ACADEMIC COUNCIL MEETING
January 19, 2017
3:30 PM, 0012 Westbrook (Divinity School)
1. Welcome / Announcements
2. Approval of minutes from the November 17 and December 1, 2016 meetings (November minutes) (December minutes)
3. Report from the Academic Council nominating committee for the next chair: Professor Kerry Haynie
4. Proposal for a new master's degree in interdisciplinary data science: Robert Calderbank, Director, Information Initiative & Tom Nechyba, Director, Social Science Research Institute (proposal) (APC resolution) (Provost's memo)
5. Presentation regarding proposed changes to the Faculty Handbook regarding NTT-RR faculty: Senior Associate Dean, Sanford School Judith Kelley & Vice Dean for Faculty in Arts and Sciences Kevin Moore (proposal) (APC resolution) (Provost's memo)
6. Open discussion about Faculty Governance at Duke: Part II
7. Question for the President:
As you complete your distinguished service as President of Duke University, would you reflect on the financial state of Duke University in light of the many uncertainties before us on the national and global scene and the recent reported performance of the University Endowment?
Specifically, it has been reported that the Endowment of the University had a loss of 2.6% this past year and that because the university spent more than it earned the value of the endowment declined by 7%. It has also been reported that for the past ten years the average return on investment has been a positive 7.1%.
How do these results compare to the performance of the stock market, e.g. Dow Jones or Standard and Poor? How do they compare to results of peer universities?
And if we pay bonuses in years of positive returns to the management of the endowment, do we pay negative bonuses in years of negative returns?