Chapter 4 - Academic Goals and Strategies to Build Distinction
Goal 2: Strengthen the Engagement of the University in Real World Issues
Top-tier private research universities have a remarkable similarity among their academic initiatives, and original, successful, ideas proffered by one or several are often quickly developed and nurtured by others, increasing institutional competitiveness. Our strategy must be to go beyond this traditional mold, to differentiate ourselves within the top group of schools by our capacity to innovate and lead, to seize opportunities that capitalize on our unique strengths. In this plan, we seek distinction and distinctiveness by creating and nurturing signature academic initiatives that strengthen our engagement of real world issues by anticipating new models of knowledge formation, applying knowledge to societal issues, and providing students with the skills to succeed and lead in these areas.
School plans describe a rich array of academic initiatives that represent strategies for enhancing existing peaks of excellence and establishing new ones. In some cases, an individual school is the home of an initiative because of the schools high concentration of faculty connected to that area. In other cases, initiatives provide interdisciplinary and international opportunities, involving faculty both within a single school and collaborations between schools in a university-wide effort. As part of the Faculty Enhancement Initiative we have committed to provide initial support for programs and centers that advance university strategic priorities. It is our hope that some of these, over time, develop into signature initiatives that advance Duke's distinctiveness.
Complementing the new institutes and centers supported by the Faculty Enhancement Initiative, we seek to define and advance our goal to engage in real world problems by pursuing two key strategies:
- Recommit to successful signature initiatives, enabling them to achieve a new level of excellence
- Launch two new initiatives that take advantage of the unique strengths of our campus and further our strategic institutional themes
Recommit to successful signature initiatives, enabling them to achieve a new level of excellence
We reaffirm our commitment to our signature initiatives: the Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy, the Social Science Research Institute, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, the Kenan Institute for Ethics, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. These signature initiatives serve as models for other universities and require continued and enhanced support. These programs will shape faculty development opportunities through the Faculty Enhancement Initiative, serve as magnets for attracting the best graduate students, enhance undergraduate educational opportunities, and foster interdisciplinary "vertical integration teams" of faculty, post-docs, graduate and undergraduate students, and practitioners.
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