Working@Duke April/May 2017 Issue

I AM DUKE 8

HOW TO REACH YOUR POTENTIAL 10

ARE YOUR SAVINGS ON TARGET? 12

NEW S YOU C AN USE • A P R I L / M AY 2 0 1 7

Who Are We?

Editor’s Note

CONTENTS

LEANORA MINAI

Express Yourself When I was in boarding school, the headmaster contacted my family with a concern: I dressed like a tomboy. He held an in-person conference to try to correct my behavior. I love my prep school and haven’t dwelled on the experience, but the cover story in this issue highlighting changing demographics of the Duke workforce got me thinking about how our understanding of identity - personally and as a community - continues to evolve.

Growing up, I had Madonna, George Michael and Boy George as examples of courageous expression outside gender norms, but I didn’t have policies that included “gender expression” as a protected class.

Last year, Duke added “gender expression” to the Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action policy. Past policy additions included sexual orientation, gender Leanora as a kid in one of her favorite ensembles. identity, and genetic information.

What does “gender expression” mean? You may be a woman who wears Marlene Dietrich-style suits to work because that style of dress is more authentic to your identity. Or, you may be undergoing gender transition, and as part of that process, you begin to dress in a way that more closely aligns with how you feel internally about your gender.

With Duke’s policy, whether you are a student or employee, you may not be discriminated against because of how you express your gender identity.

To learn more about how the policy makes a difference at Duke, I talked with Sara-Jane Raines, Duke’s assistant police chief and co-chair of Duke’s LGBT Task Force, which recommended the change.

Raines explained that the policy is essential for competing for the brightest students and employees.

“It’s the right thing to do in terms of treating everybody with dignity and respect,” Raines said.

“Some of the best students and employees are gender non-conforming and have gender expressions that are different from the way they were born or the way the rest of society thinks they ought to express themselves. If we want those people here, and we want them to also feel comfortable and safe, so that they can do their best work, we’ve got to have this language in there.”

While Duke added gender expression as a protected class, we don’t have data to help share stories about this part of our community. So, if you recognize yourself in this group, I’d love to hear from you for a future Working@Duke story. Send email to Leanora.Minai@duke.edu or call (919) 681-4533.

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8

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4 W ho Are We? In this special report, Working@Duke takes a look at age, gender, race,

global representation and other attributes that make us who we are as a unique workforce.

8 I am Duke Duke employees share why they wanted to work at Duke and how their role has enhanced their lives.

10 How to Reach Your Professional Potential

Whether you’re searching for new challenges or want to take stock of

skills, creating a career development plan is an easy way to achieve goals.

11 12 13 15

The Changing Role of an Administrative Professional Are Your Savings on Target?

Save on Spring Cleaning with Discounts Campus Farm Hits the Books

Contact us Editor/Communications Director: Leanora Minai (919) 681-4533 leanora.minai@duke.edu

Graphic Design & Layout: Paul Figuerado (919) 684-2107 paul.figuerado@duke.edu

Assistant Vice President: Paul S. Grantham (919) 681-4534 paul.grantham@duke.edu

Photography: Duke University Photography and Bryan Roth and April Dudash of Communication Services.

Working@Duke is published every other month by Duke’s Office of Communication Services. We invite your feedback and story ideas. Send email to working@duke.edu or call (919) 681-4533.

Visit Working@Duke daily on Duke Today: working.duke.edu

2014 Gold, 2015, 2013, Silver, 2016, 2009, 2007 Bronze, Print Internal Audience Publications and 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing

Cover photo: The Scrabble board represents some attributes of Duke’s workforce profile.

BRIEFLY Movie night, discounts on tap for Duke Appreciation University and health system employees and their families are invited to see the movie Sing on May 19 on the East Campus Quad as part of Duke Appreciation.

Duke will celebrate its 37,000 staff and faculty by offering free events and special discounts throughout May, and employees marking career milestones of 10, 15, 20, and 25 years or more of service will be recognized during an invitation-only event.

Crystal Grimshaw, staff specialist for Special Events in Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs, attended Duke Appreciation movie night last year with her two sons, Dylan and Logan, and a family friend.

Her sons posed for photos with an actor dressed as Darth Vader and watched “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

“They all love Star Wars, and it was a fun night,” Grimshaw said. “It was awesome being together and seeing other colleagues out there, too.”

For more information about the free movie and other Duke Appreciation activities, visit working.duke.edu and hr.duke.edu/appreciation in late April.

Financial Fitness Week workshops May 22-25 Attend a workshop to learn about retirement savings strategies, budgeting, will preparation and more during Duke’s annual Financial Fitness Week.

