A DOSE OF HOPE 8 BUILD REMOTE WORK SKILLS 10 WORKING TOWARD RACIAL JUSTICE 12
NE W S YOU CA N USE • A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2021
Welcome to Duke amidst COVID-19
Editor’s Note
CONTENTS
LEANORA MINAI
Dispatch from Florida Greetings from Florida, my new remote work location. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I never imagined I would be writing this note as a fulltime remote worker, but like many of you, the pandemic forever changed my work and personal life. After a 16-month experiment of working entirely remote from my house in Durham, I had planned to go back to the office this fall for a few days each week. But in May, my wife Heather was recruited for a job in Florida, the very state we left 17 years ago when I was a newspaper reporter so I could join the Duke workforce. Her career opportunity would mean a return to the Sunshine State but sad goodbyes to long-time friends and colleagues and our beloved house (formerly the home of jazz legend Mary Lou Williams) in the amazing city of Durham. After breaking the unexpected news to Paul Grantham, who has been my manager for most of my Duke career, he supportively shepherded a pilot remote work arrangement that allowed for me to stay on at Duke. I am excited and terrified, all at once. With workplaces everywhere evolving, I am in uncharted territory. I feel anxious about the future of my development and advancement, but I am trying to lean into this adventure. Whether in a home office in Durham or apartment in Florida, As we traveled on I-95 in late my work quality and ethic July, I captured this moment from the passenger seat. have not suffered, and game changers such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams bridge any distance. Yet, I’ll sorely miss the chance to experience daily campus life. I am committed to preserving connections, so at my expense, I’ll return to campus once a month to attend key meetings, conduct certain interviews, work in-person with my small-but-mighty editorial team, and visit some of my favorite spots such as Duke University Libraries. Please follow along at Remote Work Chronicles: Dispatches from Florida [sites.duke. edu/remoteworkchronicles], where I’ll share periodic updates and remote work insights. If there’s something you’d like to share or want me to explore, please write me at working@duke.edu. 2
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4 Welcome to Duke Amidst COVID-19
Duke University and Duke University Health System welcomed around 5,100 new staff and faculty between March 2020 and March 2021. Roughly 90 percent of the hires went to work in the Health System, where COVID-19 vaccination clinics, enhanced screening and safety protocols, and three major hospital additions required more team members.
8 A Dose of Hope
For many staff and faculty, the beginning of the end of the pandemic began in a mass vaccination clinic in Blue Devil Tower on campus.
10 Build Skills for an Evolving Workplace
Build stronger remote teams, create a smart home office and more with LinkedIn Learning, which offers more than 16,000 training courses.
11 Spirit of faculty collaboration 12 Working Toward Racial Justice:
DiversifyIT expands the conversation
14 Save time and money on your prescription 15 Duke in Pics: Hopes in a post-pandemic life Contact us Editor/Executive Director of Communications: Leanora Minai (919) 681-4533 leanora.minai@duke.edu Assistant Vice President: Paul S. Grantham (919) 681-4534 paul.grantham@duke.edu
Graphic Design & Layout: Paul Figuerado (919) 684-2107 paul.figuerado@duke.edu Stephen Schramm Senior Writer (919) 684-4639 stephen.schramm@duke.edu
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 Cover: While they have DukeCard IDs and familiar hallmarks of being Duke staff and faculty members, these employees hired during the COVID-19 pandemic share unique stories of how they began their journey here.
2017, 2014 Gold, 2019, 2015, 2013, Silver, 2016, 2009, 2007 Bronze, Print Internal Audience Publications and 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing
BRIEFLY Duke Football Employee Kickoff Celebration returns Sept. 18
Duke faces Miami at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium during the 2021 season.
Duke staff and faculty, and their family and friends, can cheer on the Blue Devils and enjoy time together during the Duke Football Employee Kickoff Celebration on Sept. 18. Benefits-eligible employees will have the opportunity to reserve free tickets for themselves and up to four guests for the 4 p.m. showdown with visiting Northwestern at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. “Sitting behind the craziest fans around and next to the band, where you could hear the music and feel the energy, it was great,” said Johnny Vega, an interim manager for Duke University Hospital Supply Chain Management who attended the 2019 edition. “I loved it. I’ll definitely go again.” Visit hr.duke.edu for details on how to get tickets, concessions and other game day tips around mid-August.
Keep skills current with Learn IT @ Lunch Working remotely during the pandemic underscores the importance of being well-versed in the latest virtual conference, collaboration and networking tools. Keep developing skills in those areas with Learn IT @ Lunch, a series of free, hour-long webinars offered by Duke’s Office of Information Technology (OIT). Sessions begin Sept. 1 and run until mid-December and are held at noon on Wednesdays. Topics include the new features of Box; gathering helpful data through Qualtrics; sharpening skills on a range of subjects with LinkedIn Learning; and mastering the more advanced functions of Zoom. “During the pandemic, these tools became really important,” said OIT Training and Education Coordinator Trina Rodriguez. “With Learn IT @ Lunch, we wanted to make sure Duke community members can learn even more about these tools so they can continue to work in a smoother fashion.” For more information, visit sites.duke.edu/training.
