The announcement of potential cutbacks to the faculty of the Biological Anthropology and Anatomy department has heightened anxiety about the future of the Primate Center.
Even though the Primate Center is a separate entity from BAA, the proposed cutbacks to the department cast further doubt on the likelihood that the Primate Center will remain at the University. All the center's directors have been BAA professors since the department's inception in 1988.
"When I see the demise of [BAA], it makes me very worried about the Primate Center," said center director William Hylander. "Like it or not, they're intrinsically linked."
About two-thirds of the Duke-initiated research done at the center is undertaken by members of the BAA department. All those projects except two are currently run by researchers based in either BAA or the Primate Center itself.
"There will definitely be a lesser number of projects in the future if BAA is reduced," said Julie Ives, primate research assistant and coordinator of all the research done at the center. "It would really affect us also if they're not taking in as many graduate students in the future. To me, personally, it paints a grim picture of the Primate Center."
Downsizing the BAA department, however, will not necessarily
Its existence has been in limbo since an internal review revealed in 2000 that the center was overly concerned with conservation and education, at the expense of research.
"I don't think people have felt very secure [about the center] lately because the threat of closure is still hanging over our heads," said Dean Gibson, assistant director of the center.
In July 2001, Provost Peter Lange appointed Hylander director and gave him three years to increase the amount of research done at the center. At the end of three years, the University would evaluate the center and, based on the quantity and scope of research projects, student involvement and the amount of grant money garnered, make a decision about whether to continue funding.
The Primate Center has shown substantial progress in several of these areas. The first year Hylander took over, research fees paid to the center increased from around $9,000 to $35,000 and the number of new research projects more than doubled.
This spring, administrators will conduct a preliminary review of the center with three options: close the center, keep it open and invest money in permanent improvements or extend the time allotted for revitalization.
"I would hope they'll say, 'Dump the money in,' but given the current economic climate, I doubt it," Hylander said.
Vice Provost for Research James Siedow suggested the center's future is tied to its ability to accrue funds.
"When we went down this road several years ago, we recognized that ramping up the grant money was not an overnight process," he said. "Are we now at the level of grant support we'd like to be? Probably no."
Lange was out of town this week and unavailable for comment.
This is not the first time the University has considered closing the Primate Center. In 1975, an administrative decision to close the center was followed by a massive influx of protest letters from all over the world. Shortly after the letters, the University decided to keep the Primate Center open.
If the center does close, the hundreds of animals will likely be dispersed among many institutions, said center employees. Hylander ruled out the possibility that the Primate Center might be transferred to another university if Duke withdraws its support.
"There isn't any place that would have the resources and the know how to take the center over."
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