FORMAL REVIEW AND RENEWAL OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CENTER 

Interdisciplinary school-based centers are normally approved for a five-year period, and then undergo a full review and consideration for renewal.  Reviews are conducted through the Office of the Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies, with the relevant dean(s), and include a center self-evaluation, internal and external reviewer letters, and any other relevant materials.

For the review, the interdisciplinary center will prepare a self-evaluation that amounts to an elaborated annual report (and will suffice as the annual report for that year). The basic objective of the review is to determine whether the center is meeting its strategic goals, which programmatic and administrative areas are successful and which have room for improvement, and what the center’s goals are for the next period. The review looks at the entire unit, generally focusing on:

Intellectual Contribution and Integration

  • The continuing intellectual contribution of the center, justification for Duke’s commitment to an interdisciplinary center in this area, and both distinctiveness and compatibility with similar units on campus.
  • The level of faculty participation in the center.
  • The center’s ability to involve multiple departments or administrative units both within and outside Duke.
  • Integration of interdisciplinary research efforts into core departments and schools.
  • Integration of interdisciplinary teaching efforts into core departments and schools.

Education

  • The level of student participation including, where relevant, course syllabi, evaluations, and other materials for undergraduate and graduate courses as well as a breakdown of the number of classes offered by the unit and the number of students enrolled in those classes, and courses planned for future years.
  • Progress toward the approval of a graduate or undergraduate certificate.

Funding

  • Current and future year budget projections.
  • Sources and amounts of internal funding.
  • Sources, amounts (and a list of applications pending) for external funding and detailed plan for securing future outside funding.

Administration

  • Appropriate administrative reporting lines.
  • Effective management of the unit.   
  • For those interdisciplinary units large enough to have both a faculty director and executive director, the review should address the effectiveness of the administrative operations of the unit.