McLendon Encourages Duke Community to Rebuild Mutual Trust
Dean says faculty, staff and students can all help repair strained bonds
Friday, September 7, 2007
Durham, NC -- Dean George McLendon said Thursday that faculty, staff and students should work together this year to rebuild trust within the Duke community and suggested that faculty members take the first step by allowing their course evaluations to be openly available to students.
“Our students are hard pressed to make informed curricular choices beyond the major,” said McLendon, dean of the arts and sciences faculty. “We each steward data, in the form of course evaluations that students could use to make more informed and effective course choices. Currently only 20 percent of faculty share these data, fueling unproductive and unnecessary mistrust with our students.
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George McLendon |
“I would urge that, today, as faculty leaders, we make individual choices to rebuild trust. ‘Opt in.’ I have. You can find the evaluations for my Chem 22L course. Make your evaluations available to students. Let them know you trust their judgment. Urge your colleagues to follow your example. Trust can beget further trust.”
McLendon spoke to the year’s first meeting of the Arts and Sciences Council. His brief remarks discussed the three factors he said he believes are important in attracting new faculty members to Duke: interdisciplinarity, scholarship that brings “tangible improvements in peoples’ lives, from Carolina to Kenya,” and a sense of community at Duke.
His focus was on the third point.
“Duke has prospered as an inclusive institution with multiple communities of engagement. Some communities, such as departments or schools, are structural, but faculty and students create networks that transcend any of these structures,” he said. “We live and work in communities, whether Durham or Durban, which can engender tensions. Engaging and resolving these tensions enriches us all.
“Within Arts and Sciences, I would argue our single most important community is our student community ranging from first-year undergraduates through ABD’s, all guided and mentored by faculty. Our research production is animated by its presentation to students: professors need profess. In this way, Duke’s most enduring legacy is the intellectual and personal growth our students experience here, and the role we play in nurturing this growth. The success of our faculty/student community depends on mutual capability, mutual commitment, and mutual trust and respect.”
McLendon said he believed all members of the Duke community needed to rededicate themselves to building mutual trust and respect. After 18 months of turmoil related to the lacrosse case, he said all members of the Duke community should challenge their own attitudes and stereotypes.
“No one is advantaged by stereotypes. Trust is diminished when any student is judged by race, or class, or by social group or athletic pursuits. Trust is similarly diminished when we judge faculty colleagues on the basis of selective interpretation of a single statement or action. We deserve more, and should demand more of ourselves.
“Going forward, I would suggest that faculty show leadership in building community through acts of individual goodwill. There are many ways we can rebuild trust – ranging from transparent grading to intellectual engagements beyond the classroom,” McLendon said.