August/September, 2018 Working@Duke

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! 8

FIND A BOARD POSITION 11

SMOKE-FREE UNIVERSITY 12

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Comeback Colleagues

Editor’s Note

CONTENTS

LEANORA MINAI

Get Personalized Retirement Planning If you haven’t met with a Fidelity representative yet, schedule an on-campus appointment to get help with your retirement savings plan.

I recently met with Alan Collins, a Fidelity retirement planner, to better understand how to move my plan to Fidelity, which becomes Duke’s primary retirement service provider in 2019.

Fidelity representatives will meet with you at no charge to you as you consider options for moving funds and setting future contributions as part of Duke’s retirement plan redesign. If you don’t take an action by December to designate where you want your money to go, your funds will be transferred to Fidelity’s new investment lineup based on a mapping strategy.

“I look at it as a way for everyone to do a check-in,” Alan said. “Whether it’s been a year, or whether it’s been five years since they met with someone, it’s a perfect time for everyone to reset and take a look at where they stand and if they’re on track.”

Here are highlights from my visit with Alan.

I created an online Fidelity account. Alan helped me create an account on “Fidelity NetBenefits,” where I completed a profile and designated a beneficiary.

The beneficiary data in your current retirement plan will not transfer to Fidelity, so you must update that information with Fidelity.

I selected a new investment lineup. I wanted to transfer my assets to a similar target date retirement option, and Alan helped set that up. He made tweaks online and printed a form for me to send to Fidelity

by December. Whether you are in a target date lineup or choose your investments, a Fidelity representative will walk you through the selections, paperwork and process for moving your funds. Alan said many Duke employees come to appointments with the printed “Retirement Redesign Decision Guide.” “Most want to be sure that everything will be done successfully and nothing’s left behind,” he said.

I set a retirement goal. After I created an online profile with Fidelity, Alan helped me with analysis in the “Planning and Guidance Center,” my favorite feature. Here’s where you enter various variables – age, income, savings rates, and market conditions – and get an analysis of whether you’re on track. You can adjust figures to determine how well you’ll do in below or above average market conditions. You see your monthly income in retirement and potential gaps. It was fun tinkering with variables to see how decisions changed my retirement goal score. “Our primary role is to help people put together a successful plan to retire the way they want to, under their own terms,” Alan said.

Make an appointment: fidelity.com/duke

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4 Comeback Colleagues About 13 percent of Duke’s workforce has left and returned, citing the

community, the employee benefits package and a sense of well-being and pride from working at Duke.

8 Lights, Camera, Action!

A behind-the-scenes look of a day with the Blue Devil Network, which provides live and on-demand video from Duke’s varsity sports.

10 Maximize Your Savings

Duke offers a Health Care Reimbursement Account and Dependent Care Reimbursement Account, allowing you to set aside money to pay for eligible expenses. Contributions are not subject to federal or state taxes.

11 Find your seat on a nonprofit board 12 Get help quitting smoking before 2020 deadline 14 Discounts for home cleaning services 15 The human side of sustainability 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

Jonathan Black Writer (919) 681-9965 jonathan.c.black@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 photo: Joel Ragland, left, and Terri Laasko, right, walk through the doors at the JB Duke Hotel on campus.

Photo by Justin Cook.

2017, 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

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BRIEFLY Questions about investment options? Talk with Fidelity Fidelity has added new on-site locations and retirement planners to meet one-on-one with staff and faculty as part of Duke’s retirement plan redesign. The redesign, which takes effect in January 2019, includes a new investment lineup and the designation of Fidelity as Duke’s primary recordkeeper for the Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan.

If eligible participants take no action with their plans before January, current balances will be moved to the new investment lineup on Fidelity’s platform based on a mapping strategy, and future contributions will automatically default to an appropriate age-based target retirement date fund through Fidelity in January 2019.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to meet with a Fidelity representative and make elections that best meet investment needs and savings goals.

To schedule an appointment with a Fidelity representative, call 1-800-823-0172 or go to fidelity.com/duke.

Learn IT workshops start Sept. 12 The Office of Information Technology (OIT) will host seven free “Learn IT @ Lunch” training seminars during the fall semester.

The sessions, the first of which is Sept. 12, will cover topics such as tools for team collaboration, multi-factor authentication, iPad productivity, creating accessible PDFs and how to effectively use the digital Duke Flyer system.

Edwin Molina, information technology specialist with Duke Recreation & Physical Education, attended around a half dozen sessions last year.

“It’s done a lot for me both personally and professionally,” Molina said. “It’s allowed me to connect with other IT professionals on campus.

