Picking a provost

This June, Peter Lange, Duke’s tenth and longest-serving provost, will step down from his position. It is difficult to overstate Lange’s impact on the University. Current seniors can attest to considerable changes over the last four years: curricular initiatives like Duke Immerse and Bass Connections, the launch of Duke Forward and the marked acceleration of Duke Kunshan University and online education. Longtime faculty can testify even more powerfully. Lange has helped transform Duke over the past 15 years, helping establish interdisciplinary institutes, such as the Duke Global Health Institute; launch DukeEngage; build campus infrastructure and bolster financial aid. Perhaps most importantly, nearly two-thirds of current faculty and all deans were appointed under Lange. Lange has made a mark on the University where it matters most: its people.

Now, George Truskey, the R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson professor of biomedical engineering and senior associate dean for research in the Pratt School, is chairing a search committee for the new provost. Truskey hopes the committee will have narrowed its pool to three candidates, whom it will then recommend to President Brodhead, by this spring.

As Duke changes at near breakneck speed, the provost search process should serve as a much-needed opportunity for reflection. Nothing less than Duke’s future is at stake. As we saw with Lange, a single individual can march an institution in dramatically new directions. While some of these directions are widely praised—the Financial Aid Initiative, in which Lange played a key role, was a great success—others remain controversial. Internal discussion about the promises and pitfalls of global expansion and online education have occasionally turned sour. Communication breakdowns between faculty and administration, such as in the faculty’s rejection of for-credit 2U courses last spring, prove not everyone is on board with Duke’s metamorphosis. To advance ambitiously but sensibly, we propose a few questions for the Duke community to consider as the University prepares to select a new provost.

What is Duke now? The rapid proliferation of new programs—it seems a new one is born each week—is dizzying. We urge the provost search committee to examine Lange’s programmatic contributions critically. Which have been good investments? Interdisciplinary institutes come to mind. Which could be improved? DukeEngage’s admirable but imperfect attempt to promote “knowledge in the service of society” might qualify. Which projects have been failures? We hope the committee will conduct an honest appraisal of Duke’s current academic state.

What could Duke become? Moving towards certain institutional priorities can mean distancing ourselves from others. Lange, a social scientist, is familiar with the concept of an opportunity cost. Could an excessive global orientation distract us from learning at home? Could online courses erode precious classrooms relationships? Could a focus on interdisciplinary problem solving sacrifice deep, meditative learning? We do not know the answers, only that the questions beg asking.

What should Duke become? Self-authorship is a tricky thing for a large and complex institution. What role should faculty and students play in setting Duke’s course? We hope that the provost search committee favors candidates with powerful but plastic visions for Duke’s future. Lange, a proven visionary, has sculpted Duke into an impressive institution. But we should also shape ourselves. That self-determination starts with thoughtfully picking a new provost.