Ever heard of the Center for Manufacturing and Technology Management? How about the Design Automation Center? The Center for Rational Choice?
Those are just three of more than 25 centers the Office of Interdisciplinary Affairs has closed as a result of more stringent standards for centers. The changes have been made in an effort to more carefully manage interdisciplinary study, as spelled out in Duke's long-range plan.
Cathy Davidson, vice provost for interdisciplinary affairs, said that over the past two years, her office has systematically reviewed each center at Duke.
"We're setting standards much higher," Davidson said. "They must be doing innovative work, reorganizing knowledge in different ways. They must also be geared toward external funding.... Basically, if they are not paying for themselves, there would be extremely high standards."
Until now, officials have offered little formal coordination or review at the administrative level. Centers, loosely defined as interdisciplinary units designed for research projects, are most often funded through external sources. The vitality of a center is often linked to faculty interest and funding; as interests change or grants expire, some centers wilt and others emerge.
For example, although the Center for Comparative Islamic Studies was closed, a new center for the Study of Muslim Networks was opened last year as part of the umbrella John Hope Franklin Center for International and Interdisciplinary Studies.
Under the new guidelines, all units will be reviewed by either the dean of a school--if the center is located entirely within one school--or by Davidson's office every five years. The review will examine the continuing importance of the unit's intellectual contribution, the level of participation, ability to involve multiple departments, effective management, sources of external and internal funding and justification for continuing.
One such center in the Law School, the Center for the Study of the Congress, folded this year.
"It's just simpler bureaucratically, to dissolve that center and fold it into the public law program," said center co-coordinator Christopher Schroeder, a professor of law. "Our review process was atypical because the dean just asked me if it made more sense to fold it into public law. I said OYes.' End of review."
Reviewing each center may be tough, however, because of the nature of over 75 centers on the non-Medical Center side of the University.
Some centers, including the Franklin Center, are mandated by administrative fiat and have a plethora of administrative and external support.
Kenneth Dodge, William McDougell professor of public policy, was hired from Vanderbilt University three years ago to lead the Center for Family and Child Health Policy, which includes experts from the social sciences, the Medical Center, law and the environment. The center was based upon a strategic plan initiative and received initial funding from the administration. Dodge said the center will bring in about $7 million in external funding this year.
Other centers are far less wide-ranging in size and scope. The Center for Inquiry-Based Learning, founded by Steven Wainwright, James B. Duke professor emeritus of biology, and directed by research associate Norman Budnitz, has no regular tenure-track faculty.
"What we've been doing is running teacher workshops, showing K-8 teachers how to teach science using inquiry," Budnitz said.
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