The Academic Council established a new committee Thursday that will assess Duke’s global initiatives to increase faculty involvement in international planning.
The Global Priorities Committee, which will consist of 12 to 14 faculty members, is responsible for monitoring global programs.
“We feel it is important to have a strong faculty voice in these global projects,” said Chair Craig Henriquez, professor of biomedical engineering.
Although this committee increases the number of approvals necessary to authorize a global project, Henriquez said he hopes the GPC will develop a more expedient process to encourage faculty involvement.
Henriquz pointed to Duke’s new campus in Kunshan, China which was approved “faster than the faculty was even ready for,” as an example of projects in which faculty members can be more involved.
Council members praised the creation of the committee, noting that faculty presence in global projects is necessary.
“The [GPC] could be most helpful establishing guidelines and priorities,” said Susan Lozier, chair of the Academic Council Committee on Undergraduate Education
Before the council voted on the committee, Gregory Jones, vice president and vice provost of global strategy and programs, updated the council on his office’s current pursuits.
Jones said he attended several meetings in China regarding the Kunshan initiative, but deferred discussion of the project until the council’s December meeting.
In addition to expansions in Asia, Jones hinted at creating Duke programs in Brazil.
Programs have not been created there in the past mainly due to the Portuguese language barrier, he said. There are two significant Duke research projects in Brazil, which Jones said have already generated name recognition. There is significant demand for education reform in Brazil, which Jones said is another incentive for expansion in the region.
“When the Nicholas School [of the Environment] goes to the Amazon, that’s not where the [Fuqua School of Business] is going to go. They’re going to go down to Sao Paulo. Undergraduates who want to study abroad in Brazil, they’re going to want to go to Rio,” Jones said, pointing to different opportunities in the country.
In other business:
The council approved seniors Katherine Buse, Alan Guo and Maria Huang as the 2010-2011 recipients of the Faculty Scholar Award. Seniors Caitlin Drescher and Jared Dunnmon were recognized with honorable mentions.
The Faculty Scholar Award is the highest honor given to undergraduate seniors by faculty members.
Benjamin Ward, chair of the Faculty Scholar Award Committee, expressed admiration for this year’s winners.
“These students have done truly remarkable and outstanding things,” he said.
The council also approved the language of a new summer salary policy in the Faculty Handbook. In previous years, summer funding was given out at the beginning of the month for a particular grant, and faculty members would be limited to a single project. Now, salary and grant money will be distributed so that faculty members can participate in more than one project without putting Duke at risk for being audited.
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