Duke University
PAE-2: Strategic Plan

Duke completed a Strategic Plan in 2006 that examined whether the University was living up to the highest standards of citizenship – local, national and global – and developed strategies and expectations for investment in Durham community, environmental stewardship, and fiscal integrity (See page 76 of link below). Excerpt from Plan - "Strengthen the Engagement of the University in Real World Issues. We seek distinction and distinctiveness by creating and nurturing signature academic initiatives that strengthen our engagement of real world issues by anticipating new models of knowledge formation, applying knowledge to societal issues, and providing students with the skills to succeed and lead in these areas. School plans put forth a rich array of academic initiatives that represent strategies for enhancing existing peaks of excellence and establishing new ones. As part of the Faculty Enhancement Initiative we have committed to provide initial support for programs and centers that advance university strategic priorities. It is our hope that some of these, over time, develop into signature initiatives that advance Duke’s distinctiveness. Complementing new centers we reaffirm our commitment to our signature initiatives: the Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy, the Social Science Research Institute, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, the Kenan Institute for Ethics, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and the Sanford Institute of Public Policy and the creation of two new initiatives: the Global Health Institute and the Institute for Brain, Mind, Genes, and Behavior. These signature initiatives serve as models for other universities. These programs will shape faculty development opportunities through the Faculty Enhancement Initiative, serve as magnets for attracting the best graduate students, and offer exciting educational opportunities for undergraduates. The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions: The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions (NIEPS), launched in the fall of 2005, is to be the translational arm for environmental research on campus, and by doing so, to become a unique and distinct broker in the often divisive debates that characterize the arena of environmental policy. The environmental policy dialogue has become polarized, with most participants perceived to be aligned with one or other political party. The NIEPS will work to catalyze progress on environmental problems in ways that work toward a 35 consensus or common understanding of the problems, thereby reducing adversarial debate. The NIEPS builds on the strength of the Nicholas School. Nicholas faculty are enthusiastic about interdisciplinary cooperation across campus and working collaboratively on policy-relevant projects. Because of the close partnerships between the NIEPS and various schools, the institute’s work will have the credibility that comes from an exhaustive faculty review process, yet be produced on a schedule that comports with the decision-making cycles of government, industry, and other institutions. Drawing on faculty expertise and its core group of professional staff, the institute will focus on the translation of this knowledge to guide decision makers in the public and private sectors. Because the institute’s ability to access the relevant decision-makers will evolve from leveraging established relationships; a permanent presence in Washington, D.C., the location of many of the environmental debates with which the institute will concern itself, will be strategic. Not only will this enable the faculty and staff associated with the NIEPS to build and maintain relationships with policymakers, but it will afford important research learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students interested in environmental policy."

Duke completed a Strategic Plan in 2006 that examined whether the University was living up to the highest standards of citizenship – local, national and global – and developed strategies and expectations for investment in Durham community, environmental stewardship, and fiscal integrity (See page 76 of link below). Excerpt from Plan - "Duke’s ambition is targeted not towards rankings but rather towards achieving a place of real leadership based on substantive contributions to society through the education we provide, the research that faculty pursue, the lives our graduates lead, and our direct involvement in making our local community a better place to live and work."

Duke completed a Strategic Plan in 2006 that examined whether the University was living up to the highest standards of citizenship – local, national and global – and developed strategies and expectations for investment in Durham community, environmental stewardship, and fiscal integrity (See page 76 of link below). Excerpt from Plan - "Knowledge in the service of society The founding indenture of Duke University directed the members of the University to “develop our resources, increase our wisdom, and promote human happiness.” Indeed, we have gone far in achieving James B. Duke’s dream to establish a place of outstanding intellectual eminence, “a place of real leadership.” But in Mr. Duke's vision, such leadership also involved harnessing the power of higher learning for the larger social good to meet the world's great needs: for intellectual understanding; for bodily care and healing and for spiritual inspiration; for justice; for economic productivity; and for understanding and caring for the natural world."