I get to learn about other sections of campus and see how IT is working for them.”

The sessions are from 12-1 p.m. in Room 217 in Perkins Library.

Registration is not necessary, and you can bring your lunch.

For a full schedule, visit sites.duke.edu/training/learn-it-lunch.

Get a free flu shot Duke Employee Occupational Health and Wellness (EOHW) will offer free flu shots to staff and faculty beginning Sept. 20.

For 2018-19, Duke will have the quadrivalent vaccine and an egg-free option for individuals with allergies.

“The flu shot is really the one preventive measure that we can take to try to stop or lower the risk we will be affected,” said Dr. Carol Epling, director of EOHW. About 31,000 employees received a vaccine through Duke last season.

North Carolina had 389 deaths related to influenza during the 2017-18 season, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Duke employees can get a free flu vaccine from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Monday through Friday (except for noon-2 p.m. Wednesday) at the EOHW office in the Orange Zone of the Duke Clinic or at a roving clinic this fall.

A valid DukeCard ID must be shown. No appointment is necessary.

The flu vaccine, or an accepted medical or religious exemption, is a condition of employment in the Health System and for many School of Medicine employees.

Get the flu vaccine schedule at flu.duke.edu.

Find your speed with Duke Run/Walk Club Get moving when Duke’s Run/Walk Club returns Aug. 13.

The 12-week program meets through Oct. 31 for low-pressure workouts. Duke Run/Walk Club is free for staff, faculty and students and includes fitness classes.

Organized by LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, the club meets at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays at East Campus and the Al Buehler Trail.

Mary Key, clinical research coordinator for the Duke Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, has been attending Run/Walk Club for the past two years.

“It’s a great experience because the coaches and colleagues are so encouraging,” she said. “I definitely look forward to running more knowing I have a group to support me.”

Register at hr.duke.edu/runwalk.

Duke Football Employee Kickoff Celebration is Sept. 22 The 2018 Duke Football Employee Kickoff Celebration returns Sept. 22 with up to four free game tickets and food vouchers for Duke University and Health System employees.

Additional tickets can be purchased for $5 each. A ticket is required for stadium entry for any fan who is age 3 and older.

Prior to the game against North Carolina Central University, there will be a celebration on the concourse of Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium featuring music and family-oriented fun. Employees will receive vouchers for a meal at designated concession stands.

“It’s a great family atmosphere,” said Eric Green, assistant professor of the practice at the Duke Global Health Institute.

“There’s lots of stuff to do.

They really ramp up the fan experience.”

Details on venue, meal options and digital ticketing procedures will be available on hr.duke.edu in August.

working.duke.edu

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Comeback Colleagues Employee benefits package and sense of community prompt former employees to rejoin Duke

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he walls of the Duke Cancer Center Quiet Room hold Cyndi Duke’s grief.

The room is where she first grappled with her husband’s cancer diagnosis and again when she learned the disease was terminal. And it’s where Cyndi retreated shortly after making the decision to leave Duke in 2014.

When doctors diagnosed Cyndi’s husband, Sam, with terminal colorectal cancer, she knew it was time for the couple to fulfill their dream of living on the Gulf Coast. Cyndi, who worked in various departments at Duke for 17 years, knew saying goodbye to Duke would be one of the hardest parts of the move to Alabama.

“When the doctors told us there was nothing else that could be done, we moved to the Gulf Coast to spend what time we had left with family,” Cyndi said. “We needed to make what time we had left count.”

Cyndi’s coworkers also understood when she wanted to return to work at Duke about a year after her husband died.

Now a staff assistant in the Division of Cardiology, Cyndi is one of about 6,400 employees – 13 percent of Duke’s workforce – who left the University and Health System in recent years but returned to work at Duke. In fact, 15 percent of U.S. workers have returned to a former employer, according to a 2015 national survey by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated and WorkplaceTrends.com. And employers are more accepting of hiring former employees than in the past, as the labor market has more jobs than workers.

At Duke, many returning employees cite a sense of community, emphasis on well-being and benefits as factors for reapplying to work at Duke, the second largest private employer in North Carolina. They return with new knowledge and skills and don’t require extensive training because they are familiar with the culture and have a stronger commitment to Duke.

“They’ve gained insight into work culture and climate in other places,” said Kyle Cavanaugh, Duke’s vice president for administration. “So, when people come back to Duke, it’s very intentional. They’re reinvigorated and passionate about this place.”

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Cyndi Duke holds a photograph of herself with husband, Sam. Photo by Justin Cook.

