Character took center stage at the Arts and Sciences Council's meeting Thursday afternoon--its first this academic year.
In his annual address to the council, George McLendon, dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences, spoke about the University's essence--its heart, mind and physical frame. Faculty also discussed Duke's moral character, reflecting on the results of the 2005-2006 academic integrity survey.
McLendon's talk featured three areas he portrayed as both current strengths and targets for continued improvement: financial aid, faculty and facilities. McLendon called commitment to community service and need-blind admissions the "heart" of the University.
Noting that one out of every two undergraduates could not attend Duke without financial support, which annually averages about $25,000 per student, McLendon reaffirmed his support for the Financial Aid Initiative.
"It will be the highest priority of Arts and Sciences to see that initiative to its conclusion," he said.
Terming the faculty the "mind" of the University, McLendon said the new strategic plan will incorporate more "cluster hires"--new professors in interdisciplinary fields, such as visual culture.
He also said the University would explore how best to recognize professors' service activities, undergraduate teaching and mentoring, possibly through the establishment of research funding linked to such contributions.
Finally, McLendon reflected on recent construction projects and the future Central Campus.
"We have a really unique opportunity at Duke to reimagine de nova what academic spaces should look like on a newly created campus," McLendon said. "This is viewed [by other universities] with mixed envy and incomprehension."
Judith Ruderman, vice provost for academic and administrative services, presented the results of last year's academic integrity survey alongside seniors Jimmy Soni, former chair of the Honor Council, and Joe Fore, Duke Student Government executive vice president and former DSG vice president for academic affairs.
Ruderman said the survey, conducted nationwide and at Duke every five years since 1990, revealed improvements following the 2003 introduction of the Community Standard. "We saw a decline in almost all the forms of academic dishonesty that had been most prevalent in the year 2000," Ruderman said.
The report also highlighted a few areas of concern. More than 40 percent of upperclassmen overall--and an even greater fraction of engineering students--consider falsifying lab data "trivial cheating."
"Students at Duke seem to falsify lab data at the same rate as at schools with no honor code at all," Fore said.
Soni, Fore and Ruderman asked council members to encourage instructors to make their expectations clear and promote student honesty. They said instructors should report all infractions and structure assignments in a meaningful way, so that students do not see them as busywork.
"What we're really looking for from you is just a small amount of time at the beginning of the course and throughout the semester, as students have questions," Soni said.
In other business:
The council unanimously approved a new policy presented by Robert Thompson, dean of Trinity College, on excluding disruptive students from a course.
The policy establishes a resolution process involving the student, instructor and academic dean. The instructor will award a permanently excluded student a grade indicating initial course performance and withdrawal, either WP or WF.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.