December, 2017/January, 2018 Working@Duke

KEEPERS OF DUKE’S COOL STUFF 8

PART OF THE TEAM 10

NC SYMPHONY DISCOUNT 14

NEW S YOU C AN USE • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8

Discovery Takes Flight

Editor’s Note

CONTENTS

LEANORA MINAI

Breaking Bread At first in November 2013, the potluck started as a small team gathering, but then it went big with its organizers turning the Indian traditional meal into a “Thanksgiving Feast” for the entire Office of Information Technology – about 150 people.

This November, Uma Subramanian and five colleagues in OIT’s SAP group continued the tradition and prepared 10 dishes, including vegetable biriyani and Pav Bhaji, an Indian curry.

“We all feel happy and joy to cook for others and it is our way of showing thanks to colleagues,” said Uma, who has worked at Duke for 10 years. “The positive responses we received from our colleagues motivated us to go big year after year.”

I love an office potluck. The communal meal is an opportunity to share traditions and cultures and get to know colleagues. Here in my office, we recently enjoyed conversation over ground beef tacos and decadent chocolate cayenne pepper cupcakes.

Terry Nicotra, interim director for Duke’s Personal Assistance Service, said a potluck with coworkers builds personal connections.

“Perhaps you’ll find out that you have commonalities you didn’t know otherwise because you took a pause in the day to get to know something about somebody other than their work life or the tasks they do,” he said.

Joe Molnar, IT service management process owner, is part of a nine-member team in Duke Health Technology Solutions that hosts a Crock-Pot lunch every Wednesday.

“We love to eat,” Joe said. “I’m Hungarian, so I make a chicken paprikash. We’ve had meatballs and sausage, stews, barbecue pork, barbecue chicken, and pasta with meat sauce.”

Over meals, team members share vacation photos and memories.

“When you get to know each other better on the team and eat together and share that kind of time, it’s easier to ask for help and pull coworkers in on projects,” he said. “It’s really been a boon getting to know everybody.”

Got an office potluck story? We would love to hear from you. Write working@duke.edu.

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4 Discovery Takes Flight Duke departments are using drone technology for research, attaching

devices to the aircraft to gather data on the effects of global warming and other concerns, while also studying how to improve the capabilities of the aerial vehicles to help change the world.

8 Keepers of the Cool Stuff Whether it’s cutting-edge equipment, a beloved piece of school culture or a link to the past, there are cool things scattered across Duke University and Health System. And for a handful of employees, working with the objects is simply part of the job.

10 Part of the Team With five national titles, an iconic coach and star players, the Duke men’s basketball program features celebrated campus figures. But to them, people like Celestina Torres deserve a share of adulation.

11 Career Tools: Learn with Lynda.com training videos 12 Got a mobile app idea? Get help making it happen 14 Save 30 percent at the North Carolina Symphony 15 In 10 years, 10,000 sign Duke’s Sustainability Pledge Contact us Editor/Communications Director: 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

Joe Molnar, far right, and the Duke Health Technology Solutions team. Joe is holding the "Crock Pot Zone" sign.

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Stephen Schramm Senior Writer (919) 684-4639 stephen.schramm@duke.edu Jonathan Black Writer (919) 681-9965 jonathan.c.black@duke.edu Photography: Duke University Photography and Stephen Schramm of Communication Services.

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

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

Cover photo: David Johnston, director of Duke’s Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing Lab, catches a drone during field work to study humpback whales in Antarctica in 2017. Photo taken during permitted research and courtesy of Duke Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing Lab. 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

BRIEFLY Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration Duke community members and the public are invited to a campus commemoration honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., who spoke at Duke in 1964.

The event begins at 3 p.m.

Jan. 14 in Duke University Chapel.

The 2018 commemoration Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at Duke. speaker will be announced soon.

Free parking is available in the Bryan Center Parking Garage, and a live webcast of the commemoration will be available at chapel.duke.edu.

Get Duke’s MLK event schedule at mlk.duke.edu.