Finding community again Mitch Yelverton didn’t have to worry about saying goodbye to Duke when he graduated from the university in 2005.

He had a position lined up at the Duke Alumni Association, planning reunions, serving as a liaison to the Duke Annual Fund and creating the Duke Alumni Association Affinity Program, a networking structure that connects alumni with similar interests.

After working for nearly five years at Duke, Yelverton left to attend Campbell Law School full-time in Raleigh.

He received a law degree in 2013 and worked for a consulting firm and ran his own practice for four years.

He learned how to advise small businesses, litigate for pharmaceutical companies and handle intellectual property disputes. He gained valuable skills, but he missed the Duke community. As a Duke employee, Yelverton regularly attended faculty and student chamber music concerts in the Nelson Music Room on East Campus and enjoyed being around the hustle and bustle of student life.

Yelverton tried for four years to get back to Duke, applying for a variety of positions. He’s not alone.

Nationally, 85 percent of human resources professionals said they’ve received job applications from former employees in the past five years, according to The Workforce Institute, a think tank that collects insights on employee engagement and performance.

During his job hunt at Duke, Yelverton kept in touch with former coworkers. They met for lunch around Durham, and Yelverton’s friends sent emails when job opportunities opened, which led to his current position in the School of Medicine.

After interviewing for 11 positions, Yelverton landed a position at Duke, where returning employees go through the same hiring process as other individuals applying for a position. Each month across Duke, an average of about 10,000 people apply for a position.

“I missed Duke and being in a place where there's always something new happening,” said Yelverton, now research agreements manager for Duke’s School of Medicine. “With other employers, the only thing happening was the business. At Duke you're part of a bigger community that includes the arts, sports, and so many other things.”

Rhonda Brandon, chief human resources officer for Duke Health, said she has noticed a trend in employees who return to work at Duke. She said they come back committed to Duke’s principles and values and routinely cite missing the pride they carried while working here.

“Employees who return to Duke are engaged with the organization’s purpose,” Brandon said. “We’re here to educate, heal, cure and save lives. It’s an environment where you can flourish professionally and personally.” >> continued on page 6

>> continued on page 6

working.duke.edu

Mitch Yelverton. Photo by Justin Cook.

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Returning with new skills As a multimedia developer for the Fuqua School of Business, Terri Laakso worked with faculty to transfer Global Executive Master of Business Administration courses to e-learning modules.

After four years, Laakso was ready to take on a leadership position. In 2008, she left Duke to manage the creative direction of marketing materials for Kimley-Horn and Associates, a civil engineering firm in Raleigh. She left that position in 2017 to start her own e-commerce business, Savoir-Flaire, where she curated and sold wedding favors. A year later, Laakso closed Savoir-Flaire, which didn’t become as profitable as she hoped.

“I took a step back from sending out resumes to reflect on where I was happiest in my career,” she said.

“I came to this realization that my biggest career regret was leaving Duke.”

In Laakso’s 11 years away from Duke, she learned project management skills that help in her current role as assistant general manager for the Duke eStore, the online shop for Duke University Stores. She hit the ground running when she returned this year, planning inventory levels for gifts and apparel and executing online marketing strategies to track analytics, improve the website and engage customers through social media.

“Now, I’m using these skills to serve an audience I love most – Duke fans,” Laakso said.

Denise Motley, head of Duke staffing and recruitment, said rehiring former employees benefits Duke because individuals return with enhanced skills and expertise and fresh perspectives.

“Often this was a good environment for someone, and they saw an opportunity elsewhere to improve themselves,” Motley said. “If someone wants to come back, we should take it as a compliment because it means we’re doing something right.”

In her time away from Duke, Laakso continued to visit Sarah P. Duke Gardens and Duke University Chapel. Every time, she felt like she was missing out on something.

“I felt like I was observing it all from the outside, and I wanted to be part of it again,” she said.

Now, on her walks around campus, Laakso takes pride in the DukeCard ID clipped to her clothing.

“I’m happiest at Duke,” Laakso said. “I found my place.”

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Terri Laasko. Photo by Justin Cook.

A family-friendly workplace Joel Ragland always dreamed of working in the food industry.

In 2008, he left his position as a health unit coordinator at Duke Regional Hospital to manage a food truck, “Pig Out,” and catering company, “It’s All About You.” He whipped up barbecue, lasagna and fried chicken and enjoyed cooking comfort food specialties like meatloaf, but the work often required evenings and weekends away from home. He rarely had time with his son, 9-year-old Eli, or 11-year-old daughter, Kayla.

