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DUKE’S SIGNATURE IN AMERICAN
HIGHER EDUCATION
• Section One
-- Private Research Universities in American Higher Education
• Section Two -- Duke's Mission, Ambition, and Responsibility
• Section Three -- Competition and Differentiation:Duke's
Distinctive Signature
• Section Four -- Fundamental Threats
to the Pre-eminence of Private Research Universities
Duke’s
Mission, Ambition, and Responsibility
Duke University is among these top-echelon private
research universities. We have substantially realized James B. Duke’s
remarkable vision of transforming a progressive regional liberal arts
college into a national and international university. Thanks to the
vision and patient labor of generations of trustees, administrators,
faculty, staff, students, and alumni, Duke has claimed “a place
of real leadership in the educational world,” as he envisioned.
Our trajectory has been remarkable, and our momentum is strong. But
our work is never done. Honest self-examination and understanding
of the competitive advantages enjoyed by even more successful institutions
show us the way. Moreover, like other successful private universities,
Duke must continually adapt its priorities and commitments in the
face of new environmental opportunities and challenges and the changing
internal dynamics of the educational ecosystem.
This is not a matter necessarily of catching some institutions or
surpassing others. We do not know with certainty which institutions
will be “the best” 20 or 30 years from now, or how the best
will even be defined. Our overriding goal therefore is to be among
the small number of institutions that define what is the best in American
higher education. Certainly Duke can learn from other institutions,
but we must also set our own sights and help set the standards for
others. This is what leadership means.
What are the practical implications of this overarching ambition?
It means first of all focusing on fundamental purposes and then setting
our own standards. We are the stewards of a sacred trust rooted in
our strong historic ties to the Methodist church, recognized civilly
in our tax-exempt status, and reinforced by the benefactions of generations
of donors who have reposed confidence in us to exercise wise stewardship
over the resources they have entrusted to the university. This sacred
trust and attendant resources have but one inter-related, common purpose:
to foster the intellectual and ethical development of individuals
and to promote the good of society. We pursue the good, as the Indenture
and our mission direct, through teaching, patient care, the preservation
and discovery of knowledge, and other forms of service to our community.
Being a leader in these pursuits requires an unstinting devotion to
excellence. The notion of excellence and its pursuit has become something
of a cliché in recent years so it is worth pausing to consider
what we mean by it. Like other fundamental values, excellence eludes
simple definition; nonetheless, some effort at clarification is worthwhile.
Excellence is first of all a quality of what we aim to create. To
paraphrase Ambrose Bierce, excellence is the quality that distinguishes
the imaginary state of perfection from the mediocrity we too often
see around us. Although we can’t always define or measure it
precisely, thoughtful people recognize excellence in the various walks
of human life, and that subjective recognition (justly deserved fame)
is intrinsic to its elusive quality. Indeed, the most common way to
recognize excellence is through peer review processes (juried competitions
and selection committees for prestigious awards, for example). From
another perspective, excellence is not a “thing” or an end-point
but rather, as Aristotle was probably the first to say in his discussions
of ethics, a habit (or discipline) of constantly pursuing the best.
The pursuit of excellence is not a destination but the disciplined
commitment to excel (to rise above others, to be eminent).
Duke’s ambition must be to excel in its chosen endeavors, to
pursue the elusive goal of perfection through constant improvements,
to surpass others and gain distinction. This is our responsibility
if Duke is to claim and sustain a “place of real leadership”
in the educational world and to serve society as James B. Duke envisioned.
This striving to be the best is what gives us the prospect of being
among the best.
How do we know if we are hitting the mark in doing good and pursuing
excellence? We need both internal standards and external feedback.
While a substantial section of the strategic plan is devoted to assessment,
it is worthwhile to reflect here on the fundamentals with regard to
teaching and research. Consistent with our mission, we want to have
a demonstrable impact on the good of society through our teaching,
research, and direct service to the community. Our social impact in
teaching is greatest if Duke educates leaders, men and women who will
not only succeed professionally but who will be role models in their
personal conduct, their civic contributions, and their commitment
to lifelong learning. It follows that we want those whom we teach
to leave Duke better equipped not only with specific knowledge and
skills but also with a truer ethical compass, a deeper sense of social
responsibility, and a more passionate engagement in the multifaceted
world around them. This is especially true of our responsibilities
to (and expectations of) undergraduates, who spend four especially
formative years among us, shaping their characters as well as their
minds. As Duke graduates, all our students must share that sense of
stewardship of our sacred trust that properly motivates trustees,
administrators, and faculty.
We can only imperfectly measure our success in educating in this expansive
way, but what we want to gauge is the long-term satisfaction of our
alumni, both with their Duke education and with the lives they lead,
and the contributions they make in their professional endeavors and
the communities in which they live. Shorter term, we can (and do)
learn from our currently enrolled students about their Duke experiences,
what is working well and what needs improvement. While we can gauge
success anecdotally, and measure it periodically through survey research,
there is also an important market test, and that is the demand for
our programs expressed in our applicant pool and matriculation rates.
The expected value of a Duke education is embodied in the choices
of the thousands of students who apply for places in our programs
each year. Indeed, this is one of most critical forms of external
feedback we receive.
When it comes to research and scholarship, Duke serves society by
preserving and extending the body of human knowledge, enriching the
diverse perspectives that can be brought to bear on the fundamental
character and practical problems of human life and society, and contributing
to the stock of useful products and services available to society.
How do we know if Duke is succeeding in this part of our mission?
Again, there are no definitive, easy measures. Just as the individual
impact of a Duke education is played out over decades, the work of
research and scholarship is long-term and cumulative. Some impacts
are immediately evident, but the lasting impact of ideas and discoveries
is something only time can tell. But we know Duke is succeeding when
the work of our faculty is published in prominent places, discussed
in the national media, cited in the works of other scholars, taught
in their courses, and honored by professional organizations and national
awards. In professional fields, we want to inform the practice of
doctors, lawyers, preachers, engineers, business people, and public
policy makers well beyond the ranks of our own students. In the sciences
and engineering, we want to earn the support of private foundations
and government agencies, produce important discoveries and translate
them into successful products and processes. Though harder to quantify
than student demand, these are all real market indicators of our effectiveness.
But we can also look closer to home. The most immediate impact of
our scholars and researchers is on their faculty colleagues and their
students. Interesting faculty attract interesting faculty, and we
can size up the vitality of our faculty individually and collectively
by the degree to which they serve as magnets by virtue of their ability
to stimulate the creativity and contributions of others. It is not
just the quality of our faculty that matters but the quality of their
interactions with each other and with their students.
This latter point provides an important reminder of the centrality
of community in higher education. Our job as leaders is to create
the conditions that allow teaching, learning, scholarship, and research
to flourish. While each of those activities can take place under a
wide range of circumstances, there is no question that they flourish
most effectively in a community that shares a common purpose and values,
a community that fosters creativity, intellectual risk taking, spirited
debate, and social engagement. Essential to achieving those common
purposes is a value system that respects and takes full advantage
of the intellectual and cultural diversity of our community and that
accords dignity and respect to all of the varied people and roles
essential to the mission of Duke. Like excellence, community is an
elusive ideal. It is both a goal and a discipline, and we must keep
it constantly in view.
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