|
|
 |
|
DUKE’S SIGNATURE IN AMERICAN
HIGHER EDUCATION
• Section One -- Private Research Universities
in American Higher Education
• Section Two -- Duke's Mission, Ambition,
and Responsibility
• Section Three -- Competition and Differentiation:Duke's
Distinctive Signature
• Section Four -- Fundamental Threats
to the Pre-eminence of Private Research Universities
 ver
the past two years, Duke has undertaken a comprehensive academic planning
process, both within each of the schools and Trinity College, and
across the university, with a goal to position the university to become
as good as any private university in the nation. The planning process,
which was led by the university’s senior academic officer, Provost
Peter Lange, concluded in February with the board of trustees’
unanimous authorization to invest some $727.1 million over the next
five years to strengthen Duke’s academic programs and its students.
In the following pages, Duke Magazine reports the
introductory section of the plan, which outlines the context for higher
education’s current and future challenges and describes the unique
leadership role that Duke plays and projects to play in the future.
This preface was principally drafted by Provost Lange and by Vice
Provost for Finance and Administration James Roberts.
 he
purpose of this introductory essay is to provide a broad context for
considering the carefully crafted and intellectually exciting initiatives
outlined in the academic plan described in the following pages. Before
we turn to these specific initiatives, it is useful to situate our
high ambitions and bold goals in the context of American higher education
and the particular traditions of Duke University. Above all, this
introduction is intended to remind us of the ultimate ends and values
that motivate our collective efforts and that must ultimately provide
the touchstone for measuring our success. Duke has been blessed in
the past by far-sighted, effective leaders attuned to these values;
such outstanding leadership will be equally important in achieving
the goals of this plan.
Private Research Universities in American
Higher Education
American higher education is widely admired throughout
the world. Although the United States has no national university system,
we have achieved a breadth of access to higher education for our citizens
that is unequalled and a depth of accomplishment in advanced training
and scholarship that is unrivalled. The balance of trade in intellectual
capital and in providing intellectual services is decidedly in our
favor. Our strength results from the tremendous diversity of our educational
“system” (which is of course no system at all, but rather
an educational ecosystem of over 3,000 separate institutions, some
public and some private, some large and some small, some focused exclusively
on undergraduate education and some with broader aims in teaching
and research).
While institutions of many types and levels can be effective in meeting
their missions and serving their particular constituencies, only a
small number of the more than 3,000 institutions of higher education
are nationally and internationally pre-eminent by virtue of the breadth
and depth of their capacities and the contributions to education and
learning that result. There are institutions of this caliber among
the great state universities, and some of our liberal arts colleges
are truly distinguished. Among the great research universities, a
very high proportion are private. Many of these same institutions
are leaders in graduate and professional education, research, and
health care.
Private research universities occupy a special place in the diverse
world of American higher education because of their distinctive missions,
organization, governance, and funding. They are deliberately intermediate
in scope and scale between the small private colleges and the large
public universities. As a group, they attract a disproportionate number
of the best faculty, are highly selective in their admissions policies,
create a residential educational experience that promotes interaction
with the faculty and student learning outside the classroom, and provide
much of the nation’s leadership in research and scholarship.
They are resource-intensive places, typically combining large endowments,
strong philanthropic support, and external research funding with high
tuition. These resources are powerfully additive in supporting the
teaching and research missions of these institutions and their commitment
to national and international leadership.
Like the best small colleges, the premier private research universities
provide low student:faculty ratios, small classes, and extensive residential
programs with attractive social and cultural amenities. At the same
time, they support their research missions through competitively paid,
research-oriented faculty and the library, technology, and facilities
infrastructure necessary for them to succeed. Professional schools
in areas like business, law, and medicine add further to the range
of opportunities these institutions provide. Out of this combination
comes an education of extraordinary breadth and depth, as students
learn from faculty members who themselves are actively engaged in
creating new knowledge and solving real-world problems.
• continues on page
two |
|