After four years, Ragland was ready to make another change.

Duke’s insurance coverage and family-friendly benefits were top factors that prompted Ragland’s return to Duke in 2012. It turned out to be the right decision for his family.

Earlier this year, Ragland’s son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

The diagnosis means a lifetime of insulin shots and diet planning for his son, but Ragland enjoys peace of mind. His Duke medical insurance plan covers $30 a year in insulin pens, which could cost as much as $400 without insurance.

“Benefits and job stability were important to me,” said Ragland, who now works 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. as a supply chain associate for Duke University Hospital. “It means so much to me that I can work a schedule that allows me to see my kids as they get home.”

Ragland’s reasons for coming back match current trends.

Nationally, a robust benefits package and career path are tied as the No. 1 reasons employees return to a company, according to a survey of HR professionals by The Workforce Institute, the think tank that collects insights on employee engagement and performance.

Every day at 2:45 p.m., Ragland stands outside his home in Bahama to greet his kids with a hug as they hop off the school bus. From there, it’s a busy afternoon of soccer practices, homework and getting dinner on the table.

“Duke lets me be a soccer dad,” he said. “I’m grateful they give me opportunities that benefit me and my family.” 

By Jonathan Black

Review Duke’s comprehensive employee benefits at hr.duke.edu/benefits

Joel Ragland. Photo by Justin Cook.

working.duke.edu

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Lights, C Behind the Scenes with the Blue Devil Network

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From left to right: Dan Enders, Katie Bessell and Chad Lampman keep tabs on a day of broadcasts from the Blue Devil Network control room in Blue Devil Tower.

n the first Sunday in May, Blue Devil Tower is mostly silent. Carpeted hallways and woodpaneled lounges are empty. Windows look out on Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium, where commencement preparations are on pause.

But behind a door on the fourth floor, there’s a room where the action is just beginning for Blue Devil Network.

Five Duke athletic events will take place on this day at three on-campus venues. Each contest will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra, the online streaming service of the Atlantic Coast Conference. And each broadcast will come from the dark, busy control room that’s the nerve center of the Blue Devil Network.

“This is the calm before the storm,” Blue Devil Network Executive Director Chad Lampman says while looking at a wall of glowing screens showing live camera feeds, clocks and graphics to eight people hovering over panels of dials and blinking buttons.

“We’ve never had anything like this,” adds Lampman, who’s been at Duke since 2010.

Launched in 2012, the Blue Devil Network provides live and on-demand video from Duke’s varsity sports. Game broadcasts require a subscription to ESPN through cable, satellite or the ESPN app, but some content is free.

For most of its life, the Blue Devil Network operated out of a production truck and former file room in Cameron Indoor Stadium. When Blue Devil Tower, part of a multimillion dollar renovation of Wallace Wade Stadium, opened in 2016, the space gave the Blue Devil Network a new, state-of-the-art home.

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In addition to offices for the 12-person staff, the3,500-square foot space features three control rooms, video-editing suites and a studio. The facilities aren’t solely for athletics. People across Duke use the space to produce high-end video broadcasts.

And when the ESPN-owned ACC Network television channel debuts next year, the reach of the Blue Devil Network studio will increase drastically.

“The value of our Blue Devil Network team and the recent facility construction is immeasurable,” said Jon Jackson, Duke’s senior associate athletics director for External Affairs. “Duke – the entire University beyond athletics – has benefited immensely from the ability to reach a much broader audience from the network studios.”

In the Action

“Hey Lamps?” Ryan Craig asks into his headset.

Minutes before the start of the Duke men’s lacrosse showdown with Boston University, Craig, the play-by-play announcer and Duke Athletics’ executive director of digital strategy, enlists the help of Lampman in the control room to get his video monitor working in the Koskinen Stadium broadcast booth.

Next to Craig, color analyst and former Duke lacrosse standout Jack Rowe studies notes. In the stadium, five camera operators are in position and Blue Devil Network Assistant Director Rebecca Fiorentino preps for sideline reporter duties.

Monitor fixed, Craig kicks off the broadcast.

Tune In:

See

At left, Ryan Craig, left, and Jack Rowe provide play-by-play from Duke’s lacrosse win against Boston University. At right, a camera captures the action as Duke’s softball team faces Campbell University at home. Photos by Megan Mendenhall, Duke News & Communications.

, Camera, Action!

In:

“Hello everybody and welcome to sunny Durham, North Carolina …”

In the control room in Blue Devil Tower, the action is in full swing.