Get moving with Duke Run/Walk Club The Duke Run/Walk Club, which is typically held in-person but has always offered a virtual option, returns in only a virtual format from Aug. 16 to Nov. 3 due to coronavirus. The program, which is organized by LIVE FOR LIFE, the employee wellness program, is free for staff and faculty at all fitness levels. LIVE FOR LIFE will send participants a weekly email with workout plans – including stretches, cross-training workouts and running guides – for various fitness levels. Participants can earn up to $120 LIVE FOR LIFE dollars (Monopoly-like money) to buy a range of merchandise at the LIVE FOR LIFE Heidi Everitt store. Heidi Everitt, an imaging manager for Duke Regional Hospital, has participated virtually nearly every season since 2012. Everitt, who works varying shifts depending on the week, likes that she has a workout to follow and can do the virtual program according to her own schedule. “The Run/Walk Club is good inspiration to keep me moving,” Everitt said. “I like the accountability of signing up for a program and receiving reminders every week.” Register at hr.duke.edu/runwalk.
Flexible parking permit options Occasional parking options are available for staff and faculty who are splitting time between home and campus. Choose from as needed daily or multi-day passes that grant access to 15 parking locations on campus. Occasional options include an $8 single-day pass or $21 multi-day pass for university staff, faculty and graduate and professional students. “In an effort to adapt to the hybrid work environment, we’ve created flexible parking options to help fit a variety of work arrangements during these times,” said Carl DePinto, director of Duke Parking and Transportation Services. While assessing occasional pass options, DePinto suggested that community members weigh how often they will be on campus with the cost for the passes compared with an annual permit. Day or multi-day passes may suit someone who visits campus intermittently, but if you plan on being on-site three or more times per week, an annual parking permit is more cost-effective, he said. Employees who previously canceled or deactivated their annual permits can purchase an annual pass for the same lot, even with a wait-list. Visit parking.duke.edu/parking/occasional-parking-options for more information.
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Welcome to Duke amidst COVID-19
Staff and faculty hired during the pandemic reflect Duke’s priorities and future
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n his first day at Duke, Demah Payne III arrived at the heart of West Campus to pick up his laptop, meet with human resources and see his office in the Student Wellness Center. Throughout his visit, the building, like the rest of campus, looked like a ghost town. “It was kind of like your typical first day, just without people. It was eerie,” said Payne, a licensed clinical mental health counselor and referral and case management liaison in Counseling & Psychological Services in Student Affairs. Payne’s first day at work last October came amid the pandemic, and in the following months, he continued an unorthodox introduction to Duke, building relationships with students and colleagues over video conference calls. As the spring semester closed, he still hadn’t met many coworkers in person. Payne’s story isn’t unique as Duke University and Duke University Health System welcomed around 5,100 new staff and faculty between March 2020 and March 2021. Roughly 90 percent of the hires went to work in the Health System, where COVID-19 vaccination clinics, enhanced screening and safety protocols, and three major hospital additions required more team members. The University’s new employees enhanced resources in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and created a more diverse network of staff and faculty to support core missions. “While we weren’t hiring at the same pace that we normally would, we really focused on strategic areas that the University wanted to move forward,” said Duke University Provost Sally Kornbluth. The addition of Payne, who earned a Ph.D. in counseling and counselor education and supports students with concerns such as depression and anxiety, reflects Duke’s commitment to student well-being. He also adds to the diversity of counselors who remain sensitive to the cultural and individual complexity of the community. “If we want students to feel comfortable, we have to make sure we have counselors that represent the identities that they may have,” Payne said. The new colleagues tell a broad story of where Duke is now, and where it’s going.
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After joining Counseling & Psychological Services during the COVID-19 pandemic, Demah Payne III built relationships with colleagues and students through Zoom.
Adrienne Fields Clinical Nurse II Duke University Hospital, 5300 Pediatric Unit How she got here: While Florida had always been home, in recent years, several family members – including her parents – relocated to the Triangle for the job market and less-steamy climate. Early last year, Adrienne Fields, who was working in a hospital in Gainesville, Florida, applied for a nursing position at Duke. She was hired in March of 2020. “As soon as I got the opportunity to come here, I knew I needed to jump on it,” she said. What made her feel a part of Duke: Fields, 24, attended employee orientation virtually and didn’t meet any colleagues until her first day. She worked alongside coworkers for several months before ever seeing them without a mask. Despite the unusual start to her time at Duke, she quickly grew close with her team because caring for young patients in the midst of a pandemic was a challenge that forged tight bonds. “Nurses have a really good way of banding together, it’s a team-oriented job,” Fields said. “And people really band together in hard times.”
Adrienne Fields is one of 1,296 clinical nurses who joined Duke between March 2020 and March 2021.
