Initiatives
Duke has a long-standing commitment to increasing the diversity
in all parts of the university community – faculty, staff and
student body.
Among the goals of its ongoing efforts:
- Increase minority student enrollment and recruit and retain diverse faculty and staff.
- Provide minority students, faculty and staff with the necessary support to succeed.
- Promote an academic and social environment where diversity can flourish.
Three years ago, Provost Peter Lange launched the Faculty Diversity Initiative as a successor to the Black Faculty Strategic Initiative, a 10-year plan that set a goal of doubling the number of black faculty at Duke. That goal was successfully met, and the new initiative broadened the effort to include other underrepresented groups.
The Faculty
Mentoring Initiative, announced in 2006, highlights best practices
for faculty, department chairs and other administrators, emphasizing
the importance of diversity concerns in mentoring and retention.
The Women’s Initiative, launched in 2002, aimed to more fully understand the experiences and needs of women at Duke and to develop strategies to address the challenges women face. Duke also was one of five research universities to receive a $250,000 grant supporting efforts to improve work/family balance for faculty members from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
In addition, the Provost’s Office is responsible for examining and promoting programs that enhance the pipeline of future faculty members, including the Provost’s Postdoctoral Scholars Program launched in 2007; and linking with similar offices at peer institutions in order to share ideas, promote best practices, and learn ways in which Duke can improve and provide leadership in areas of diversity.
Other efforts
In principle and practice, Duke University Hospital is committed to equity and fairness in staff recruitment, retention, professional development, and care delivery.
Duke University and Duke Medicine are committed to supporting diversity in our community. One of the many strategic efforts we are involved in is Duke's Supplier Diversity Program, which is dedicated to helping diverse businesses grow locally and globally.
Several independent groups have formed to press for progress on diversity issues at Duke. Among them: a committee on Senior Women in Science and a newly formed Black Faculty Caucus. Two other groups, the President’s Council on Black Affairs and the President’s Council on Women, also address diversity issues more broadly.