From May 22 to 25, employees and family members can attend workshops around identifying and prioritizing savings goals, understanding Social Security in retirement, and strategies for reducing debt. In addition, there will be two workshops for women on May 25, “Start to Finish: The Early Career Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom,” and “She’s Got It: A Woman’s Guide to Saving and Investing.”

An information fair in Penn Pavilion from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. May 23 will include Duke’s investment carriers, Duke Benefits, Duke Credit Union and others.

“The most important things anyone can do, whether you’ve regularly attended Financial Fitness Week before or you’ve never been before, is to get a budget, get started saving and make a free appointment to meet with one of our investment carriers,” said Percy Hill III, a Duke Benefits financial analyst.

Workshops will be in the Duke South Amphitheater, Penn Pavilion, the Searle Center, and the Hilton Garden Inn in Durham. Visit hr.duke.edu/financialfitness to register.

Submit reimbursement account receipts by April 15 Faculty and staff have until April 15 to file Health Care and Dependent Care reimbursement account receipts for expenses incurred Jan. 1, 2016 through Dec. 31, 2016. All expenses are reimbursed based on the service date, not when the employee was billed or paid for the service.

Employees can upload receipts by logging into their personal online account with WageWorks, which administers Duke’s reimbursement accounts. Employees can also use the free EZ Receipts mobile app to take pictures of receipts and submit reimbursement claims to WageWorks.

After April 15, any unused funds up to $500 from an employee’s 2016 Health Care Reimbursement Account will carry over into his or her 2017 Health Care Reimbursement Account.

Visit hr.duke.edu/reimbursement for more information.

David Rubenstein to deliver commencement address Philanthropist and financier David Rubenstein, a Duke alumnus and chair of the university’s Board of Trustees, will deliver the commencement address to about 3,000 Duke graduates on May 14.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, begins at 9 a.m. with the procession of candidates at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke Commencement’s weekend of events will be David Rubenstein May 12 through May 14.

Rubenstein is a co-founder and co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. He has been a member of the Duke Board of Trustees since 2005, and has served as chair since 2013.

His tenure as trustee and chair will conclude in June.

“David Rubenstein is a spectacular example of the power of education,” said Duke President Richard H. Brodhead. “He came to Duke on financial aid as the first member of his family to attend college.

Later, he founded Carlyle as an entrepreneurial venture. His business success then enabled him to create a model of what he calls ‘patriotic philanthropy’ that has restored national treasures and made them accessible to the public.”

Visit commencement.duke.edu.

New location for Duke Farmers Market The Duke Farmers Market has a new home this year: The Duke Medicine Pavilion Greenway.

The market, which will be outside the Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center for Health Education, is every Friday from April 28 through September 29. Vendors sell fresh produce, eggs, meat, cheeses, bread, granola, olive oil, flowers and more.

Sustainable Duke, community organizations and LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, which runs the market, will rotate as special guests on Fridays.

“The Duke Farmers Market intends to serve not only as a market, but also as a resource for those within the Duke community,” said Cassandra Callas, market coordinator for LIVE FOR LIFE. “We hope that the new location on the Duke Medicine Pavilion will enhance the visibility of the Duke Farmers Market to employees and visitors alike.”

Join the LIVE FOR LIFE email list to receive Farmers Market updates: bit.ly/liveforlifeemail

working.duke.edu

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Who Are We?

Ellen Rottner, in the Duke shirt, talks with colleagues in Duke University Hospital’s General Surgery Step Down Unit, where more than half of the staff members are millennials.

Generations in Duke’s workforce are nearly evenly split, more than half of employees are female, and efforts are underway to diversify faculty

early five years ago, Working@Duke delved into the question of who we are as a workforce. In this issue, we take another look and discover that Duke’s workplace is changing, especially when it comes to age.

Duke employs 37,000 faculty and staff who represent a diverse and unique community – from age, race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ to national origin, political persuasion and religious background. In this special report, Working@Duke focuses on age, female leadership, minority hiring and global representation.

••••• As a clinical nurse in Duke University Hospital, Ellen Rottner helps patients bathe, eat and walk the halls to gain strength after surgery.

She is a millennial supervisor who, as a clinical lead, helps share ideas between bedside nurses and hospital administrators while mentoring nurses, overseeing 32 patients on the unit, and interviewing and orientating new employees.

More than half of Rottner’s colleagues in the General Surgery Step Down Unit were born between 1980 and 1995, the age range for millennial employees in Duke’s workforce.

“Over the last few years, our unit has definitely changed into a much more millennial unit,” said Rottner, who turns 28 in April. “It seems like it’s getting younger and younger.”

