When Peter Lange took over as provost in July 1999, other than the need for a new long-term strategic plan, further development of the sciences and enhanced technology in the classroom, one thing was clear: Something had to be done about the Faculty Commons.
Left unrenovated for over 20 years, the faculty eatery's space in the West Union Building was in dire need of a face-lift, and its menu required revision. Lange recognized the diminishing quality and quickly convened a committee to address the problems. Renovations began within a year, and now, three years later, the Faculty Commons is thriving.
"We weren't going [to the Commons] because it was so miserable," said Ronald Witt, professor of history and chair of the Arts and Sciences Council. "He saw that and really pumped money into it. It was one of the first things he did."
Although few of Lange's other projects during his tenure have come to fruition so quickly--the vast majority are far more expansive--the changes at the Faculty Commons are indicative of the aggressive, straightforward and collaborative style he has brought to the position, colleagues said.
Those colleagues and other members of the Duke community are contributing comments about the provost's performance and style to a recently established review committee. Such a review for University officers typically occurs in the fourth year of their five-year term of office.
"All views, whether they are expressions of approbation or complaints, suggestions for the future or a mix of these views, are important to the committee," Richard Schmalbeck, chair of the committee and professor of law, said in a statement.
Comments are due Friday, and the review committee's report is due in early December.
Lange, former political science department chair and vice provost for international affairs, was selected three years ago over several candidates from other institutions to be provost, the University's top academic officer.
With more than 20 years of experience at Duke, Lange has spent the first part of his tenure diving into the most significant issues in the University. Foremost among those has been the year-long creation and initial implementation of "Building on Excellence," a 174-page strategic plan to propel Duke to "the highest stature among the nation's private research universities."
The plan outlines strategic initiatives such as the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy and broad goals such as promoting interdisciplinary research, and it has helped lead a building frenzy unmatched since Duke's founding. Although only in its second year of implementation, the plan has drawn rave reviews from faculty members and administrators.
"He put so much time and considerable thought into working on the strategic plan and now [he is succeeding in] teasing out parts of that and carrying them to the action stage," said Nancy Allen, Academic Council chair and professor of rheumatology and immunology.
In the worsening economy, however, elements of the strategic plan have become harder to fund, especially since the primary focus of the plan is in the traditionally more expensive natural sciences-an area that took a back seat to humanities and social sciences in the 1990s, Witt said.
Furthermore, the budgets of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School are running or are in danger of running deficits, and Curriculum 2000-which Lange helped create as chair of Trinity College's curriculum review committee-has also proven to be more expensive than the plan it replaced.
"Implementation of strategic academic priorities within an economy much less robust than when the plan was created" is one of Lange's primary concerns right now, said Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Administrative Services Judith Ruderman.
Nonetheless, the construction of new buildings like the Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering Medicine and Applied Sciences and the hiring of directors of new initiatives like IGSP forge on.
Lange's colleagues said his aggressive and direct approach has required a degree of adjustment, but some say it has also been refreshing.
"His style is he lets you know what he is thinking; there is no duplicity," Witt said. "And it can make it difficult-sometimes you don't agree with him-but that is a frankness that I'd rather deal with than someone who is putting you on."
Graduate School Dean Lewis Siegel agreed. "He lays it all out," he said. "Nothing seems to be held secret. He seeks advice of the appropriate people and has good relationships with the deans, even though he is demanding."
Dean of the School of Medicine Sandy Williams noted that Lange has been instrumental in Williams' searches for the directors and chairs of various centers and departments. Lange also shares Williams' vision of bridging the gap between the medical school and the University, Williams said.
Other than some individual faculty tenure calls--for which the provost is ultimately responsible--Lange has yet to come under significant fire for any of his major decisions. Ruderman said some of his significant accomplishments include furthering Duke's diversity goals, enhancing admissions strategies and calling attention to important tenure issues with a full review of the process.
Lange has also facilitated increased dialogue among top administrators. "[The provost] and the president both work together to ensure that the deans themselves work together and don't see their interests as adverse but rather complementary," said School of Law Dean Katharine Bartlett, another new hire. "As one school gets stronger, the other schools all benefit from that."
Fuqua School of Business Dean Douglas Breeden added that Lange has encouraged the deans and their faculties to "get out of [their] silos" to create new and better research opportunities.
"He is a big proponent of interdisciplinary cooperation," Breeden said. "By far, right now, we have the best cooperation across the different schools in the University than we have ever had."
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