminar this semester, Clack acknowledged that his reputation with students is not particularly wide-reaching.
"I'm going to have to get out and about," he said. "[But] it comes easy for me. I really think that if students know me, we'll get along fine."
Jim Lazarus, co-chair of the task force's cultural assessment subcommittee and the student point-person for alcohol discussions this summer, said he is confident that Clack will be able to work with students, even if he does not know them yet.
"Jim has a great [rapport] with students I've seen," said Lazarus, a Trinity junior. "He treats students as colleagues and peers, not as a student-administrator relationship."
Clack, 63, said he was unsure whether he would be interested in the permanent post, adding that his appointment as interim vice president was fairly sudden.
Keohane said she will not address the question of whether Clack is a candidate until a search begins.
"We agreed that he will need to focus his attention on the interim vice presidency in the early months, especially, and that we won't address the question of whether he'll decide to be a candidate until we are well into the search," Keohane said. "This will mean that he can concentrate on getting the job done and not be distracted by thinking about next steps from the start."
Keohane said she expects to name a search committee by the end of the academic year, although the search itself will not start until the fall.
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