The Board of Trustees approved initial funding this weekend for construction oversight of the first phase of Duke’s campus in Kunshan, China.
The University will spend $5.5 million on supervising the design, planning and construction costs of a six-building complex that will include teaching, research and residential space.
To comply with Chinese law mandating that foreign universities offer an undergraduate program, the University is considering the possibility of offering one-semester certificate programs in the global health and entrepreneurship fields to between 50 and 100 students.
The Kunshan municipal government is footing the bill for the 200-acre campus and the construction of its facilities, which if built in Durham would be estimated at $260 million.
“I think it is still a pretty considerable no-brainer when you consider the proportion of who is investing what,” President Richard Brodhead said. “Of course we always knew that there would be some amount that we ourselves would be eager to spend for the oversight of these first phases.... The thing to understand is that these are investments in creating something... that will then have revenue it doesn’t have at this moment.”
The Board did not vote on the operational budget for the campus, which Greg Jones, vice president and vice provost for global strategy and programs, estimated at Thursday’s Academic Council meeting would be about $5.5 million. Brodhead said the figure would be “tested and clarified in many ways” before Board members would be asked to approve spending.
Trustees Chair and Democratic state Sen. Dan Blue, Law ’73, said the $5.5 million the Board approved Sunday will be used to hire external consultants to help ensure that “the building adheres to some certain standards” and “give advice where it might be useful.” He emphasized that Duke will retain its high standards for degree requirements and hiring practices will remain in place.
“The government in Kunshan is spending over a quarter of a billion dollars on this and we are spending money to make sure the design meets certain criteria and incorporates as much of what we believe is important in the planning of it,” Blue said. “The other side of that coin is you want to make sure you are comfortable with where it is going, and a minor investment of $5 million in the face of a quarter of a billion... shouldn’t be the deal breaker or be the thing to make you think Duke overinvested.”
Although construction on the Kunshan campus is expected to be completed in summer 2012, Duke is in talks with three institutions to secure a legal sponsor in China by March for the Chinese Ministry of Education to approve the new campus. Initially, the University expected Shanghai Jiao Tong University to be its legal sponsor, but at Thursday’s Academic Council meeting, Jones announced that SJTU decided in the summer that it would only be an academic partner. Brodhead said SJTU chose not to sponsor Duke because it is in a different province than Kunshan.
The Board also heard a presentation from former Trustee Kimberly Jenkins, Trinity ’76, Graduate School ’77 and ’80. Jenkins resigned from the Board this Fall to serve as senior advisor to the president and provost for innovation and entrepreneurship. Jenkins presented a list of 10 steps for improving entrepreneurship at Duke to the Board this weekend which was based on discussions with students and faculty since assuming her position.
“The message that I got from the Board is to put the foot on the accelerator on this, but also to make sure that entrepreneurship is defined broadly,” Jenkins said. “I think a lot of people gravitate toward an image of Mark Zuckerberg... but it’s also about creating the next Teach for America.... I heard that message and I believe in that message.”
Brodhead said the Trustees strongly support Jenkins in her new role. He said he expects her next steps to be aggregating the entrepreneurship activities that already exist, communicating these opportunities to people inside and outside the University and raising funds to support current and future endeavors.
“There has got to be some real walk behind the talk,” Jenkins said. “And I’m very aware we’ve been talking about entrepreneurship for a while and we need to bring it all together and do it—meet the tremendous demand and really walk the talk.”
In other business:
Trustees also heard an update on the Duke Cancer Institute and reviewed the University’s risk management process.
Several Trustees viewed Central Campus Thursday on a tour organized by Duke Student Government President Mike Lefevre, a senior. Board members walked through one unoccupied apartment and asked several Central residents about their living experiences before having a roundtable dinner and discussion at the Devil’s Bistro.
Trustees said Central remains a priority and that they hope additions like Mill Village will improve the quality of life on Central until New Campus becomes a reality.
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