Academic Council addressed insufficient lab space available for new hires and concerns about the lack of investment in and deferred maintenance of research facilities during its Thursday meeting.
The council also reviewed a report on a potential new faculty hiring pilot that would request applicants disclose prior instances of misconduct.
Research facilities upkeep problems
According to Executive Vice President Daniel Ennis, the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has a “profound … maintenance problem,” particularly with regard to the upkeep of research facilities in the Reuben-Cooke Building, Biological Sciences Building and Physics Building.
In January, an investigation of nine facilities revealed that approximately $1.2 billion was needed to bring them up to an “acceptable level of function and modernization.”
Facilities Management has committed to renewing nine academic and research centers, prioritizing the Reuben-Cooke Building as the University’s first project in its capital improvement plan.
Ennis suggested two steps to drive the University in the right direction.
He advocated for improved communication between renovation workers — including facilities, design and engineering teams — and faculty, noting that University administration had already taken steps to address this gap.
Secondly, he said that departments need to ask questions of whether it has the “facility to support the scientific direction [or] the particular research program, and if so, … what [i t] needs to discover to determine that.”
In response to Ennis’ report, Steffen Bass, arts and sciences distinguished professor of physics, expressed the need to set a “reasonable timeframe” for renovations.
Associate Professor of Physics Michael Troxel echoed Bass’ statement, adding that despite the physics department’s efforts to defer hiring by a year and target new faculty without special lab needs, new hires still may not have a lab for two years post-acceptance. He added that it is not clear “from the facility side what more [they] could do to mitigate [those effects] at this point.”
President Vincent Price also spoke on the University’s effort to prioritize capital expenditures and Duke’s Climate Commitment as it works to renovate older buildings.
“What we’re doing now is turning our attention to replacing old buildings and renewing old buildings as a first maneuver before we build new things,” he said. “… We can't continue to build new things at the same rate we've been building without compounding the problem that we have already identified.”
Faculty hiring policy pilot
The council also reviewed and provided feedback on a report recommending a pilot faculty hiring policy that initiates reference checks and requests disclosure of prior or ongoing faculty misconduct investigations, including instances of harassment and discrimination.
With the new policy, Duke joins other universities in addressing the phenomenon of “passing the harasser” — where faculty with a history of misconduct move between institutions without the new institution being aware of previous accusations.
Abbas Benmamoun, vice provost for faculty advancement, emphasized that the problem is a “national issue.” He noted that the University hires roughly 600 new faculty members per year, making it imperative to screen for records of harmful behavior.
Under the new policy, prospective new hires will be informed on their application that the University inquires about “past misconduct or policy violations,” although such disclosures do not necessarily immediately constitute grounds for disqualification. Applicants must fill out attestations and record past misconduct.
If the attestation includes a prior or ongoing misconduct investigation, the University will procure the applicant’s records and further action will be taken depending on the nature of the alleged misconduct.
Job offers will also include a notice that failure to disclose instances of misconduct will result in consequences.
The original June report proposed a two-year pilot program beginning this fall, which would conclude with a review by the Provost’s Office in the spring and summer of 2026 to determine whether the process should be continued or adjusted.
According to Benmamoun, the process will be revised before a pilot version is rolled out.
The system is designed to ensure privacy for prospective hires, with Human Resources managing attestations separately from the academic leadership of departments or schools reviewing final applications, though they can be informed of misconduct.
“There is going to be a wall between these disclosures and the academic part of the application,” Benmamoun said.
According to Benmamoun, different offices will handle investigations based on the nature of misconduct. For example, cases of harassment or discrimination will be directed to the Office for Institutional Equity, while research misconduct will be investigated by the Office of Research and Innovation.
“We need to make sure that [the] people we hire are people who are going to live up to our values,” Benmamoun said. “… Addressing this issue is not just the right thing to do for the individuals who are here, but also, it is important for us to do to retain faculty [and] to retain our students.”
He clarified that the process is separate from a background check, as it applies solely to violations of university policies, not criminal law.
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Rebecca Fan is a Trinity sophomore and a staff reporter for the news department.