The number of millennial staff and faculty across Duke University and Duke University Health System is increasing 4

WORKING@DUKE

How Duke’s Workforce is

Aging

Born 1980 to 1995

Born 1965 to 1979

32%

35%

Millennial

Gen X

Born pre-1946 to 1964

Veterans & Baby Boomers

33%

The number of millennial university and health system employees is increasing while Baby Boomers and Veterans are declining in population. The average age of a Duke employee is 44.64. Source: Duke Human Resources.

while other generational groups, including Baby Boomers and Veterans, are declining in population. In 2015 alone, Duke’s millennial workforce grew by 9 percent, according to Duke Human Resources.

At Duke, the number of workers in the Millennial, Generation X (born 1965 through 1979) and Baby Boomer (1946 through 1964) generations is nearly evenly split into thirds. With the youngest of Baby Boomers about 15 years away from retirement, meeting the needs of all demographics in a workforce is becoming a growing challenge for employers, Mercer, a global consulting firm, noted in its 2015 “Inside Employees’ Minds” report.

To keep up with evolving generational needs, Duke’s Learning & Organization Development offers a new professional development course, “Managing Across Generations,” to help staff and faculty better understand behaviors and values of generations.

Wendy Sprintz, manager of clinical education and events for Duke Clinical Research Institute Communications, enrolled in the class to learn more about how generations communicate.

A Baby Boomer, Sprintz said employees in her office range from right out of college to those who have been at Duke for more than a decade. She said younger colleagues prefer emailing and texting, but Sprintz is inclined to chat in-person or by phone.

“Millennials are the people who are going to carry us to the future,” she said.

According to the Pew Research Center, millennials surpassed Generation X to become the largest segment of the American workforce in 2015. Currently at Duke, about 11,500 millennials comprise the employee population of 37,000. But generational perspective is only one aspect of Duke’s workforce.

5 out of 10 Deans are Female

Valerie Ashby began her academic career as a chemist.

She didn’t plan on becoming a university dean.

But in 2015, Ashby landed at Duke as dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, where she serves 650 faculty members, 300 staff and about 7,000 students.

She is one of five female deans at Duke, which has 10 main graduate and professional schools. The most recent dean appointment, Dr. Mary Klotman for the School of Medicine, was announced in January.

“I don’t think it actually occurred to me that we had so many female and/or minority deans at Duke,” Ashby said.

“It’s pretty tremendous … It is a gift to have such a diverse group of colleagues.”

Across the U.S., about half of higher education administrators are women, but the percentage of women represented in top executive positions remains less than 30 percent, according to a survey by CUPA-HR, an association for Human Resources professionals in higher education.

At Duke University, women comprise 55 percent of the executive/ administrative job category, a 2-percent increase since 2015, according to Duke’s 2016 Affirmative Action Plan.

The job category includes executives, university officials,

Valerie Ashby

Duke’s Total

Headcount Total University (includes Medical Center) Health System

37,142 18,803 18,339

Duke’s total headcount in 2016. Source: Duke Human Resources.

senior directors and administrators. Sixty-five percent of Duke’s total workforce is female, according to Duke Human Resources.

“Opportunities are currently evolving across Duke for mentoring and leadership development for women,” said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration. He noted the Duke Leadership Academy, a 12-month program for employees, which graduated 15 women of 26 staff members in December.

The Academic Council’s Task Force on Diversity Report proposes forming a “robust process” for identifying women internally and externally, along with underrepresented minority faculty and faculty candidates, with leadership potential.

“We have made great strides, but I don’t think there is any moment when we should become less vigilant,” said Anathea Portier-Young, co-chair of the Duke Faculty Women’s Network and Caucus and associate professor of Old Testament in Duke Divinity School. “Being able to see oneself in Duke’s leaders, I think for many people, ... is an incredible gift.”

Gender

at Duke

■ 35% Male ■ 65% Female Gender breakdown for the university and health system as reported to Duke Human Resources. Source: Duke Human Resources.

>> continued on page 6 working.duke.edu

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Reflecting the Diversity of Students

Martin Smith has taught at Duke for two semesters, but he has made a lasting impression on students.

He’s a 32-year-old black assistant professor of the practice with a penchant for research and black history. As part of Duke’s Program in Education, he created a new course about athlete activism and black issues in America called “Race, Power and Identity from Ali to Kaepernick.” He also helps black and Latino Duke students share life stories through an independent study, “The Art of Storytelling.”

“When I first started, I had students who sought me out and said, ‘You know, I’m really interested in taking your course,’” Smith said. “‘I’m really interested in hearing your perspective because I’ve never had a professor who looks like you.’”

At Duke University, minority faculty members, which include men and women who self-identify as Hispanic, Black, American Indian, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or two or more races, comprise 23 percent of the total regular rank faculty population of 3,429, according to Duke’s 2016 Affirmative Action Plan. Duke’s undergraduate student population is about 50 percent diverse.