How she makes a difference: As one of 1,296 clinical nurses hired by Duke University Health System between March 2020 and March 2021, Fields arrived when finding talented nurses was an especially high priority. While the pandemic required more staff members, new additions to all three of Duke’s hospitals also created demand for staff. “We hired a lot of people who wanted to be part of the solution and help their community and serve in some way,” said Alyson Parker Gordon, assistant vice president of New Talent Strategies for Duke University Health System. Fields, a natural extrovert, found special meaning during the pandemic by spending time with brave young patients who couldn’t have outside visitors due to COVID-19 restrictions. “I walk out of my job most days feeling like I made a difference because I was able to bond with these kids,” Fields said. “They impact my life more than they know.”
Anni Yan Analyst, IT Office of Information Technology (OIT), Academic Services and Research Computing How she got here: With Anni Yan’s final two semesters in Duke’s Digital Art History and Computational Media master’s program falling during the pandemic, the December graduate wanted stimulating and stable work. In April, when she joined the Office of Information Technology (OIT), she found it. The university’s Central Administration area added 94 new colleagues between March 2020 and March 2021. In her role, Yan teaches coding to students and researchers in programs such as Code+. Starting this fall, she’ll teach Innovation Co-Lab workshops. “It’s about breaking down barriers, giving people this new tool and showing them how to use it so they can succeed in whichever field they’re studying,” Yan said. What made her feel a part of Duke: Other than a handful of campus visits, Yan has worked from home in Raleigh. But teaching online Code+ workshops for students with colleagues over the summer helped her feel grounded. “It made me feel like we were a team,” she said. How she makes a difference: The number of people employed in U.S. higher education dropped 13 percent from February 2020 to December 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Amid challenging times, Duke made sure new hires supported key institutional goals. The Academic Strategic Plan, “Together Duke,” encourages students to explore ways to weave technology into co-curricular endeavors. By teaching coding languages such as JavaScript, Yan is at the heart of that educational effort. Whether a doctoral candidate in Biology or undergraduate seeking a transition to engineering, she helps them sharpen skills that pay off in the future. “Just like how we want all of our students to be able to write coherently, we want everybody to have at least minimal fluency in digital and computational areas,” said Kornbluth, Duke’s provost. >> continued on page 6
Anni Yan of the Office of Information Technology has relished opportunities to lead virtual coding workshops with students. working.duke.edu
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Dr. Satish Subramaniam Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health Employee Occupational Health and Wellness How he got here: The prospect of teaching medical students about occupational medicine at a top-tier institution drew Satish Subramaniam from Tacoma, Washington, where he oversaw occupational health for a group of hospitals, to Duke’s Employee Health and Occupational Wellness (EOHW) team. The bulk of his interview process unfolded prior to the pandemic, though he made a final campus visit in May 2020. What made him feel a part of Duke: Once on the job, Subramaniam acclimated quickly as the employee health team was heavily involved in COVID-19 contact tracing, testing operations and the employee vaccination push. Subramaniam works on-site, seeing employee patients, developing return-to-work plans and helping guide vaccination clinics. His colleagues have made sure he has everything he needs. “I always felt that I was taken care of and part of the team,” he said. “That’s what made the transition so smooth.” Subramaniam also had familiarity with Duke since his son, Sanjay Satish, is a senior.
Dr. Satish Subramaniam joined the Employee Occupational Health and Wellness team in September of 2020, underscoring Duke’s commitment to protecting its workforce.
How he makes a difference: Subramaniam’s hire reflects Duke’s commitment to keeping the workforce mentally and physically healthy. EOHW is comprised of clinical services, Personal Assistance Service and LIVE FOR LIFE, the employee wellness program. Originally designed to address an employee’s total health and well-being, the unit led the way during the pandemic, developing the workforce COVID response with prompt testing, contact tracing and support of employees with coronavirus. “We have the leadership of the University and Health System in our corner, making sure that, as much as possible, we have the resources we need,” said Dr. Carol Epling, director of EOHW.
Veronica Ciocanel Assistant Professor Departments of Biology and Mathematics How she got here: Veronica Ciocanel, a 2012 Duke graduate, was excited to join her alma mater’s faculty last summer. But the idea of moving from Columbus, Ohio, where she was doing post-doctoral research, to North Carolina was daunting. She selected an apartment through a virtual showing, met colleagues over Zoom and, last July, made the nearly eight-hour drive with her husband. “It was definitely a strange time to move,” she said. What made her feel a part of Duke: Working from home, Ciocanel still feels connected to campus life. She’s met colleagues on hikes and appreciated their kind gestures, including giving her a Duke Mathematics T-shirt and coffee mug upon arrival. But working with students cemented her connection to Duke. She’s served as a mentor for undergraduates in the Association of Women in Mathematics and helped students with research projects and competitions. She also taught in-person courses on linear algebra and interdisciplinary modeling. How she makes a difference: The Academic Strategic Plan states that interdisciplinary thinking “allows us to tackle research questions that call for a wider range of skills, perspectives, and knowledge bases than any one scholar can possibly possess.” Ciocanel’s approach, which uses applied math to model unpredictable happenings inside cells, embodies Duke’s interdisciplinary goals. Her presence in a field that’s largely male furthers another goal, also from the Academic Strategic Plan, of increasing “the pipeline of underrepresented female and minority faculty.” Said Ciocanel, “Women are still an underrepresented minority in the mathematical sciences, not just at Duke but everywhere.” 6
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Unable to deliver a personal welcome when she joined the faculty of Department of Mathematics, Veronica Ciocanel’s colleagues left a coffee mug and T-shirt on her desk.