Producer Katie Bessell is in constant conversation with Craig and director Dan Enders, seated to her left. It’s Bessell’s job to control the broadcast. Enders gives her the camera shots, replays and graphics she needs.

“Katie is painting the picture,” Lampman said. “Dan is picking the colors.”

To switch between cameras and cue up replays, Enders relies on a small crew of assistants. Tasked with controlling onscreen graphics, Lampman is one of them.

In a small separate room, one staffer mixes audio, creating harmony out of sound from a myriad of microphones. Elsewhere, another person eyes a series of monitors and fixes color differences between the five cameras. Meanwhile, engineer Ivan Panarusky, who remedies technical problems, sits ready to tackle any concerns.

Behind the control room, racks of whirring computers and tangles of fiberoptic cable give the Blue Devil Network its horsepower. This is where sounds and images from fields across campus feed into the machines that the Blue Devil Network team uses to craft a broadcast.

More than the Games While the men’s lacrosse broadcast comes together, simpler broadcasts unfold across campus.

For Duke baseball, softball and women’s lacrosse games, solo play-by-play announcers provide audio, which, back in the Blue Devil Network control room, is meshed with video from single cameras perched high above fields.

With her team facing Campbell University on Senior Day, Duke softball coach Marissa Young knows that Blue Devil Network’s value goes beyond airing her team’s games. The Blue Devil Network creates bite-sized pieces of video content for Duke teams’ social media feeds and longer videos on GoDuke.com.

For Duke’s softball program, which was announced five years before this spring’s inaugural season, content created by Blue Devil Network – such as a behind-the-scenes tour of Duke’s new softball stadium – gave the team an identity well before its first game.

“That was instrumental in getting out our brand and showing what Duke softball is,” Young said. “The social media content attracted fans and recruits and really became the face of our program.”

The work of creating that content is constant.

See broadcasts or subscribe to the Blue Devil Network at goduke.com.

Once the men’s lacrosse game ends on this day in May, Blue Devil Network Assistant Director Rebecca Fiorentino returns to the network’s offices to sort through footage and interviews to create catchy highlight videos.

“We always have to think about social media,” Fiorentino said. “It’s a big part of what we do.”

Looking Forward As the early games end, the pace in the Blue Devil Tower control room slows.

Aside from the baseball and women’s lacrosse broadcasts, the only concerns are an approaching thunderstorm and whether the Duke men’s lacrosse team will be at home for the NCAA tournament the next weekend, meaning ESPNU’s broadcast of the game will be done using Blue Devil Network’s facilities.

“We’ll leave a couple of cameras set just in case,” Lampman said.

Either way, the investment in people, equipment and space means the Blue Devil Network will help Duke be ready for whatever comes. 

By Stephen Schramm

working.duke.edu

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Maximize Savings with Reimbursement Accounts

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o you expect to have medical, dental or vision expenses not covered by health insurance?

Do you spend money on day care for your child?

Duke offers a Health Care Reimbursement Account and Dependent Care Reimbursement Account, allowing you to set aside money to pay for eligible expenses. Contributions to each account are automatically deducted from your pay and not subject to federal or state taxes. Enroll or re-enroll in each account during Open Enrollment in the fall.

Here’s how the accounts helped two employees.

Save on healthcare

Save on childcare

Stacey Mangum’s husband, Jason, needed triple bypass surgery in April after doctors found 95 percent of an artery clogged.

She used her Health Care Reimbursement Account to pay for $600 in surgeryrelated expenses not covered by insurance.

“Knowing I’m not in any kind of medical debt is a huge relief,” said Stacey, clinical trials project leader for Duke Clinical Research Institute. “The Stacey Mangum, left, with her husband, reimbursement account let Jason, in Duke University Hospital after us focus on Jason’s recovery.” he had triple bypass surgery in April.

You don’t have to be in a Duke medical plan to enroll in a Health Care Reimbursement Account. If you’re in the Duke Basic plan, you automatically receive a contribution based on your coverage tier. Participants in other Duke health plans need to enroll.

All participants can use the account for dependent health care expenses as long as you claim that dependent on your federal income tax return.

Saundra Daniels, plan manager for Duke Human Resources Voluntary Benefits, said participants save 30 cents on average for every dollar contributed to the account. Plus, you can roll over up to $500 into the following year’s health care reimbursement account.

Stacey uses the reimbursement account for Jason’s cardiac therapy, as well as prescription lenses for herself.

“There’s always a sense of peace putting money aside,” Stacey said.