“It’s important for students to see a diverse group of faculty members who reflect the diversity of our student body,” said Duke Provost Sally Kornbluth. “I very much hope that ultimately our faculty diversity can mirror what we’ve been able to achieve at the undergraduate level.”

Duke’s strategic plan, as well as the Academic Council’s Task Force on Diversity, proposes ways to increase faculty diversity and build a more inclusive environment. This includes creating diversity and inclusion committees in schools and departments and ensuring search committees bring in diverse faculty applicants.

From fiscal year 2015 to 2016, minority faculty hiring at Duke grew by 16 percent, according to Duke Human Resources.

Assistant professor Angela RichardEaglin, who is black, was hired last August to teach at Duke’s School of Nursing.

During her first month, the school organized diversity and inclusion focus groups for faculty of similar races and ethnicities to discuss workplace culture.

“The world is diverse, so the workplace needs to be, too,” said RichardEaglin, who has spent much of her career working with underserved populations.

Duke’s population by Race 68%

White

22%

Black/African-American

8%

Asian

1%

American Indian/Alaskan National

<1%

Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0

20

40

60

Race breakdown at the university and health system as of September 2016. Source: Duke Human Resources.

Martin Smith, assistant professor of the practice in Duke’s Program in Education, teaches Duke students in his class, “Race, Power and Identity from Ali to Kaepernick.”

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Maryam Baikpour, a visiting research scholar at the Duke Fertility Center, overlooks the Zardkouh Mountains in Chelgerd, Iran.

A World of Opportunity

As the university broadens its global presence, a small office tucked away in Smith Warehouse near downtown Durham serves as the gateway for a growing international community that calls Duke home.

Duke Visa Services helped 3,279 citizens from other countries become part of Duke’s workforce in the past fiscal year – an increase of 17 percent since 2011.

International travelers arrive at Duke as students, research assistants, visiting scholars, professors, research scientists, and post-doctoral fellows from more than 120 countries ranging from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Obtaining a visa to work in the United States can take months, and in some cases, more than a year, but that hasn’t slowed the pace of people coming to Duke.

“Many people from around the world want to come to America to do additional research and become the best in their fields,” said Lois Yelverton, director of Duke Visa Services who has worked in the department for more than 20 years.

“These people are smart, innovative, and provide a valuable service to the university.

They also create a cultural learning opportunity for us, too.”

Opportunity prompted Maryam Baikpour, a visiting research scholar, to seek training and research experience in obstetrics and gynecology at Duke last

year after completing her medical degree in Iran.

Baikpour’s plans date back to high school when she watched the sitcom “Friends” to improve her English-speaking skills. To earn enough money to travel to the United States, she worked in the impoverished county of Kouhrang, Iran, where she saw about 100 patients daily for two years.

“At Duke, I’ve worked on research projects, attended clinic, participated in classes and conferences, and learned how to design randomized controlled trials,” she said. “Having seen how the Duke Fertility Center is set up, I would love to set one up in Iran. There is such a shortage of physicians in the region I served that midwives perform C-sections. It’s illegal, but they have no choice.”

As Baikpour plans the next steps in her career, she credits Duke for offering her and others options that are not available to them in their countries.

“I am thankful to Duke University for allowing international medical students to work here because it’s an investment for them to do this,” she said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity.” 

By April Dudash and Paul Grantham

Home Countries of Foreign Nationals at Duke France Germany United Kingdom Brazil Italy Taiwan South Korea Canada

2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 4% 5%

Other

30%

China

37%

India

12%

Home countries of 3,279 foreign nationals working at the university and health system in fiscal year 2016.

Source: Duke Human Resources.

working.duke.edu

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Duke Why employees apply to Duke and how their jobs changed their lives

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total of 131,662 applicants applied for a job at Duke University and Duke University Health System last year, an average of nearly 11,000 people per month.

Of those applicants, 6,420 landed positions at Duke in 2016.

Many newly hired staff and faculty say they are drawn to a Blue Devil career for the academic prestige of a world-class research institution and health system. A good many employees also cite Duke’s total compensation benefits, from medical and retirement plan choices to the employee tuition reimbursement program.

“When you take a look at higher education, leading research, patient care and service, those four things attract a lot of interested people who personally align with the mission and the values of the institution,” said Kyle Cavanaugh, Duke’s vice president for administration.

As part of a yearlong project, Working@Duke is asking employees to share why they want to work at Duke and how their role enhances their lives.

Johnette Crockett

wasn’t actively looking for a job when a coworker mentioned an available Computerized Tomography (CT) manager position at Duke Raleigh Hospital.