Lorrie Robbins Grants & Contracts Manager Human Vaccine Institute How she got here: In two decades in research administration at other universities, Lorrie Robbins always heard positive remarks about Duke’s employee benefits and collaborative atmosphere. When the opportunity arose to join the Duke Human Vaccine Institute in June of 2020, she jumped at the chance. Working from her Cary home, Robbins hasn’t seen her campus office, but she is enjoying remote work, an arrangement Duke offers for certain positions as part of post-pandemic plans. “I’ve gained back two hours,” said Robbins, who previously commuted to Chapel Hill each day. “I feel more productive and more focused.” What made her feel a part of Duke: Robbins was concerned about feeling disconnected, but Duke’s Learning and Organization Development (L&OD) revamped new employee orientation, moving to bi-weekly virtual events and adding information about Duke’s history, campus and culture. “It’s critical to have this kind of experience so you can get a sense of belonging,” said Keisha Williams, assistant vice president for L&OD, a unit in Duke Human Resources. Robbins built connections through video meetings and messages of gratitude delivered by leaders and supervisors. “They tried to make everybody feel like they were really part of a community,” Robbins said. How she makes a difference: Robbins, part of the School of Medicine’s research administrators, handles administrative elements of the Human Vaccine Institute’s cutting-edge research on infectious diseases, which is central to Duke’s COVID-19 response. Working on projects such as cancer and HIV, she creates grant applications, oversees how funds are spent and ensures projects comply with institutional and federal regulations. “I can’t think of a better mission,” Robbins said. In the past year, Duke’s research community has been involved in many pandemic-related projects. As a result, the School of Medicine, which houses the largest segment of research operations, filled approximately 500 positions – most in research-related roles. Duke is one of the largest biomedical research enterprises in the country. “We’re getting a lot of funding from the government,” said Denise Motley, assistant vice president for Human Resources, Central Recruitment and Staffing. “We can’t fill the positions quick enough.”
The Duke Human Vaccine Institute’s Lorrie Robbins has worked from home since being hired in June of 2020.
Duke Staff and Faculty Hired from March 2020-March 2021
Central Administration
(i.e. Facilities Management Department, Office of Information Technology, Athletics)
94 University
By Stephen Schramm
(i.e. Provost Offices, Academics, Student Affairs)
Photography by Megan Mendenhall and Jared Lazarus, University Communications
402 Medical Center
(i.e. School of Medicine, School of Nursing, Duke Clinical Research Institute)
665 Duke University Health System Source: Duke Human Resources
3,940
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Morning sunshine pours through windows of Blue Devil Tower club area, where staff and faculty receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
A Dose of Hope
For many Duke employees, the start of the end of the pandemic began in Blue Devil Tower
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hen Jannice Stratton arrived for her morning appointment in Blue Devil Tower, the sun was climbing above treetops, pouring golden light through windows that looked out onto Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. About nineteen months earlier, alongside her boyfriend and daughter, Stratton sat in the stadium seats below, cheering on the Blue Devils football team. But on this Friday in late April, Stratton returned to Blue Devil Tower for her second free dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, moving her and thousands of other Duke community members closer to once again experiencing moments of human connection. “I miss that camaraderie,” said Stratton, staff assistant for Duke’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. “You don’t realize how valuable that is until it’s taken from you.” When Blue Devil Tower opened in 2016, suites, event spaces and state-ofthe-art video production facilities made it a showpiece of Duke Athletics. But
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between March and May of 2021, the tower’s spacious 6,536-square foot club area was transformed into a mass vaccination clinic for staff, faculty and students, and by early summer, most of Duke’s workforce had been fully vaccinated. Many employees received the vaccine in Blue Devil Tower, where, to a soundtrack of pop music and happy chatter, around 20 volunteers and Duke University Health System staff spent each day playing their part in Duke’s journey out from under COVID-19’s shadow. “Everybody here works together so well, and is so upbeat, because they know the purpose of what we’re doing,” said Lucas Collins, who served as a site coordinator for the Blue Devil Tower clinic.
A Precise Process In a suite on the second floor, Pharmacy Technician Courtney Pringley and Clinical Pharmacist Wennie Huang worked to the fast, staccato beat of pens tapping on syringes.
Clinical Pharmacist Wennie Huang measures a dose of the vaccine.
