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Duke Joins National Alliance of Colleges and Universities to Tackle Problems Related to Pandemic and Inequality

Duke and 35 other colleges and universities this week have joined together in an alliance to help deal with problems caused by the pandemic, income inequality, the changing nature of work, and levels of unemployment among recent college graduates nearly double those seen in the 2008 recession. The Taskforce on Higher Education and Opportunity includes public, private, two-year, and four-year institutions that together enroll more than 2.5 million students.

Duke President Vincent Price is a member of the Taskforce, which is focused on three key goals: ensuring student success despite the worst recession since World War II, partnering with local communities, and reimagining how higher education is delivered.  For the first round of initiatives, taskforce members have identified actions that set students and graduates up for success and security in the post-pandemic economy by creating opportunities for them to gain valuable skills and professional experience.

Duke’s contribution to this effort is Keep Exploring, which leveraged the university’s strong alumni and parent network to identify research and internship opportunities this past summer for current students and recent graduates.

The initiative successfully matched 449 students with parent or alumni sponsors in their areas of interest, providing them with work experience and meaningful mentorship, which far exceeded the goal of 200 students.  Keep Exploring will continue to expand in four areas: establishing mentorship guidelines, creating a strategy for funding unpaid work experiences, fostering alumni and parent engagement as sponsors, and leveraging university-wide resources to ensure the success of this program at scale.

For more about the Taskforce on Higher Education and Opportunity, visit the taskforce website.