For the past two summers, Bryan Evans’ 9-year-old daughter, Alayna, has attended Wytha Balance Yoga Camp in Durham.

He pays for the camp with the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account, which he enrolled in a decade ago for his now 18-year-old daughter, Caira.

“I use that money I save to support my daughters,” said Evans, Bryan Evans, right, with his two daughters, Caira, field services IT analyst left, and Alayna, center. for Duke Health Technology Solutions.

A dependent care reimbursement account can be used for a variety of eligible expenses, including day care or preschool for children up to their 13th birthday, household services for an elderly dependent living with you, and more.

“Dependent reimbursement accounts help to support your family while you’re at work,” said Saundra Daniels, plan manager for Duke Human Resource’s Voluntary Benefits.

When Evans meets a new employee around Duke, he always mentions the dependent care reimbursement account.

“It’s a godsend,” he said. “It really allows Duke employees to care for our loved ones.” 

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By Jonathan Black

Open Enrollment is Coming Stay tuned this fall for 2019 reimbursement account details, including the maximum contributions allowed in 2019. Visit hr.duke.edu/reimbursement for summary plan details.

Find Your D Seat on a Board Matching service helps Duke employees find nonprofit board positions

Dinesh Divakaran stands with his wife, Smrithi, at a family dinner with his mom, Devi, left, and father, C.P., right.

inesh Divakaran grew up in a home with a firm open-door policy.

His mother always invited over family, neighbors and friends who needed a hot meal and someone to talk to.

The small acts of kindness stuck with Divakaran, associate director of Duke’s Office of Licensing & Ventures.

“She always told me that we have more than we need, and we should help those that don’t,” he said. “It’s made me want to use my technical skills to help those without the resources.”

Since 2016, Divakaran has been on the Board of Directors for the WiderNet Project, a nonprofit that provides educational materials to underserved areas of the world. He believes that parts of the RaleighDurham community are underserved, too, which is why he created a profile on Build a Better Board, a free website through Executive Service Corps of the Triangle that matches local nonprofits with individuals who seek nonprofit board opportunities.

Duke’s Office of Civic Engagement is collaborating with the Executive Service Corps of the Triangle to encourage Duke community members to create a profile on Build a Better Board, which features about 150 Triangle nonprofits.

“Our office knows a lot of people at Duke who want to serve on nonprofit boards,” said Eric Mlyn, assistant vice provost for Civic Engagement. “Build a Better Board is a confluence of everyone’s interest. It gives Duke employees an opportunity to learn and better the community while providing needed leadership to local organizations.”

To create a profile on Build a Better Board, upload your resume, identify your skills and select nonprofits of interest. Once your profile is active, you can search the database and open board positions. Nonprofits can search for skills and interests, but your identity remains anonymous until parties contact each other.

Anne Saffer, executive director of the Executive Service Corps of the Triangle, said it’s important to find a nonprofit that fuels your passion.

“When you sit on a nonprofit board, you’re able to put your professional skills to work in support of a cause you really care about,” she said. “Whether you want to advance the arts, support education, or save cats, it’s a great way to make a difference.”

With a background in commercializing digital innovation, Divakaran wanted to help a nonprofit with information technology. New Leaf Behavioral Health, a Raleigh-based mental health nonprofit, contacted Divakaran through Build a Better Board, and Divakaran joined the New Leaf board in January. He’s currently advising the organization on selecting an IT service to create an electronic health record system.

“Nonprofits have limited funds, so they need to raise funds and have people advise them on making the right investments,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic way to contribute to the community.” 

By Jonathan Black

Create a profile on Build a Better Board: buildabetterboard.com

working.duke.edu

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Leading the Way Toward a Smoke-Free Future Duke strengthens resources ahead of 2020 smoke-free date for university campus

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aria Crowder was a smoker for more than two decades, but her addiction didn’t seem that bad to her.

She didn’t smoke when she woke up.

She didn’t smoke indoors. She’d go days without the urge to light up. So people around her figured she wouldn’t have trouble kicking her pack-every-twodays habit.

“My daughter would say, ‘Well, you don’t smoke that much, it should be easy,’” said Crowder, 37, an administrative assistant with Duke HomeCare and Hospice.

It wasn’t.

Seeing family members struggle and others die from smoking-related diseases wasn’t enough to get Crowder to change, but with help from LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, Crowder found the right combination of medication and motivation. She hasn’t had a cigarette in more than a year.

