Arts and Sciences Council May Expand Membership to Other Schools

Undergraduate education at Duke used to be a matter of only two schools, but with the formation of the Sanford School of Public Policy this year, four different units are now involved.

In response, faculty are exploring ways to adapt their governing structures to a new situation requiring more coordination.

This past Thursday, Arts and Sciences Faculty Council Chair Ruth Day told council members that discussions are ongoing with representatives of the Nicholas, Sanford and Pratt schools to open its membership to faculty members from other schools with undergraduate programs. The proposal is to allow members of these schools on the Arts and Sciences Faculty Council as observers with voting rights only on undergraduate education issues.

"To do this would require bylaw changes, so we're looking at this carefully," Day said. "We've talked with the arts and sciences deans, and they think it's a good thing."

Day said a proposal for bylaws changes may be ready as early as the January 2010 council meeting.

The increasing need to coordinate on undergraduate education policies already has spurred creation of the new position of dean of undergraduate education, filled in 2007 by Dean Steve Nowicki, who has been a proponent of this proposed change. "Ruth Day has been a forward-looking partner in helping to conceptualize how to adjust faculty governance of the curriculum to meet the realities of the complex curricular world our students experience," Nowicki said.

In addition, Craig Henriquez, chair of the Academic Council, and Suzanne Shanahan, a member of the Academic Council's executive committee, are past chairs of the Engineering and Arts and Sciences Faculty Council respectively. Both have stated their interest in improving cooperation among faculty governing bodies on undergraduate education.