Crockett had already amassed 32 years in imaging for WakeMed in Raleigh and Cary. But she was drawn to Duke’s reputation and its health and retirement plan offerings. She applied for the job in the CT Department, where X-ray images are used and cross-sectional images created to look inside a body.

Since arriving at Duke Raleigh Hospital in 2015, Crockett supports a team that helps outpatient, inpatient and emergency department patients who need diagnostic CT scans or intervention procedures such as biopsies and fluid drainage procedures.

“I’m most proud of taking a team and bringing them together and seeing them grow as a team who respects each other,” said Crockett, 54. “I felt like I’ve been here 10 years. It’s like the shoe fit.”

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WORKING@DUKE

Emily Roberts

has experienced most of her major life events in one place.

After high school, she started working at Duke through Duke Temporary Service and has since held positions in the university and health system throughout the past 15 years. She had bridal portraits taken in Cameron Indoor Stadium and was married in Duke Chapel. She used the Duke employee tuition benefit to pursue a master’s in liberal studies. She gave birth to twins at Duke University Hospital. Her daughter, Brianna, had open-heart surgery at Duke Hospital.

Roberts, an accounting specialist for Duke Employee Travel & Reimbursement, said her love of Duke began as a child. She was born and raised in Durham. Growing up, she heard stories about her grandfather, Clarence Whitley, who served as a supervisor for the men’s dining hall on West Campus for 35 years.

“Growing up, I wanted to work at Duke because as a diehard Duke fan, I would just feel so important if I were to work at Duke,” said Roberts, who turns 33 in May. “To wear a Duke badge, I just thought that was the coolest thing.”

Francesco Ria

traveled 5,000 miles for a research opportunity at Duke.

He said goodbye to his parents and his brother in Collepasso, Italy, holding onto fond family memories of picking and cooking wild vegetables and visiting beaches in southern Italy. His parents, who both received a high school education, constantly reinforced in Ria how higher education and hard work opens doors to career opportunities.

“With my family, we worked so hard with the goal to improve my education, and everybody knows Duke as one of the best universities in the world and, by working here, I may say to my family: ‘We made it!’” said Ria, 34.

Ria, who wanted to work with Duke scientists in the medical imaging field, arrived in the U.S. in September of 2015.

Johnette Crockett

“The amount of very valuable scientists and incredible knowledge that I found here is something that forced me to say I cannot lose this opportunity,” he said.

Ria, a visiting research scholar in the Department of Radiology’s Clinical Imaging Physics Group, examines data from patient radiological exams and hospital imaging equipment, which is used for procedures such as CT scans and mammograms. He uses the data to figure out how to get higherquality images of the inner body with a lower dose of radiation for the patient.

He hopes to get his U.S. medical physics certification to provide quality assurance and control of imaging equipment used in the health system.

“I am a Dukie,” he said.

Jeremaine Terry

Emily Roberts

Francesco Ria

Eighteen years ago, was pushing a supply cart of saline solution around the Cardiology floor at Duke University Hospital when he paused outside a patient’s door and spotted a nametag on the wall.

It was his uncle’s name: Douglas Gibson.

Surprised, Terry walked into the room to discover a family member had undergone triple bypass surgery.

“Things really changed for me,” said Terry, who was working as a contract employee at the time. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’m actually servicing the floor that my uncle was on.’ It kind of sparked something in me.”

Terry became a full-time Duke employee in 2004, drawing upon knowledge from his Duke Hospital contractor days and his supply logistics training in the Marine Corps.

He rose through the ranks, becoming a head supervisor in two months. He went back to school with help from Duke’s employee tuition benefit and received a business administration degree and information systems degree in five years, while working full-time and welcoming a baby into his family.

Now, as a strategic services associate for Duke Supply Chain Management, he manages the supply inventory systems for Duke’s hospitals and ensures the correct amount of supplies is delivered to 560 locations at Duke University Hospital and Duke South Clinic.

“When I talk to staff, I want them to realize this could be your family member up here on these floors, so you got to make sure the nurses and clinicians have what they need to take care of the patients,” Terry said. 

By April Dudash

Duke See a special Working@Duke Facebook photo album with more university and health system staff and faculty featured in “I Am Duke”: bit.ly/iamduke

working.duke.edu

Jeremaine Terry

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3 Steps to Reach Your Professional Potential

W

Duke Leadership Academy Class of 2016.

hether you’re searching for new challenges or want to take stock of skills, creating a career development plan is an easy way

to achieve goals.

Keisha Williams, assistant vice president of Duke’s Learning & Organization Development, believes a plan is an ideal way to set accountability and focus on reaching next steps in a job or career path.