Around 7:15 a.m., before the first people arrived for vaccinations, Pringley and Huang got doses ready, filling syringes with a mix of vaccine and saline solution and labeling each one with the drug name, lot number and – with a limited time to stay effective outside of cold storage – the time each dose would expire. To ensure every dose had the precise amount of ingredients, they tapped syringes with plastic pens, carefully loosening up air bubbles so they floated up and out. Pringley, who had worked at the Blue Devil Tower clinic since it opened March 15, knew that she’d soon be back in her regular role as a hazardous drug quality assurance technician. But on this morning, she relished the chance to be part of a historic effort. “My daughter will call me all the time and ask what I’m doing,” Pringley said. “I’ll say ‘I’m making vaccines, saving lives one syringe at a time.’”
Step Toward Hope As Bryce Reeve sat down to receive his second dose at one of the 14 stations, vaccinator Susan Roberson asked him about his T-shirt from Montana’s Glacier National Park. Reeve told her that his visit years ago was great and he looked forward to a post-pandemic trip to other national parks out West. “It’s funny, most people want to get vaccinated so they can be around other people. I just want the freedom to go where nobody is,” said Reeve, director of the Center for Health Measurement in the Department of Population Health Sciences. During the Susan Roberson gives Bryce Reeve a second dose nearly two-month of the COVID-19 vaccine. life of the Blue Devil Tower clinic, Roberson, a redeployed nurse for LIVE FOR LIFE, the Duke employee wellness program, spent at least two days each week vaccinating employees and students. Sitting at a table with a laptop, bandages and syringes, she greeted each employee and went through a five-minute pre-vaccination routine. She confirmed data, asked about allergies and shared bandage design choices. Finally, she administered the vaccine and applied the bandage in one quick motion. Roberson encountered Duke community members who were nervous about needles or concerned about potential side effects. But the majority of people were excited to regain parts of their lives stolen by the pandemic. She watched as people captured giddy selfies, or asked friends to record video of their vaccination. “It’s just nice to see people happy because there hasn’t been as much of that this year,” Roberson said. For Duke’s COVID-19 response, visit coronavirus.duke.edu
Efrem Brittian II looks out at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium after receiving his vaccination.
One Last Stop “You’re the best!” Efrem Brittian II exclaimed moments after receiving his second dose from vaccinator Nadeem Ramadan. “If anyone asks me, I’m going to tell them to come to your station.” With a fresh bandage on his left shoulder and plenty of relief, Brittian, a housekeeper for Housing and Residence Life, made the short walk to spaced-out rows of chairs for the vaccinated. After receiving a dose, clinic visitors spent at least 15 minutes in the waiting area to ensure they didn’t encounter side effects or allergic reactions. Tess John, the nurse practitioner who monitored the room, said such situations were extremely rare. “When anything does happen, it’s usually not the medicine itself, but just people having anxiety or fear about having an injection,” John said. In case someone ran into trouble, she had snacks, water and medications close at hand, and a well-equipped treatment room down the hall. But the vast majority of people stared at their smartphones before moving on with their day. Brittian stood near the Blue Devil Tower windows, where he watched the stage for May’s commencement ceremony take shape under a late morning sun. For more than a year, the pandemic forced him to communicate only by phone or video with family members – some of whom fought through serious bouts of COVID-19. The crisis left him explaining to his three young children why the family couldn’t take trips or visit relatives. But a few days after his second dose, Brittian and his family were planning to head to Myrtle Beach, and over the summer, they planned to visit relatives in Florida. “Getting this second shot, I feel like I’m doing my part,” Brittian said. “I’m just ready for things to be normal again.”
By Stephen Schramm Photography by Justin Cook
After receiving a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, employees spent 15 minutes sitting in a quiet area of Blue Devil Tower.
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Build Skills for an Evolving Workplace With 16,000 courses, LinkedIn Learning keeps you current
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arol Winters has used LinkedIn Learning to hone skills on Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher. Inspired by a recent Duke Office of Information Technology (OIT) webinar, she discovered updated LinkedIn Learning courses on topics packed with new information. “There’s always something new,” said Winters, research program leader for Duke Cancer Institute’s GU Oncology Program. Featuring more than 16,000 courses on an array of personal and professional development topics, LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com, is available at no charge to Duke staff and faculty. As the pandemic reshaped the work landscape, the learning platform produced new courses about adjusting to remote work. Here are some courses to help you thrive in a remote work setting.
Create a Smart Home Office
Author and productivity expert Paula Rizzo leads “Organizing Your Remote Office for Maximum Productivity” with tips on how to arrange your home office so you can be productive, present better on video meetings and define boundaries between work and life.
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Duke Cancer Institute’s Carol Winters keeps her tech skills sharp with the help of LinkedIn Learning. Photo courtesy of Carol Winters.
Among strategies are limiting clutter in your workspace and having your desk face a window to take advantage of natural light for videos. “Thinking about what you want your space to do for you, and how you want to feel when you’re in it, makes a huge difference to your productivity,” Rizzo said.
