"Steve's an evolutionary biologist, so he's interested in how things evolve."
So says George McLendon, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences. Steve Nowicki's expertise in the realm of change may come in handy as he navigates Duke's unprecedented new position as dean of undergraduate education.
President Richard Brodhead announced that Nowicki will assume the deanship this fall, a position that comes to fruition at Duke after almost 20 years of discussion and proposals.
Among larger research universities, it is not uncommon to have a figure or figures in charge of coordinating the complex realm of undergraduate education, said Paula Burger, dean of undergraduate education in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
"What's unique about what Duke has done is it has given somebody a role covering all areas of academic and student life and made him responsible for a consistent philosophy and a program that recognizes how much these areas intersect and how there should be synergies," she said.
At larger universities administrative responsibilities are usually split. A vice provost generally has university responsibility and a dean typically has school-specific responsibility, Burger added. Often, multiple schools offer undergraduate education within a single university, creating multiple entities to supervise, which is why there are few deans of undergraduate education by title.
Provost Peter Lange said that he and Brodhead gave Nowicki the title of dean to help establish a certain authority for his role.
"He will be reporting to me, but he will have a great deal of autonomy," Lange added.
Nowicki will join the provost's "inner staff," as the person responsible for bringing up discussion of all things undergraduate. He will join other members of the provost's cabinet, which includes John Simon, vice provost for academic affairs, Susan Roth, vice provost for interdisciplinary studies, James Siedow, vice provost for research, and Scott Lindroth, vice provost for the arts.
Although he will be joining the ranks of vice provosts in Lange's office, Nowicki said his title as dean makes him more independent.
"If I were a vice provost in title then I would be just an extension of the provost," he said. "Being a dean, I'm an extension of nobody even though I work directly in the provost shop."
To gauge Nowicki's level of authority within the provost's staff, Lange explained that there is a spectrum of power among vice provosts. Some have significant units that report to them, such as the vice provost of research; others have less substantial teams, such as the vice provost for academic affairs and the vice provost for interdisciplinary studies. Lange said that Nowicki falls somewhere in the middle.
Nowicki will employ a staff of his own, an associate dean and a director of communications. He also plans to hire a recent Duke graduate as an intern to provide him with additional insight and perspective.
In addition, Nowicki will be in charge of three pools of budgetary money. The first pool will be reserved for administrative expenses of the office. The second will be a pot of discretionary money, which will be comparable to the funds of most vice provosts and the last will give Nowicki control over broader funding linked to strategic planning.
"Ultimately I have the resources of the entire strategic plan at my beck and call," Nowicki said. "In that sense, although it's not something I can just write the check for as ideas come forward, if they cost a lot of money, I can go to the strategic plan and make a case that we need to have this money out of their strategic capital resources. I'm not above asking donors. In a sense the sky is the limit, ultimately."
Although there has been talk that Nowicki's heightened authority may infringe on the clout of other administrators-namely Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta-neither Nowicki nor Moneta feel that any toes will be stepped on.
"The beauty of this is that Dean Nowicki's role provides the glue that binds some of us that serve undergraduate students," Moneta said. "It's not about restructuring any roles. My office isn't changing. My responsibilities aren't changing. Dean Nowicki will make sure that what's happening in the classroom and outside the classroom are collaborative, as I work specifically within the realm of student affairs."
Although both Nowicki and Moneta will report to the provost, Nowicki will take the driver's seat on broader undergraduate education planning. He will coordinate and supervise an undergraduate leadership group comprised of Moneta and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva along with the deans of Trinity College and the Pratt and Nicholas Schools.
In his mission the stakes are high and the possibilities are even higher, but Nowicki enters it with the full support of the president and provost. Brodhead wrote in an e-mail that Nowicki is "a perfect choice to be the principle spokesperson for Duke's vision of undergraduate education."
Nowicki now embarks on a mission to personify a new position and find common ground connecting Duke's academic, athletic and social sides.
All eyes will be on him.
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