Take a professional development course Duke employees can access a range of professional development opportunities through Learning and Organization Development, which has released its January-June 2018 course catalog.

L&OD provides courses around leadership and management development, computer software and systems and more. Certificate programs are available, allowing employees to focus on an area of expertise.

Through June, L&OD will offer 150 classes with popular certificate offerings, such as Administrative Assistant of Excellence and Executive Assistant of Excellence, returning.

Situational Leadership II, also a favorite, will be offered.

“They’ve gotten a very good response,” said Keisha Williams, L&OD assistant vice president.

Designed to make difficult conversations more productive, the Crucial Conversations course will also be offered.

“I’m always trying to get our team to go through the L&OD classes,” said Wendi Austin, assistant director of human resources at Duke Regional Hospital. “I always look through them, too, because we can always get better.”

Learn more and enroll at hr.duke.edu/training.

Begin the New Year with a fitness challenge Hit the ground running in 2018 by participating in the Get Moving Challenge, a fitness and wellness initiative.

Organized by LIVE FOR Cara Gambill, physician assistant at Duke LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness Orthopaedics. program, the 10-week challenge runs Jan. 8 to March 18 and is part of the Healthy Duke campaign. Staff, faculty and students are invited to register and set individual fitness and wellness goals.

Community members can participate as individuals or in teams of five to 11 people. This year’s categories include: steps, exercise minutes, and weight loss.

In 2017, the contest drew 241 teams with nearly 2,400 participants.

They combined for 755,290,747 steps, 2,317,623 minutes of exercise and 796 pounds lost.

Cara Gambill, a physician assistant at Duke Orthopaedics, logged 2,710,477 steps and 16,952 minutes of exercise to win the competition.

“It’s great to get people moving, especially after the holidays,” Gambill said. “It’s a great thing to do for 10 weeks of the New Year.”

Enroll at hr.duke.edu/getmoving.

Your year-end benefit reminders As 2017 comes to an end, here are some helpful reminders about Duke benefits:  Payroll deductions for medical, dental and vision benefits in 2018 begin in December 2017.  Payroll deductions for 2018 health and dependent care reimbursement accounts begin in January 2018.  Employees enrolled in 2017 health or dependent care reimbursement accounts must submit reimbursement claims for expenses incurred Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2017,

by April 15, 2018. E mployees enrolled in the 2017 health care reimbursement account can carry over up to $500 of unused funds into their 2018 plan. After April 15, 2018, any unused money over $500 remaining from a 2017 health care reimbursement account will be forfeited. E mployees can opt out of receiving print W-2 forms by logging into Duke@Work and choosing to receive the form electronically. D uke will mail a 1095-C form to employee home addresses.

Employees must use the 1095-C form when filing income tax returns. The form, mandated by the Affordable Care Act, provides information about an employee’s health insurance coverage. E mployees will receive a new pharmacy ID card if they changed health plans.

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

Keep ‘Doing Good in the Neighborhood’ This fall, Duke employees collectively raised more than half a million dollars for community nonprofits, schools and neighborhoods.

Doing Good in the Neighborhood, Duke’s employee giving campaign, holds a fundraising blitz every October. About 1,923 employees participated in the campaign from July 1, 2017, the start of the campaign fiscal year, through early November 2017. About $220,391 in employee donations has been collected so far.

Employees are expected to contribute $540,758 toward Doing Good

by June 30, 2018, the end of the campaign fiscal year.

“In just a short amount of time, Duke staff and faculty banded together to raise more than half a million dollars for the community, and contributions are still coming in,” said Phail Wynn Jr., Duke’s vice president for Durham and Regional Affairs. “This is an incredible example of how our Duke family supports neighborhoods, youth and schools close to campus, in Durham and the greater Triangle.”

Throughout the campaign, employees can choose to give to any of these six categories: Health, Neighborhoods, Schools, Youth Empowerment, United Way of the Greater Triangle or the Community Care Fund, which is an annual, competitive Duke grant-making program for Triangle nonprofits.