Build Stronger Remote Teams
With many staff and faculty preferring to work remotely three to five days per week, how can you build stronger, inclusive virtual teams? Remote work consultant Mike Gutman leads “Level Up Your Remote Team Experience,” which provides strategies for building a virtual team with the right mix of autonomy and oversight. Gutman explains how trust and transparency are crucial to preventing micromanagement and how geographic freedom can result in a more diverse set of voices on a team. “It’s really important for you to make sure you’ve got the most diverse,
inclusive and equitable teams and to create a safe space to lift all those voices up and ultimately get all those ideas and opinions to the surface,” Gutman said.
Expanding Your Network Virtually
Just because many people are working virtually doesn’t mean that a personal touch is lost. In “Building Relationships While Working from Home,” author and leadership coach Dave Crenshaw explores ways to build or maintain productive work relationships in a virtual environment and how to let personality shine through online. “Powerful workplace relationships can be created when two things exist: mutually shared experiences and an appropriate emotional connection,” Crenshaw said. “Even when separated by thousands of miles, you can create these experiences and emotions.”
To find the above courses, search for them by course title on LinkedIn Learning.
By Stephen Schramm
Get free access to LinkedIn Learning: bit.ly/LinkedInLearningDuke
Spirit of Faculty Collaboration Endures Despite pandemic distance, innovative interdisciplinary ideas take root While in-person contact was limited during the pandemic, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Informatics Tim Reddy found ways to collaborate with colleagues. Photo by Stephen Schramm.
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he roots of Duke’s Center for Combinatorial Gene Regulation go back to the second floor of the Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences. That’s where Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Tim Reddy, Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics Greg Crawford, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering Charles Gersbach have workspaces near each other. With all three harboring intense curiosity – albeit different approaches – about unlocking the human genetic code’s potential, their hallway conversations led to fruitful collaborations. And in September 2020, when the National Institutes of Health awarded a $14 million grant to seven Duke faculty members – including Reddy, Crawford and Gersbach – to create the Center for Combinatorial Gene Regulation, pandemic realities forced collaborations to flourish virtually. While work continues in their labs, the faculty members built the center’s organizational structure and charted new research paths while working mostly remotely. “We haven’t closed ourselves off,” Reddy said. “If anything, we’ve been collaborating more and more since we got the center funded.” Coronavirus forced many faculty to work remotely, and distance cut down on opportunities for in-person encounters that often spark interdisciplinary collaboration. But during the pandemic, multiple faculty grant programs that support the university’ strategic plan, “Together Duke,” stayed busy.
In addition to the Center for Combinatorial Gene Regulation, other examples of Duke’s pandemic-era collaborations can be found in Duke’s Faculty Advancement Seed Grant program, which provided funding for 14 new collaborations aimed at confronting racism and building a more inclusive community. A team of faculty from the Nicholas School of the Environment, the School of Nursing, the Sanford School of Public Policy, and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience secured one of the grants for the course, “Celebrating Diverse Scholars: Promising Practices for Ph.D. Students.” Inspired by a similar course at North Carolina State University and fueled by connections made in Duke’s Teaching for Equity faculty fellowship program, the course helps doctoral students find and engage with the work of scholars in their field from underrepresented communities. By the end of the semesterlong course, the students have expanded and diversified scholarly network and incorporated new voices into their work. Assistant Professor of the Practice in Sustainability at the Nicholas School of Environment Charlotte Clark, who taught the first version of the course in the spring, said the team of faculty members who developed the course never met in person but communicated through email, Zoom and shared documents. The energy reminded her that Duke’s collaborative spirit won’t disappear anytime soon. “I’ve always felt a lot of enthusiasm, curiosity and generosity of spirit with people wanting to start something new,” Clark said.
By Stephen Schramm
Learn more about Duke’s interdisciplinary collaborations: sites.duke.edu/interdisciplinary
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Racial
Toward Justice
Information technology staff members from across Duke came together to lead DiversifyIT’s Living (IT) While Black initiative, which brought new colleagues and leaders into the fight against racism. Photo by Stephen Schramm.
