Academic Council Meeting
December 4, 2025
3:30 – 5:00 PM
0016 Westbrook Building (Divinity School)
- Welcome / Remarks from the Chair
- Approval of the October 16, 2025 Meeting Minutes
- Presentation from Tracy Futhey (Vice President for Information Technology and CIO), Nick Tripp (Chief Information Security Officer) and Evan Levine (Sr. Director, IT Services and Support) on the following topics: Important changes to IT security practices and an update on AI and automation projects underway to simplify processes and support faculty and broader campus needs
- Discussion regarding the report from the 2030 Teaching & Mentoring Excellence Committee: Professors Bridgette Hard (Psychology & Neuroscience) and Jerry Reiter (Statistical Science) (Report) (Resolution from APC)
- The following anonymous questions were submitted for University Leadership to address which they have requested be discussed in Executive Session:
Recent changes to Duke’s housekeeping organization required long-time staff members—some with decades of service—to reapply for their positions. Following this process, several employees have been reassigned to different parts of campus. From what I have observed, these moves appear to have disproportionately affected Black staff members, creating the appearance of a large-scale reshuffling of Black labor possibly without consent.
Housekeeping staff are unionized, so my questions are:
- Was this reorganization—and the resulting reassignment of workers—driven by Duke University administration or by the union?
- What principles or policies guided these decisions, and how does the University ensure that such actions do not perpetuate racial inequities or reinforce a lack of agency of certain demographic groups in the management of staff?
And a related question:
- Was any demographic analysis conducted following the implementation of the VSIP and RIF programs? Specifically, did the University evaluate whether these programs had a disproportionate impact on any particular groups of employees?