Members of the Academic Council took a break from business as usual Thursday afternoon and heard an informal presentation about the establishment of an international university in Thailand.
Provost John Strohbehn and Bruce Kuniholm, vice provost for academic and international affairs, presented the history, goals and potential risks of a proposal that calls for Duke to assist as a "coordinating partner" in the establishment of the Asian International University on the east seaboard of Thailand.
The aim of AIU's Thai founders is to establish an international university similar to Duke, which would be the first of its kind in Thailand. "Their goal is to establish a liberal arts, research-oriented university that emphasizes interdisciplinary studies," Kuniholm said. "The founders felt that Thailand needed a university based more on the American model than their technical universities."
Duke's commitment to the project would entail offering advice about the selection of AIU's president, the formation of an advisory committee consisting of eight Duke faculty members, the appointment of two representatives to AIU's Board of Trustees and the provision of space for the these groups. "Our major role as a coordinating partner is to help get the university up and running," Strohbehn said.
In return, Duke would receive $4.5 million for three endowed chairs and $1.5 million for the establishment of a joint Institute of Asian Studies, Kuniholm said.
Kuniholm added that he consulted numerous experts about the viability of the planned university before submitting the proposal to Duke's Board of Trustees last December. Those consulted include American professors-some of whom were from Duke-who have either worked in or extensively studied Thailand, the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, the U.S.-Thailand Business Council and numerous financial experts. "The bottom line is that the risk is small," Kuniholm said. "The greatest [risk] is that the whole project could failÉ and Duke might suffer some kind of reputation damage."
Duke is currently waiting for a response to a set of academic and curriculum standards it formulated and thereafter submitted to AIU's Thai founders. The administration will not take further action until it receives a response to said conditions.
If Duke is to continue its involvement with AIU, Kuniholm said the school must meet two major criteria: First, AIU must remain financially viable; second, the students admitted must be of generally high caliber and be able to pass certain standard examinations after graduating from AIU.
After the presentation, Craufurd Goodwin, James B. Duke professor of economics, who is also involved in the project, joined Strohbehn and Kuniholm in fielding questions from the floor.
In response to one particular question, Goodwin said that although no other universities would be directly involved, "we are looking for faculty from across the U.S. who are interested in spending a few years in Thailand."
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