Expanding the Conversation ‘DiversifyIT’ brings new colleagues into fight against racism
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ispirited by images of police violence against Black Americans, Steve Rich, like others at Duke, wanted to do something to fight systemic racism, but he didn’t know where to start. An IT analyst with Duke’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), Rich occasionally participated in events organized by DiversifyIT, a staff-led OIT initiative to create a more inclusive climate across Duke’s IT spaces. And since last summer, when DiversifyIT launched “Living (IT) While Black,” a series of conversations about race with colleagues and campus leaders, Rich, who is white, has become a fixture. Raw and emotional stories from Black colleagues gave Rich and fellow participants a deeper understanding of racism’s daily toll. Honest discussions with leaders provided insight about the need for positive change. By listening to frank conversations
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WORKING@DUKE
between Black and white coworkers, Rich felt empowered to have difficult talks about race with people in his life. “It’s given me tools to be able to approach these things,” said Rich, who has worked at Duke for 13 years. “It’s helped me take the next step and be more aware of how people are impacted by these issues.” Across Duke, anti-racism initiatives are underway, giving students, staff and faculty opportunities to talk, listen and learn about how to build a more inclusive community. With its organic support and reach, the Living (IT) While Black program has been especially successful, due in part to years of earlier work by the staff at the heart of the DiversifyIT initiative. “Sitting back and waiting is not a viable option,” said Tracy Futhey, Duke’s vice president for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. “As uncomfortable as many of
the conversations have been, the programs that DiversifyIT has promoted taught us to find comfort within that discomfort, recognizing the importance of transparent and honest advocacy even when we, as leaders, may not have all of the answers.” Since its founding in 2015, DiversifyIT has been a place where colleagues across Duke’s IT community gather to find meaning and belonging. Organized and led entirely by staff members, the initiative allows for open discussions and, through training, book clubs and informal lunch gatherings, DiversifyIT offers new perspectives to anyone willing to participate. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder last year, DiversifyIT was where Black and white members of the IT community turned to understand what could be done to end racism. La’Shawnda Kendall, a Black OIT project manager and co-chair of DiversifyIT, recalled that 40 people – about four times the typical turnout – attended DiversifyIT’s first virtual lunch meeting after Floyd’s killing. Many participants shared feelings of grief, frustration and a desire for change. Inspired by the attendance, DiversifyIT’s leaders developed Living (IT) While Black, and the first component included a series of 90-minute virtual “Open Mic” sessions in July 2020. Drawing 128 total listeners, the sessions featured Black employees who shared how racism affects daily life. “I remember hearing the pain that exists around people’s everyday lives that I otherwise may not have thought about,” said John Herr, an OIT software engineer who is white and attended some Open Mic sessions. In the fall of 2020, the next phase of Living (IT) While Black, called “The Side Bar,” featured a series of one-on-one virtual conversations about race between Black and white colleagues with an audience. The hope was that, by witnessing colleagues discuss issues, the experience could inspire others to do the same.
“In most places, you’re not supposed to talk about race,” said Kendall, the DiversifyIT co-chair. “But if we don’t talk about these things, how do we know how to act? How do we navigate each other? Because those things govern us.” In February and March of this year, the third phase of Living (IT) While Black, called “The Boardroom,” featured virtual conversations with leaders in Duke’s IT space about how concerns voiced in earlier sessions will be addressed. “Our white leaders stepped up and said they wanted to do it,” said Diversify IT co-chair and OIT Project Manager Laura Webb, who is white. “It wasn’t us chasing them down. We asked if they wanted to do this and they said ‘Yes, we’re there.’” Futhey, the vice president for information technology and chief information officer, attended all Living (IT) While Black events. As a white leader, she was a focus of a session of the Boardroom, where she answered questions about hiring more diverse team members, wages and developing mandatory antiracism training programs. “These are hard things, I think, for leaders who are accustomed to having the answers and to being the ones who tell people how we’re going to do something and what’s going to happen,” Futhey said. “It makes it all the more difficult when it’s a conversation where the leaders don’t have the answers. And in this case, we’re figuring it out together with everybody else through a forum that’s been created by the staff.” By sharing stories and attending meetings, OIT Executive Assistant Anyssa Queen, who is Black, has long embraced DiversifyIT’s work. At the past year’s meetings, she’s been encouraged by seeing many new – especially white – people ready to make the fight their own. “It was great to see our white colleagues, and just all of our colleagues in general, come out and start having a dog in the fight and see their buy-in,” Queen said. “I know it was awkward for them, but they realized that silence can be harmful.”
Visit DiversifyIT.duke.edu to learn more. Got an idea for the Working Toward Racial Justice story series? Write Working@Duke.edu.