Make a contribution at doinggood.duke.edu.

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Discovery Takes Flight

Duke reaches new heights teaching with drones

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he sun’s hot rays bore down on Rett Newton as he hovered over a laptop in the middle of the barrier island.

About 295 feet overhead, a drone buzzed.

“It’s a real workhorse,” said Newton, his legs dotted with prickly sand burrs. “For a mission like today, it’s all we need.”

Newton, program manager for the Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing group at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, tapped on a keyboard, charting the path of the batteryoperated drone that would fly over the Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve. The purpose of the 15-minute flight is to test if the on-board thermal detector can recognize animals in a warm environment.

Newton has made the short boat ride from the Marine Lab to the reserve several times to see how well the one-and-a-half-pound drone can detect the 30-plus wild horses.

If the sensor is able to distinguish the heat from the horses against the warm climate, the lab can use software instead of the human eye to accurately count animal populations.

“If two people were to count, they would give different answers,” said David Johnston, associate professor and director of the robotics program. “If we can reduce those errors, then that gives us a lot more confidence that we can detect a change in population when it’s occurring.”

As the Marine Lab flies its 22 “unmanned aircraft systems” to learn more about marine conservation through aerial mapping and data retrieval, other Duke departments are using drone technology in research. Professors and students attach devices to the aircraft to gather data on a variety of issues and concerns, as they also work to improve the capabilities of the aerial vehicles.

“In the past, we would have to get a satellite to take a picture of a place or we would have to get an aircraft that’s got people in it. Both of those have logistical challenges,” Johnston said. “With the drones, we can do it almost anytime we want. It allows us to work faster and safer.”

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Left: Rett Newton of Duke's Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing Lab readies to catch a drone at Cape Lookout.

Photo taken during permitted research and courtesy of Duke Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing Lab.

A drone launched by Duke's Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing Lab captures this above image of horses on the Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve. Photo taken during permitted research and courtesy of Duke Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing Lab. Far right: Missy Cummings, Duke professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, with a drone.

Using drones safely Drones are setting new heights in academic discovery and supporting national response and recovery efforts after devastating storms, but they also pose challenges in an already busy airspace. More than 920,000 drones have been registered in the United States, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Over the past few years, a group of Duke faculty and administrators, working closely with Duke University Police, developed regulations and guidelines for flying drones over campus.

Anyone who wants to operate a drone on Duke property must have a research or educational purpose and must submit a flight request and receive approval from Duke. Indoor flights of small drones do not need prior approval.

Hobbyist drone flights are not permitted on Duke property.

“Our goal from the get-go was to facilitate appropriate drone use for research and education, while recognizing we would occasionally find important operational use of drones as well to help Duke do its business better,” said John Board, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who helped shape the guidelines as a member of Duke’s Emergency Management Steering Committee.

When approval is granted for using a drone for research and education, outdoor flights can be conducted in, and scheduled

through, Duke Forest. Two field sites are designated, Couch and Blackwood, and drone pilots must inform flights to Chapel Hill’s Horace Williams Airport.

“We had a set of criteria that we were looking for: An open area where line of sight could be maintained, ideally away from any structure or people who might be gathered or places where people might be,” said Sara Childs, Duke Forest director.

Only a few flights have been approved for non-research purposes on campus and those were to collect footage for Duke’s promotional use.

Improving drone capacities

Within the Humans and Autonomy Lab in the basement of North Building is a large room covered in drapes, cardboard and scaffolding. It looks under construction, but it’s designed to a tee by Missy Cummings, director of the lab and mechanical engineering and materials science professor in Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering.

This room is where Cummings and engineering students study how pilots control autonomous drones when unexpected situations arise such as a drone losing its ability to respond to surroundings. The lab experiment is modeled after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in that the drone and pilot must navigate an area too dangerous for humans to enter. >> continued on page 6

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Photo at left: Tyler Bletsch, left, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Martin Brooke, right, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, built a 25-pound drone. At right: students in Martin Brooke’s Ocean Engineering class work on extending the life of a hybrid battery.

