The Board of Trustees will convene this weekend to touch base on several University projects.
Reconvening since their last meeting in February, the Trustees will look into the status of several projects both on campus and abroad. The first item on the agenda for the meeting this weekend is a presentation by Mary Bullock, executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University, said Board Chair Richard Wagoner, Trinity ’75. From there, the Board will look into projects closer to home, such as developments in medical education and online education.
“The business of the meeting will be devoted to updates on key initiatives that we’ve mostly been keeping up with,” Wagoner said. “Several of them will have people coming into the meeting and going over those.”
Touching base
Bullock will video conference in from her office in China and report on Kunshan’s status.
The campus’ opening was delayed to Fall 2014, marking the fifth consecutive delay of the campus’ opening in three years, The Chronicle previously reported. Bullock will be presenting information regarding Kunshan to the Board for the first time since her appointment in September.
Nancy Andrews, dean of the School of Medicine, will give the only formal presentation at this weekend’s meeting, Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for government affairs and public relations, wrote in an email Thursday. The Board will tour the new $55 million Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center for Medical Education, which opened to medical students in January 2013.
“A lot of our board members are interested with the new facilities, but also innovation in teaching methods that we understand might have broader applications…with the flipped classroom,” Wagoner said. “It’s evolving fairly significantly and I think it’s going to mean significant change in the medical education process. Some aspects of it apply more broadly to the University.”
Andrews could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
Provost Peter Lange will speak about online education in the aftermath of the Arts and Sciences Council voting down for-credit online courses.
The vote broke a contract Lange had signed in the fall with 2U, an internet education company, which had entered the University in the company’s Semester Online consortium of schools. Neither the decision to pursue online courses for credit nor the decision to sign with 2U specifically was voted on by any faculty governing body or committee.
Lange could not be reached in time for publication.
Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, will give updates on the housing model as it gets ready for its second year, Wagoner said.
Nowicki could not be reached in time for publication.
The Board will also hear updates about the ongoing and planned construction projects across campus. These include changes to the West Union building, some athletic fields, water chillers and the generator on Central Campus.
In other business
The Board will vote this weekend to elect a new chair, as Wagoner will be stepping down as chair following this meeting. The Committee on Trusteeship of the Board of Trustees will now consider nominees and invite new members to fill three other empty seats.
Wagoner noted that many Board members are also interested in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative.
Eric Toone, director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, will provide the Board with updates on the development of three new undergraduate courses, fundraising and the addition of two members to Initiative’s leadership team. Greg Dees, clinical professor at the Fuqua School of Business will head the social entrepreneurship component of the Initiative, and Greg Jones, senior strategist for leadership education at the Divinity School, will head the education component.
“The Initiative is built around four themes—education, research, translation and social entrepreneurship,” he said. “We have leadership in place now for two of those themes.”
Toone will also discuss new programs for students, such as the expansion of the Summer Innovation Program, which helps link students to new ventures as well as internships at existing start-ups.
The Board will also review the progress of Duke Forward, the University’s $3.25 billion capital campaign launched last year.
Executive Vice President and Treasurer Tallman Trask and President Richard Brodhead could not be reached for comment.
The Board will also approve the degrees, including the seven honorary degrees, to be conferred at the commencement ceremony Sunday. A number of the Trustees will attend the main events on Sunday as well as a number of the baccalaureate services and ceremonies across the different schools.
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