“My daughter will say that she doesn’t even Now that she’s quit smoking, Maria Crowder, left, has more time and energy to spend doing such things as enjoying the outdoors with her daughter, Shawnee. Photo by Ben McKeown. remember that I smoked,” Crowder said. “It feels good. I’m happy to be that role model for her.”

“Students and employees will essentially have easy access to Duke is adopting a new policy to become smoke-free on free or inexpensive highly effective tobacco treatment services,” all property and grounds owned and leased by Duke University said James Davis, assistant professor of medicine and medical beginning July 1, 2020. Part of the Healthy Duke campaign, the director for Duke Center for Smoking Cessation. “That’s the real policy prohibits use of combustible tobacco products, including change.” cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, and hookahs. The policy does not With more help available, the hope is, when the smoke-free apply to non-combustible forms of tobacco such as e-cigarettes, deadline arrives, Duke community members who smoke will be chewing tobacco, or therapeutic products containing nicotine. ready for it.

As the 2020 deadline nears, Duke is enhancing resources.

“Treatment is the part of this initiative that we won’t Staff and faculty have access to tobacco cessation resources compromise on,” Davis said. “We really want to make sure through LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness that everyone in the Duke community has access to worldprogram, as well as the Duke Smoking Cessation Program, class treatment.”  a comprehensive physician-led service that battles tobacco

By Stephen Schramm dependence using medical and behavioral approaches. Students and employees can access more intensive services and have the cost covered by Duke by going through Student Health or Have you quit smoking? Share your story as inspiration Employee Occupational Health & Wellness.

for others. Write working@duke.edu.

Get help quitting: healthy.duke.edu/smokefree 12

WORKING@DUKE

A LASTING GIFT

Donors to Duke’s Anatomical Gifts Program inspire future physicians

First-year students from Duke’s School of Medicine sing during a memorial service for the people who made donations through the Anatomical Gifts Program.

D

uring her first semester as a Duke University School of Medicine student, Aardra Rajendran had experiences she’d never forget.

Three afternoons a week, she and her classmates crowded around tables in Duke’s Gross Anatomy Lab and dissected human bodies, taking apart each organ system, holding what they’d previously only known through diagrams.

“You learn so much,” Rajendran said.

“It’s so powerful because you realize that this is going to stick with you for the rest of your career.”

Ensuring these essential experiences is the job of Duke’s Anatomical Gifts Program, which supplies bodies to Duke’s School of Medicine for use in the advancement of medical knowledge.

The roughly 130 donations Duke receives each year are used in either the Gross Anatomy Lab, where anatomy is reviewed in detail, or the Duke Human Fresh Tissue Lab, where residents, attending physicians and medical students perform

advanced surgical training on fresh tissue or work to develop new medical or surgical procedures. Once training is complete, the body is cremated, and families can choose to have ashes returned or scattered in Duke Forest.

From her office in Duke South, Nancy Cotton, the program’s coordinator, receives calls from families who inquire how they can donate bodies of their loved ones.

“Most of them call because they’ve received care here at one time in their life,” Cotton said. “It could have been over 20 years ago, but Duke has stuck with them and they want to give back.”

After a patient’s death, arrangements for donations begin. Only then, through speaking with doctors, can Cotton determine whether a body meets Duke’s requirements for donation. The criteria, which focuses primarily on the body’s condition, ensures donations will be suitable for education. Cotton escorts each body when it arrives, staying in contact with families throughout the process.

Learn about the Anatomical Gifts Program: medschool.duke.edu

“This is an honorable thing they’ve done,” said Cotton, who’s been with the program for nine years.

Each June, there’s a memorial service for donors in Duke University Chapel, where donor families are invited. A list of the donors’ names is read. This spring, Rajendran and her School of Medicine classmates held their own memorial service as a show of thanks to donors and families.

“You’ve known this body so intimately over the course of the semester, and yet you know nothing about this person whose hand you’ve held, whose heart you’ve touched,” Rajendran said.

“You just have real gratitude because this was the biggest gift somebody could ever give you. It was their life, and they’ve given that to you. The biggest thing we can do is take that knowledge, put it to good use and take good care of the patients we’ll see in the future.” 

By Stephen Schramm

working.duke.edu

13

PERQS EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS

Freshen Up

Your Home

Discounts help with cleaning services without cleaning out wallets

K

earston Ingraham’s 11-year-old son, Tyler, loves playing sports.

Basketball and football are his passions, which means muddy cleats and bottles of neoncolored sports drinks often find their way into the Ingraham home.

A research program evaluator at the Office of Health Equity and Disparities at Duke Cancer Institute, Ingraham said her son does a good job of keeping dirtier sports equipment off the home’s carpets.