A series of curtains, boxes and bars are set up to make it difficult for the drone to fly as it searches for an air quality reader.

After examining the gauge, obstacles are reassembled so the pilot must problem solve his or her way out of the course.

The goal is to know how much someone operating an autonomous vehicle can reason when there’s an emergency. In 2013, for example, an Asiana Airlines flight crashed as it landed at San Francisco International Airport after the pilot relied too much on autopilot, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

In the lab, Cummings said, students are researching “how well can the pilots use the sensors? How do they really understand how to explore the world and figure out what problems are, and do contingency planning when something doesn’t go right?”

Cummings, a former U.S. Navy pilot, has been studying autonomous vehicles for more than a decade. She’s appeared on The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to fight negative connotations of drones. “The conversation has definitely turned away from that to talk more about how we can use these platforms to improve everybody’s everyday life,” she said.

In fact, in October, the National Science Foundation awarded Duke a $750,000 grant for Cummings to develop affordable ways to keep illegal or unwanted drones from operating in specific areas. She’ll use the Sarah P. Duke Gardens and Durham Athletic Park to test her research and will be assisted by Duke engineering students and landscape architects at Clemson University.

Enhancing the capability of drones is a major part of Martin Brooke’s Ocean Engineering class in Pratt.

One recent morning in The Foundry, a handful of students worked on extending the battery life on a 25-pound drone from five minutes to a few hours.

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By working on the control that monitors the behavior of the drone, students can modify the aircraft to let the battery charge while the gas engine kicks in. Another section of Ocean Engineering is working on an attachment that can pick-up and drop-off gadgets like scanners that test water quality. Through both experiments, the goal is to have a drone that can fly over a large amount of land or water.

“The idea that a drone could fly out with a sensor package and map out an area of the ocean is fairly unique,” Brooke said. “I’m definitely one of those people that’s like, ‘where is my flying car?’

As this autonomous vehicle becomes more available, it’s pretty clear it’s going to become fairly important. It’s just exciting.”

Changing the world The Duke Marine Lab’s flights on Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve are just a small sample of the lab’s airtime this year. The robotics group has recorded close to 1,500 flights totaling more than 300 hours of airtime since 2016.

With its fleet of drones, the Marine Lab has flown over the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to assess storm damage, captured images of a ship graveyard on the Potomac River, and examined Roman temples in the Italian countryside.

“We have a very broad program now, but our bread and butter is marine science and conservation,” Johnston said. “A lot of what we work on is how do we take this technology and do tasks better in coastal environments.”

One major project for the Marine Lab is The Palmer LongTerm Ecological Research, a multi-decade study examining the ecology of Antarctica. Johnston and his team specifically research how global warming affects marine mammals like humpback whales, seals and penguins. They can measure whales, seals, turtles and other animals with the camera attachments on a drone.

Above: Researchers control a drone from an inflatable zodiac boat to capture images of humpback whales in Antarctica.

At right below, a view from a drone of Cape Lookout National Seashore with Cape Lookout Lighthouse in 2016. Photos taken during permitted research and courtesy of Duke Marine Robotics & Remote Sensing Lab.

“We’re able to measure the length of the animal, the width of the animal,” Johnson said. “That gives us information to determine how healthy it is. It’s a low impact, low invasive way to get very critical data.”

With so much at the lab’s fingertips, Johnston’s team has had to learn how to balance projects. He said they typically look at individual interests, technological capabilities and the education factor in selecting projects.

“My role as professor goes beyond theory,” Johnston said. “One of my jobs is to take these new technologies, methods and procedures and take them out to try and change the world.” 

By Jonathan Black

Learn more about Duke’s drone policy at drones.duke.edu

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Each day, Duke employees work with objects The Duke University chain of office and mace – gifts from the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation and anonymous donors honoring Benjamin N. Duke – debuted in 1970. Since then, the chain, worn by presidents, and the mace, carried by University Marshals, have been part of commencements, special celebrations and inaugurations, all of which Chambliss’ office orchestrates.

