Presidential Search Starts with List of Criteria

DURHAM, N.C. -- Outstanding scholarship, moral leadership, managerial skill and a deep commitment to the values of liberal education are among the characteristics Duke University will seek in its ninth president, according to new guidelines adopted by the university's Board of Trustees for its presidential search committee.

The Criteria and Qualifications Statement highlights the responsibilities of Duke's next president and offers a list of desired personal characteristics, including the ability to think strategically, communicate effectively and act decisively. The statement, which also notes the importance of topics ranging from athletics to fund-raising, concludes by calling for "a healthy sense of irony and humor" and "a keen sense of Duke's history."

"For several weeks, we've been asking the Duke community to tell us what kind of person we should be seeking through this process," said Robert K. Steel, vice chair of the Board of Trustees and chair of the presidential search committee. "We heard from more than 100 people and were guided by their advice as we drafted this Criteria and Qualifications Statement, which we discussed with the board's executive committee. The final document clearly outlines the main responsibilities of the president and the kind of person we think Duke needs to do the job effectively."

The trustees formed the search committee in April following the March 1 announcement by Nannerl O. Keohane that she would step down as Duke's eighth president in June 2004. The committee's 16 regular members include trustees, faculty members, students and others. Sara S. Beale, the Charles L. B. Lowndes Professor in the School of Law, is the committee's vice chair.

Steel said the committee would post the statement on its Web site and share it with potential applicants and others interested in the process. With these guidelines in place, he added, the committee will now focus on evaluating possible candidates and seek to narrow down its list to just one or a few names for the full Board of Trustees to consider in time to elect Duke's ninth president by February 2004.

A copy of the Criteria and Qualifications Statement follows below:

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CRITERIA AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF DUKE UNIVERSITY

The search for a new chief executive officer of Duke University is an occasion to remember the ideals and purposes that have undergirded and guided Duke throughout its history, beginning with its founding in 1838 as a college with Methodist and Quaker roots, and continuing with its transformation into a university under the provisions of The Duke Endowment Indenture established by James B. Duke in 1924. That Indenture stipulates that the University appoint as its officers, trustees, and faculty persons "of such outstanding character, ability, and vision as will insure its attaining and maintaining a place of real leadership in the educational world." That statement frames well the goal of the Search Committee and of the Board of Trustees as they undertake the search for Duke's ninth president.

Duke University today has 12,000 students, 122,000 alumni, more than 27,000 faculty and employees, and a world-class health system that includes three hospitals and a broad range of supporting organizations. The combined annual budget for the University and Health System approaches $2.7 billion. Duke ranks in the upper echelons of nationally recognized U.S. research universities and aspires to achieve commensurate recognition and influence internationally.

While Duke shares the financial challenges confronting all colleges and universities, its current operations and financial position are sound. The remarkable success of the Campaign for Duke, which has raised more than $2 billion (including $750 million for endowment), strongly positions Duke to build on its strengths and pursue new initiatives. As set forth in its "Building on Excellence" strategic plan, which was developed in a broadly participative process within the University community and adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2001, Duke's aspiration is to develop "comparable breadth and depth" with "any of the leading private universities." As Duke is a relatively young university, its endowment, at approximately $2.2 billion, is not as large as that of many of its peers and will require continual efforts to keep increasing its assets.

Duke's success, vitality, and future promise reside largely in its balanced blend of undergraduate liberal arts programs, professional schools, and graduate school. Those units operate with appropriate autonomy within an unusually successful and valued integrated structure that nurtures a rich array of interdisciplinary programs and facilitates the efficient sharing of central services.

Among the responsibilities of the next president of the University, the following have been identified by the Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee as meriting special attention:

-- Continued strengthening of the faculty and of particular departments, schools, and programs;

-- Continued emphasis on the University's strong tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching and research;

-- Continued strengthening and integration with the rest of the University of a strong health care system amid the rapidly changing landscape of health care, education, and research;

-- Increased representation of women and minorities in the faculty and administration, and continued progress toward a student body that is nationally and internationally diverse;

-- Continued efforts to ensure recognition, support, and understanding for the many cultures and populations represented in a diverse community of faculty, staff, and students;

-- Improved integration of the intellectual, social, and residential life of undergraduate students, and of graduate and professional school students into the university community;

-- Oversight of athletic programs that are competitive within the University's established guidelines; formulation of University athletic policies within the context of affiliated universities, especially those of the Atlantic Coast Conference;

-- Continued emphasis on and development of information technology in the interests of education, research, management, and integration with appropriate aspects of university life;

-- Oversight of a complex management system to assure fair allocation and efficient use of resources based upon comprehensive strategic planning;

-- Improved capitalization of the University, including substantial enlargement of the endowment and increased gift income for the operating budget and capital projects;

-- Ever stronger projection of the University's mission and priorities;

-- Leadership and management of the University in the context of accelerating social changes that will affect higher education and all other institutions in American society;

-- Close working relationship with the Board of Trustees and faculty leadership to ensure continued good governance within the University;

-- Attention to the impact of globalization on research universities, and full development of globalization's potential advantages to the University;

-- Continued attention to collaboration with neighboring universities on all mutually beneficial fronts;

-- Attention to the potential contributions that higher education, both acting alone and in partnerships, can make to the solution of problems in our host community and the larger society.

Following widespread consultation concerning the professional strengths and personal qualities most desired in the next president, the Board of Trustees and the Search Committee have determined that candidates for the appointment will be measured against the following characteristics:

-- The personal values and character traits to provide ethical and moral leadership, consonant with Duke's commitments to scholarship, internationalism, cultural diversity, and service to society; -- Scholarly standing in the top tier of his/her discipline, and full appreciation of the teaching and mentoring roles of university faculty; -- The intellectual qualities that exemplify the life of the mind, and a deep commitment to the values of liberal and professional education; -- A thorough understanding of the purposes and activities of a research university of national and international dimensions, and of its role in society; a deep commitment to the values of liberal education; and a delight in living and working in an academic community that fosters an intellectually and socially diverse culture; -- The ability to formulate and articulate a vision of what the University is and should become as a center of research, teaching, and service, and the ability to realize that vision; -- A high order of management skills, including the ability to identify and, as required, recruit strong leaders as members of the University's management team and as heads of major academic components, as well as the ability to delegate important responsibilities to University officers and deans, and to elicit teamwork from them; -- The ability to build the institution, the capacity to think and plan strategically, and the will to adhere to long-term plans while making due allowance for revisions and deviations suggested by new opportunities and unpredicted circumstances; -- The willingness to confront difficult issues and make timely decisions, following appropriate consultation; -- The ability to represent the University to all of its internal and external constituent groups, and to the public at large; the capacity to become a national spokesperson for higher education and for the ethical significance of the University's mission; -- The visibility, warmth, communication skills, and accessibility to strengthen the bonds of the University community, as well as the relations of the University with its alumni and with the city and region; -- The desire and demonstrated ability to attract financial support for the ongoing and future needs of all components of the University; -- The ability to listen, to learn, to grow, and to adapt to unanticipated changes; -- Stamina, energy, optimism, and emotional resilience; -- The ability to combine seriousness of purpose with a healthy sense of irony and humor with respect to matters big and small; -- A keen sense of Duke's history, including its roots and traditions.