“It’s about not waiting for someone to give you something,” Williams said. “Set goals and set deadlines based on what you envision for yourself.”

With tips from Duke experts, here’s how to get started on a plan.

Determine where you want to go “Begin with the end in mind because you won’t know where you’re going if you don’t have an end point,” Williams said.

“Think about where the journey should take you and what experiences you need to set it up.”

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Williams said an end point could be a year away or five, but create goals to motivate along the way. Don’t set a target to learn a new skill or obtain a new job for the sake of it. Realize what each step offers for personal and professional development, Williams said.

Analyze gaps and skills to be learned Meredith McCook, an assistant director at Duke’s Career Center, said it’s important to think about necessary skills for a particular career path, but more so what can play to individual strengths.

For example, if you’re a creative person, enhance talents around writing or design but don’t forget about technical skills, too.

Duke offers online learning at training.oit.duke.edu/lynda and classes through Learning & Organization Development.

McCook also suggested creating a “board of directors” among respected colleagues and friends to learn from their professional paths and solicit feedback when making career decisions. “That way you’re able to not just make an assumption

of what you should be skilled at, but have a wellinformed background to know what skills you want to go after,” she said.

Create a development plan “It’s good to set big goals, but it’s also good to use smart goals,” said Dave McDonald, an assistant director at Duke’s Career Center. “Include in your plan goals you can maximize the chance to achieve.”

While you may want to be a manager in five years, McDonald suggested setting steps such as using a few hours each week to hone a skill like public speaking or to meet with a mentor.

Williams, of Duke’s Learning & Organization Development, recommended creating a document or spreadsheet with goals and revisiting it regularly.

“The growth process will push you out of your comfort zone, but that’s a good thing,” she said. “Change can be hard, but it can make us better personally and professionally.” 

By Bryan Roth

Get a template to build your career development plan: bit.ly/careerdevelopmentplan

A

The Changing Role of an Administrative Professional Job requirements extend beyond answering calls and emails

mid lining up conference speakers, crafting a monthly e-newsletter and arranging meeting schedules, Cinnamon Ruth Leggett is also answering calls from patients on a daily basis.

As a staff assistant for the Division of Hematology in Duke’s Department of Medicine, Leggett draws upon her training as a licensed practical nurse. In addition to serving as the organizer for the Division of Hematology chief Dr. Thomas Ortel, she takes calls for the 1E Hematology Clinic and answers patient questions about blood disorder symptoms, prescription side effects and appointment changes.

“I’m a problem solver by nature, so I think that’s what made me a great nurse,” said Leggett, who has worked at Duke for five years, first as a nurse for Duke Urology. “So when I came to the administrative side, there were so many other great challenges and puzzles to try and figure out, to problem solve. I’m a solution finder.”

Like Leggett, 3,561 employees serve in an office support role across the University and Health System. Within that number, the administrative professional role is constantly evolving both at Duke and on a national level. The term “secretary,” which conjures up a “Mad Men”-esque image of a woman at a typewriter, has been outdated for nearly two decades.

According to the American Society of Administrative Professionals, the administrative professional job has evolved to require skillsets such as project management, front line tech support and financial skills. Also, instead of working with one manager, today’s administrative professional could work with an entire team of colleagues.

“The profession is continuously expanding to encompass higher levels of responsibilities and broader, dynamic opportunities,” said Dinetta Richardson, assistant director of Organization Development for Duke’s Learning & Organization Development. “Nowadays, administrative professionals are in step with the leader. They are partners with the leader. They’re the ones who have the ears of the leaders.”

To keep up with this changing role, Learning & Organization Development created a new, semester-long professional development program for administrative professionals that will debut this fall. The program will cover time management, prioritization and meeting preparation.

Like Leggett, staff assistant Nathan Swanson uses diversified skills in his role.

Swanson prepares budgetary reports for meetings in the Duke Department of Psychiatry. He also spends time updating nearly 500 Psychiatry faculty members’ biographies on the Scholars@Duke website and attends School of Medicine Inclusion Council meetings.

“We’re behind the scenes freeing up the faculties’ time and the clinicians’ so they can devote their time to either helping patients or doing research,” Swanson said. “We are freeing up their time so they don’t have to worry about the details.”  (Top photo) As part of her administrative professional role, Cinnamon Ruth Leggett, left, helps a coworker in Duke’s 1E Hematology Clinic. (Bottom photo) Nathan Swanson, left, attends a Duke School of Medicine Inclusion Council meeting.

By April Dudash

working.duke.edu

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Are Your Savings On

Target?

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Strategies for building a nest egg for retirement dreams

etirement is far-off for some colleagues and an immediate reality for others who are packing up cubicle mementos and attending a party with colleagues.