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Duke University Archivist Valerie Gillispie holds the constitution of the Union Institute Society. Written in 1839, it is the founding document of the school that later grew into Duke University.

n a gray box on a low shelf in the Duke University Archives, there’s a book filled with pages of fading handwriting.

It opens with the constitution of the Union Institute Society, a group committed to starting a school in Randolph County. Written in 1839, it has a preamble, 11 articles and 23 signatures. In the nearly 179 years since the words were put to paper, Union Institute grew into Trinity College, moved to Durham and became Duke University.

“It’s priceless because it symbolizes the birth of what’s today a huge international research university,” said Duke University Archivist Valerie Gillispie.

For most, viewing Duke’s founding document is a rare treat.

For Gillispie, it’s one of the many treasures that fall under her watch in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. On a campus filled with objects that inspire fascination, stir passions and create awe, Gillispie isn’t the only person who’s often in close contact with Duke’s treasures.

Whether it’s cutting-edge equipment, a beloved piece of school culture or a link to the past, there are cool things scattered across Duke University and Health System. And for a handful of employees, working with the objects is simply part of the job.

Precious Metal If it’s happening at Duke and it’s a big deal, Terry Chambliss and her team at the Office of Special Events and University Ceremonies are probably involved.

For especially important events, Chambliss, the office’s senior director, and program director Kaitlin Briggs are responsible for two of Duke’s most beautiful objects.

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Kaitlin Briggs, left, and Terry Chambliss, right, of the Office of Special Events and University Ceremonies hold the Duke University mace and chain of office.

The chain has the Duke family seal wreathed in tobacco leaves. The mace has Duke University’s seal and motto, “Eruditio et Religio.” Made of sterling silver with gold plating, both feature images of pine cones and laurels.

“They are truly spectacular,” Chambliss said. “Duke is so fortunate to have these pieces.”

While regal, they’re also heavy. The mace weighs eight pounds and the chain has some heft. But Chambliss suspects the thrill of donning them makes the weight easy to shoulder.

Sideline Star If you’re at a Duke sporting event and need a moment with perhaps the biggest celebrity there, Duke Head Cheerleading Coach Alayne Rusnak can make it happen.

With a quick shout of “DEVIL!” she summons a sports icon.

There have been Blue Devil mascots bouncing around Duke sidelines since the 1920s. For Rusnak, keeping watch over the famous suit, and student in it, has been her job since 2007.

She runs auditions, coordinates appearances and helps the Blue Devil navigate busy game days.

that define Duke

If you see the Duke Blue Devil mascot at a sporting event, odds are Duke cheerleading coach Alayne Rusnak, above, is nearby.

“Fans can’t wait to get a hug, a high five or a picture,” Rusnak said. “It’s just pure joy and smiling faces.”

While she’s got unique access to the Blue Devil, don’t expect Rusnak to provide many details. From identities of the suit’s inhabitants to where the suit’s stored, the Blue Devil has its own mysteries and mystique, and part of Rusnak’s job is to make sure it stays intact.

“Could be one, could be three,” she said when asked how many students play the part of the Blue Devil. “Sounds like a non-answer the Blue Devil would give. I’m probably hanging around him too much.”

Rhythm of Life At rest, the TransMedics Organ Care System looks unremarkable, just a wheeled cart with screens and machinery in a drab, white shell.

When called into action, the device becomes surreal, as a disembodied heart pulses in a clear basin, shooting red blood through a tangle of tubes.

On the leading edge of heart transplant technology, it’s as dramatic a medical device as you’ll find.

And Duke Health has one, ready to help patients when needed.

Clinical research nurse coordinator Sarah Lowe and perfusionist Trev Rowell, members of Duke Health’s transplant teams, work closely with it.

When transported packed in ice, donor hearts have a roughly four-hour span during which they remain viable for transplantation. While hooked up to the Organ Care System that window is extended significantly.

Considering transplant teams travel by ambulance and chartered jet, the extra time greatly expands the pool of donors.