By Stephen Schramm
working.duke.edu
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How to Save Time and Money on Your Rx
A
Pharmacy benefit offers convenient options
fter Michael Juday’s wife through ExpressScripts.com, phone was diagnosed in 2019 or mail or through the Express Scripts with Crohn’s, a disease mobile app. that causes inflammation Victoria Lee Jackson Carter, of the digestive tract, she had to Express Scripts senior clinical account go on medicine that typically costs executive at Duke, said that filling a $32,000 for an 84-day subscription. 90-day supply increases the likelihood But because of Duke’s medication is taken regularly by pharmacy benefit, the couple pays making refills more convenient. $130 every 84 days to reduce “The less likely you are to run out Tina’s abdominal pain, fatigue and of your medication, the better you are digestive issues. at adhering to your prescription and “It makes me feel great improving your health,” Carter said. knowing that Duke understands how important it is to give Go generic employees and their families With a low deductible and medications at a low price,” said reasonable co-pays, the pharmacy Juday, audio/video specialist for benefit keeps staff and faculty from Duke Health Technology Solutions shouldering most of the cost, and who orders his wife’s medicine selecting a generic prescription offers through a Duke pharmacy. savings. For example, Venlafaxine, a Duke partners with Express general antidepressant prescription, Scripts, a national pharmacy benefit costs $25 for 90 days compared to provider, for all four Duke medical $180 for a brand supply. plans. Express Scripts manages prescriptions for mail order and at Michael Juday with his wife, Tina. Photo courtesy of Michael Juday. Curbside convenience retail and participating Duke onsite pharmacies. You can pick-up prescriptions for In 2020, Duke covered nearly 68,500 employees and any medicine in-person or curbside from the Duke Outpatient dependents through the pharmacy benefit, filling about 1 million Pharmacy, Duke Children’s Retail Pharmacy, Duke Cancer prescriptions and paying $77.6 million of the $88.5 million for Center Specialty Pharmacy, Duke Regional Hospital, and Duke medications. Campus Center Pharmacy on West Campus. Here’s how the benefit can save you time and money. After a provider places an order, call the pharmacy to select curbside pick-up. Curbside parking is free, and prescription Special delivery payment is collected by phone. Gene Rhea, associate chief pharmacy officer for Duke Express Scripts offers mail-order for long-term maintenance Health, said curbside pick-up was started in April to reduce foot (90-day supplies) of medication for conditions such as diabetes, traffic inside buildings during the pandemic. high cholesterol and asthma. “It was a popular decision that we will keep going forward,” To get started, your doctor can electronically send new Rhea said. prescriptions to Express Scripts. Express Scripts Mail Order Pharmacy will then mail you the medicine. You can request mail order yourself by calling Express Scripts, and refills can be done
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WORKING@DUKE
By Jonathan Black
Get more details about the pharmacy benefit: hr.duke.edu/pharmacy
Duke in Pics:
Hopes in a Post-Pandemic Life With most of Duke’s workforce fully vaccinated, Duke staff and faculty are seeing a bright spot after 17 months amid coronavirus. Here’s what some colleagues are looking forward to in a post-pandemic life.
Seeing smiles again As Student Shop manager for the Pratt School of Engineering, Steven Earp teaches students how to use drill presses and laser cutters for rockets, watches and vehicles. While Earp worked on projects with students during the past year, his favorite aspect remained inaccessible: seeing students smile in-person. He’s excited to watch their expressions again as they operate machines. “It’s been hard not seeing students smile when they successfully operate a piece of equipment for the first time,” Earp said. “The happiness on their face lights up the room.”
A return to date nights
Steven Earp
For the first time in 14 months, Crystal Wright enjoyed a date night in the spring with her fiancé, Chuck. They ate crab legs at Crab Du Jour in Raleigh and toasted to being fully vaccinated. “I felt like a new person once I dressed up,” said Wright, patient service representative for Duke Patient Revenue Management Organization.
Running with friends No crowds cheered on Kim Manturuk when she completed a 3.1-mile run in Chapel Hill, but she threw her hands in the air to celebrate Crystal Wright anyway. She had achieved a goal of running a 5K – 3.2 miles – for 500 days in a row. The goal kept her moving during the pandemic, and she hopes to compete in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, her 14th marathon, in October. “I like races or running with friends because you feel the energy of everyone,” said Manturuk, associate director of research, evaluation and development for Duke Learning Innovation.
Kim Manturuk
Family safety Dr. Jared Christensen, associate professor of radiology, suits up for work with scrubs, shoe covers, lead apron, thyroid shield, gloves, N-95 mask and face shield. He does it for his safety and that of his eight children. He’s ready for movies, soccer and music lessons his kids, who range in age from 5 to 21. “I’m excited for all of our mental and social well-being to return,”
Christensen said.
By Jonathan Black
Got something you would like us to cover? Write working@duke.edu
15 Jared Christensen
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Bonita McMorris Working@Duke June 19 at 11:30 PM
Optimal Work/life balance. #DukeTimeOff
News You Can Use: Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Right Time to Quit Tobacco Duke University marks one-year tobacco-free policy amid pandemic. bit.ly/DukeTobaccoFree
@DukePsychiatry
In this @WorkingatDuke article, Duke staff members reflect on how they unplug during vacation. Duke Psychiatry's Dr. John Mitchell comments about the importance of taking a break for mental & emotional well-being. ow.ly /8vG250FlWQO @jtm5000 @DukeMedSchool
Video Q&A: Future of Work Daniel Ennis, Duke University's executive vice president, talks about remote work, finances, anti-racism and more. bit.ly/VideoWithEnnis Pandemic Recipes Whether skillet dishes or chocolate cake in a mug, cooking soothes colleagues. bit.ly/ DukePandemicRecipes
3 WAYS TO DISCONNECT WHILE ON VACATION
During a trip to Topsail Island last summer, Sharlini Sankaran ran into a problem with her phone. Somehow, the salt air or sea spray caused her phone to malfunction, leaving it only operable when plugged into a charger.
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