Faculty leaders and senior administrators acknowledged widespread concerns about transparency, strategic input and trust in Duke’s decision-making process at Thursday’s Academic Council meeting. They characterized shared governance as fundamentally sound but in need of renewed attention.
“We talk a lot about our values and how we value faculty input, but do we really value faculty input?” asked Trina Jones, former Academic Council Chair and Jerome M. Culp distinguished professor of law.
The discussion took place in a panel conversation led by Academic Council Chair Mark Anthony Neal that featured Trinity’s Arts & Sciences Council Chair Denise Comer and former Academic Council Chair Don Taylor. It came in response to questions from faculty members about whether existing structures adequately represented faculty voices, and much of the conversation centered on a series of anonymous questions submitted ahead of the meeting…