At a meeting highlighted by President Nan Keohane's announcement of a $25 million gift to the University, the Academic Council elected Nancy Allen as its next chair.
"[It's] certainly exciting after today's meeting with the announcement of the major gift," said Allen, a professor of rheumatology. "I will get myself geared up and go to some [Executive Committee] meetings this spring... [and] find out specifically what to carry forward next year."
Allen will begin a two-year term in July, replacing current chair Peter Burian, professor of classical studies. She will be the first female chair since Anne Scott, professor emeritus of history, in 1977.
Allen, who first came to Duke in 1978, has served for 10 years on the council. She also helped form the Clinical Sciences Faculty Council at the Medical Center and served as its first president.
Allen ran against Janice Radway, Francis Hill Fox professor of literature.
The council also continued to discuss the proposed consensual relationships policy. Burian said ECAC has received numerous suggestions on the proposal since its last meeting and has incorporated some of these changes.
"The range of responses on the issue was wide indeed," Burian said. These included better defining what a romantic relationship is, articulating sanctions for not following the policy and incorporating a strong statement against faculty-student relationships in the proposal.
Despite the changes, some council members still complained about ambiguities in the proposal. For instance, Robert Mosteller, professor of law, suggested the policy be changed to a "kiss and tell" policy, since kissing, unlike dating, is an action that is clearly defined.
Other faculty members objected to the proposal's direction. These concerns included objections to the proposal's lack of due process with accusations and questions about whether the council should create policy that applies to staff as well as professors. Provost Peter Lange said the policy was weakened because the discussion had moved it away from statements on University values to something procedural and punitive.
IN OTHER NEWS: The council will elect a new secretary at its March meeting. John Staddon, James B. Duke professor of psychological and brain sciences, is the only candidate to have declared his intentions to run.
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