But, she added, he’s not perfect.

“Every so often, I’ll go back to his room and say, ‘What happened in here?’” she said.

For the past few years, Kearston has enlisted Spotless Clean & Carpet Care [spotlesscleancc.com] for help keeping her carpets pristine. She found the service on a list of employee discounts on the Duke Human Resources website and has been happy with the company’s work, price and customer service.

Spotless Clean & Carpet Care is among the cleaning and home improvement services offered through PERQs, the Duke employee discount program. If you’re looking to spruce up your home, here are some other discounts.

Cleaning on the move Around the time Amy Puglia started as emergency preparedness coordinator

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WORKING@DUKE

with Duke University Hospital, she and her family moved out of their Apex townhouse to a home with a little more room. Cleaning the old place wasn’t a task she looked forward to.

“As you can imagine, starting a new job, and having to move, and having two small children, we were really looking to make the whole process easier in any way that we could,” Puglia said.

Puglia found Your Time Cleaning Service [yourtimecleaningse.wixsite. com/yourtimecleaning] on the discount list. She took advantage of a 15 percent discount for Duke employees and arranged service within a week.

“It was totally worth it,” Puglia said.

“It was also less expensive than I thought it would be, even before the discount.”

Spruce up outside If, after winter and pollen season, the exterior of your home needs freshening up, Team Todd Pressure Washing [teamtoddpressurewashing. com] can help. The company, which covers the Triangle, offers $50 off pressure washing jobs.

Other options Duke Human Resources maintains a list of companies offering employee discounts. Among them are eight that provide home cleaning services. Visit hr.duke.edu/discounts and select “Home Cleaning Services.” Your NetID and password may be needed to access deals. 

By Stephen Schramm

S

SUSTAINABLE DUKE YOUR SOURCE FOR GREEN NEWS AT DUKE

The Human Side of Sustainability Turning gratitude into a way of being

O

A student writes what she’s thankful for during a “Gratitude Lunch” organized by Sustainable Duke. Photo by Stephen Schramm.

n a sunny spring day last semester, students, faculty and staff filled a meeting room in the Student Wellness Center for a lunch organized

by Sustainable Duke. The zero-waste event featured compostable plates and pasta salad with locally sourced vegetables.

But the talk over lunch wasn’t about carbon footprints or conservation. Instead, the purpose was to nurture Duke’s human resource.

All that was required for guests at this “Gratitude Lunch” was to invite someone they wanted to thank.

“Research tells us that people who are happier are people who are more grateful,” Student Wellness Center Director Tom Szigethy told the group before the meal. “How do we turn gratitude into a way of being?”

While many Sustainable Duke events leave community members inspired to find a greener way to commute or cut energy use, the lunch aimed to get people to write lists of what they’re thankful for, or to train their mind to focus on opportunities instead of problems.

For most people, living sustainably means meeting your needs without depleting the environment or economy in a way that jeopardizes future generations. But a part of the sustainability equation that’s becoming more prominent is the value of living in a way that maintains physical and mental health.

The intersection of wellness and sustainability is one of the driving forces behind the Healthy Duke campaign, a campuswide wellness initiative. Szigethy and Sustainable Duke Director Tavey Capps are leading the Environment & Culture portion of the campaign.

“We can’t necessarily claim to be a sustainable institution if the people who live and work here aren’t well,” Capps said.

“We can be carbon neutral, but if all the students are stressed out and the staff is burned out, we’re not sustainable.”

Examples of Sustainable Duke’s emphasis on wellness are beginning to show up. Sustainable Duke’s recently updated Green Workplace and Green Classroom certification checklists now feature wellness-related items like holding walking meetings, providing healthy food at events and starting classes with a minute of mindfulness.

Also, the Gratitude Lunch was funded by Sustainable Duke’s Green Grant Program, which offers students, faculty and staff financial help in making their ideas a reality.

Tam Huynh, a research technician with the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, sat with co-worker Kelly Seaton at the lunch.

He invited her to show his appreciation for helping to run their lab. He thought the lunch was a good idea, pointing out that wellness, like sustainability, is the kind of institutional value that can spread.

“I think humans are creatures of imitation, so if everyone is doing something positive, others will join in,” Huynh said. “It can be contagious. … The good kind of contagious.” 

By Stephen Schramm

Got an idea for an initiative that promotes sustainability and wellness? Get help paying for it: sustainability.duke.edu/greengrant

For more about Duke’s sustainability efforts, visit sustainability.duke.edu

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