At the year's first meeting of the Arts and Sciences Council, faculty representatives heard a broad and wide-ranging address from William Chafe, dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences and vice provost for undergraduate education.
Touching on recent successes such as faculty hires, Chafe also outlined future obstacles for the faculty including proposals for new construction.
"This is an exciting and challenging time," he said. "But it's also one for reflection and prudence."
Noting that 15 years ago the school had only one department ranked in the top 10 nationally-as opposed to seven departments currently-Chafe discussed the difficulties presented by recent growth.
"One of the side effects has been other institutions raiding our faculty," he said.
But even though the number of professors leaving for other institutions has tripled recently-with 40 faculty members leaving in the last three years-Chafe assured the council that Arts and Sciences has actually retained about 75 percent of those who received offers.
This retention rate, he said, has helped fuel a 32 percent growth in Arts and Sciences faculty over the last 10 years, including a record 52 new hires this year alone. More specifically, Chafe expressed satisfaction with growth in the number of female and minority faculty members, and promised to focus on departments where such groups are under-represented.
But he admitted that would be difficult, considering the recent surge in hires.
"No university can afford to sustain that type of growth," said Chafe, noting that Arts and Sciences has already curtailed recruitment for the upcoming year. Specifically, he said, new hires will bring the number of Arts and Sciences professors to 582, close to the target of 590 for the immediate future.
That target, Chafe said, is constrained by the $200 million Arts and Sciences budget. Although Trinity College of Arts and Sciences has a reserve of $7 million, he expects a $4 million deficit this year, with more shortfalls expected in upcoming years. With 85 percent of the budget coming from tuition, Chafe said the University will likely have to raise undergraduate costs by more than the inflation rate despite the fact that tuition is already the fifth-highest in the country.
Exacerbating the budget constraints is proposed new construction, including the $3.5 million addition to the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies and a proposed $25-30 million science building. Trinity College also plans to expand several institutes and programs, like an addition to the Sanford Institute for Public Policy for the study of society and genomics.
Throughout his address to the council, however, Chafe emphasized the need to balance new growth with shoring up Arts and Sciences' current areas of strength.
Chafe warned that The Campaign for Duke has not provided a bottomless well of funds. "We do not have all the resources that this [recent] success might suggest," he said.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: With two members of the council's Executive Committee ending their terms this month, the faculty elected Professor of Classical Studies Kent Rigsby and Visiting Scholar in Computer Science Owen Astrachan to serve two-year terms on the seven-member committee.
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