It takes years of strategy and self-discipline to achieve the level of financial security a person needs to retire comfortably. According to a 2016 study by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, only 16 percent of workers in the U.S. strongly agree that they are building a large enough retirement nest egg.

Confidence in saving for the future differs by generation: Most Generation X workers believe they’ll have a harder time achieving financial security than their parents’ generation. Only 18 percent of Millennials, the largest segment of the American workforce, are very confident about their future retirement, according to the Transamerica study.

Your age when you start saving directly affects how much money you’ll have upon retirement, said Josh Scott, a financial consultant at TIAA, one of Duke’s investment carriers.

“Contributing to your employer’s retirement plan as early as possible, even if it’s just a small amount, can really make a difference in how much you have when you’re ready to retire through the power of compounding earnings,” he said.

According to Duke Human Resources, 51 percent of eligible Duke University and Duke University Health System employees are voluntarily contributing to investment accounts through the Duke retirement plan. Get started saving or hone your strategies by attending free workshops May 22 through 25 during Financial Fitness Week at Duke.

Duke employees across three generations share what they are doing to save for their retirement dream.

Are You Saving Enough?

Experts suggest you have enough saved to replace 75 to 80 percent of your annual salary in retirement. Duke will offer in-person and online retirement workshops May 22 through 25 during Financial Fitness Week. Registration is open to university and health system employees and their family members: hr.duke.edu/financialfitness

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WORKING@DUKE

John Shaw

IT analyst, OIT Collaborative Services Age: 33 / Millennial John Shaw started contributing to a 401(k) retirement plan when he was 23 years old and working for a retail company.

He attributes a lot of his retirement savings acumen to his mother, who had instilled these words of wisdom in him since high school: “It’s not how much you can spend, it’s how much you can save.”

“There are needs and wants. Do you need it or do you want it?”

“You have to budget and pay yourself first to save for rainy days and retirement.”

When Shaw started working at Duke five years ago, he immediately began contributing to his Duke retirement plan.

Today, to ensure his financial security, Shaw is building an emergency savings fund to cover three to six months of his monthly expenses such as rent and utilities. He also plans to increase his personal contribution to his Duke retirement plan.

In retirement, he plans to ride his mountain bike and spend time with friends.

“A lot of that has to do with making the right retirement investments but also making good financial decisions along the way so when you do retire, your home is paid for, your car is paid for, and you maximize how much money you have,” Shaw said.

Mimi Davis

Grants and contracts administrator, OB/GYN Office of Research Support Age: 39 / Generation X Mimi Davis wants to retire early, when she is in her early to mid-50s, so she can see the world. She’s traveled to Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

Australia and Paris are still on her list.

Davis started working at Duke in 2012 but began saving for

retirement in 1999 with a previous employer. Because of her early retirement goal, Davis hopes to aggressively contribute more money to her Duke retirement plan. She currently contributes 10 percent of her monthly pay before taxes and plans to reduce her expenses by paying off the mortgage on her Durham home by the time she retires.

She attended Duke’s Financial Fitness Week last year with her mother to gain a better understanding of Duke’s retirement plan options and checks her retirement plan statements monthly to make sure she’s on track.

“You can never pay yourself too much money,” Davis said.

“Do not be dependent on someone else doing it for you.”

Cecilia Eichenberger Research administration specialist, Chemistry Age: 66 / Baby Boomer

Cecilia Eichenberger cleaned out her desk and shared goodbye lunches with Chemistry colleagues at the end of February, when she retired after working at Duke for nearly 19 years.

She started contributing to a Duke retirement plan in 2001, at 50 years old.

“I didn’t get serious until I was here, fairly late in my life,” she said. “I would have done so much better if I had been saving all along.”

Upon retirement, Eichenberger was allocating 7 percent of her monthly paycheck to a Duke retirement plan. She also contributed money to an IRA (individual retirement account) through the Duke Credit Union. And she maintained several savings accounts and scheduled a Duke retirement consultation at least once a year.

Eichenberger plans to pursue her interest in art by taking classes through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke in retirement. In the past, she has created colorful collages on Styrofoam using foreign stamps she collects. She also wants to tutor children in reading through Duke University Retiree Outreach.

“A lot of times when you’re young, you’re not thinking that you’re ever going to get old and that you ever need retirement,” Eichenberger said. “You might be living check to check and not being very grounded. If you just save even $50 a paycheck, at least you get started.” 

By April Dudash

working.duke.edu

13

PERQS EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS

Bargains in Bloom Use Duke employee discounts to save on spring cleaning

T

wice a month, Diane Mangum takes her 2014 Ford Expedition to Bull City Car Wash in Durham.

She sits in an air-conditioned waiting area and watches through big windows as her SUV goes through the wash, followed by a towel dry, vacuuming and window cleaning. When she pays, Mangum receives a Duke employee discount – 10 percent off the Express, Deluxe or Ultimate wash by showing her DukeCard ID [bit.ly/ dukebullcitycarwash].

“They are quick and pay attention to detail,” said Mangum, a Duke Cardiology-Electrophysiology administrative assistant.

Springtime sets off a chain-reaction cleanup from removing pollen from surfaces to landscaping yards. Finish your spring cleaning with these Duke employee discounts:

Beautify the yard

Instead of worrying about what flowers to plant and where to place them, work with a designer. Durham-based Agape Lawn Co. provides landscape design and offers employees 20 percent off landscape design services, which are regularly $99. The service includes a one-hour consultation.

Employees must show their DukeCard. [bit.ly/dukeagape]

Combat carpet stains To erase pet accidents or muddy shoe prints, call Spotless Clean & Carpet Care in Durham, which will carpet-clean four rooms for $149, a savings of $31. Receive $15 off each additional room. [bit.ly/dukespotlessclean] Sondra Horn, grants and contracts administrator for the Center for Advanced Hindsight, used the company in November and saved $200. She was moving out of a rental house and wanted to make sure it was clean for the next tenants.

“It gave me the peace of mind that I was leaving the rental in as good, if not better, condition than we found it three and a half years earlier,” Horn said.

Pressure wash surfaces Rinse grime from the driveway, mildew from siding or pine sap from the roof.

Team Todd Pressure Washing in Raleigh offers employees a $50 discount to pressure wash a home. Prices range from $125 for a home up to 2,000 square feet to $175 for a 4,000-square-foot home. [bit.ly/dukepressurewash].” 

By April Dudash

14

WORKING@DUKE

Use more Duke discounts to make your home and car sparkle: hr.duke.edu/discounts

SUSTAINABLE DUKE YOUR SOURCE FOR GREEN NEWS AT DUKE

Duke Campus Farm Hits the Books

F

The one-acre farm and its staff offer a classroom education

or years, the to being a part of classes, Duke Campus Cornes and other Campus Farm has Farm staff interact with provided handsstudents through a on education in DukeImmerse program agriculture to faculty, staff that connects summer and students. literature and biology Increasingly, lessons are seminars with hands-on becoming more academic, farming. as farm leaders expand The opportunity to their connection to move learn isn’t only directed at beyond the soil and into students. the classroom.

Each semester, the “We’re here to get Campus Farm welcomes students inspired about visitors from the Duke and thinking critically about Durham communities for our food system and workshops on agricultural Saskia Cornes, wearing the Duke hat, with students at Duke Campus Farm in Durham. working at the farm is one topics. Past workshops have way of doing that,” said provided insight around Grieb, a sophomore who was in last year’s Saskia Cornes, farm and growing mushrooms, the “Environment, Law and Literature” class program manager at the Campus Farm. history and biology of corn, and dyeing “Academic work is a different avenue to fill with Cornes and other faculty. “I had these clothes with indigo. conceptual ideas of growing food and what out what we offer the Duke community.”

All efforts are part of a valuable that means, and it started to become so real education, Cornes said, because the Over the past several years, Cornes to me.” has collaborated on a variety of classes for changing climate requires new ways of Grieb enjoyed the academic students with departments from Women’s thinking about how to grow and care for experience so much she started Studies and Cultural Anthropology food, and the connections between people volunteering at the Campus Farm and to Romance Studies and Divinity. and agriculture grow more important. is now part of the farm’s student crew, This semester, she’s been co-teaching a “We need to ground these abstract working part-time to grow the organic course for the Nicholas School of the topics of food systems and climate change produce that ends up in Duke Dining Environment on sustainable food systems in something real,” Cornes said. “The with Charlotte Clark, assistant professor of facilities and West Union. reality is there’s a lot of nuance to how we Cornes, who has a Ph.D. from the practice in sustainability education. grow food and the impacts our choices Columbia University with a focus on the “I came to Duke with a desire to make on our bodies, our environment and culture of agriculture, and studied agro really make large-scale change to combat on our culture, which means we need to ecology at UC Santa Cruz, ties real world climate change, and in a way, Saskia’s class teach in many different ways.”  and classroom experiences together to gave me the inspiration,” said Pauline

By Bryan Roth make learning more tangible. In addition

Learn more about the Duke Campus Farm: sites.duke.edu/farm

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Laverne Myers, left, recipient of the Susan B. Clark Administrative Leadership Award, with A. Eugene Washington, chancellor and CEO of Duke University Health System.

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