“We’re going to states that we never thought we’d get to,” Lowe said.

Flying with a beating heart on board is nerve-racking. Blood tests check for imbalances that might signal the heart is in danger.

“You’re sitting at 30,000 feet in an airplane beside a heart that’s beating right there in front of you, it’s powerful,” Rowell said. “In a matter of hours, it’s going to be beating in somebody’s chest.

“It’s pretty crazy.”

Priceless and Personal From a 1942 Rose Bowl ticket to a letter written by President Terry Sanford playfully admonishing students for behavior at basketball games, there are many prized objects in Duke University Archives. But one that Gillispie finds especially fascinating had deep value to one person.

Maude Brown attended Trinity College for two years in the mid-1920s.

She kept a scrapbook of her freshman year containing photos, letters from home and notes from classmates.

Student scrapbooks in the Duke University Archives provide “May I always be a glimpse into student life from decades ago. a link in your chain of friendship,” classmate Maria Gordon wrote on one page.

In 1996 – three years after Brown’s death – the book was given to the University Archives, adding to its growing collection of student scrapbooks. Each one provides priceless glimpses into student life from another time.

“We have the Duke story, you kind of know that over-arching narrative,” Gillispie said. “But every person who has been a student here, been a staff member here, taught here, they have their own story. This is a way to find out individual stories from the past.” 

By Stephen Schramm

From left: Sarah Lowe, Missy Alberts, Trev Rowell, Sally Paul and Sarah Casalinova of the Duke Health transplant team.

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Part of the Team Men’s basketball team, housekeepers share admiration

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Duke housekeeper Celestina Torres is one of the Duke Facilities Management Department staff members who tend to places the Blue Devils men’s basketball program calls home.

requent visits from her four children and eight grandchildren keep Celestina Torres’ home lively. But when Duke men’s basketball games are on television, Torres makes everything stop.

“I say ‘Come in, everybody sit,’” Torres said. “That’s my time.”

She’s elated when Duke wins and a wreck when it struggles.

“Sometimes when Duke is down, I shake my fists,” Torres said.

She’s a lot like most Duke fans, except that the Blue Devils themselves are also big fans of hers.

With five national titles, an iconic coach and a steady stream of star players, Duke’s men’s basketball program features some of the most celebrated figures on campus. But to them, people like Torres deserve a share of adulation.

A Duke housekeeper since 2005, Torres is one of the half dozen Duke Facilities Management employees maintaining the spaces where the Duke men’s basketball team works, trains and plays. To the Blue Devils, the housekeepers are part of the team.

“Everyone can see the players,” Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They don’t see the support staff, whether it be coaches, trainers, academic tutors, but also the people who make sure our environment is at the highest level.”

Torres, who cleans the Schwartz-Butters Athletic Center, including the coaches’ offices, has built a warm relationship with Krzyzewski. When she’s brought her family to games, Krzyzewski makes it a point to greet them.

“He’s busy, so to have time for me and my family, it’s very nice,” Torres said.

Krzyzewski’s affection for Torres stems from his childhood, when his mother worked nights cleaning offices.

“When I see Celestina, I think of my mom,” Krzyzewski said.

“I think of how important my mom was to me. I think of how important Celestina and the other members of her team are to us. I want the players to understand that.”

That comes through when Krzyzewski talks with his team about accountability.

His message is, with so many working hard for them, the players have a duty to do so in return.

The connections between players and Facilities staff often go beyond simple gratitude.

After crossing paths during late-night workout sessions, Duke guard Brennan Besser and Facilities utility worker William Harris, who maintains Cameron Indoor Stadium, struck up a friendship.

Harris recalls Besser once interrupting his post-game cleaning to introduce his parents. Before games, Besser often seeks out Harris. Harris offers encouragement, while Besser provides insight into how the Blue Devils are preparing for that night’s test.

“I just like to let him know what we’re talking about as a team,” Besser said.

“Because he’s a part of our team.” 

By Stephen Schramm

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Your Online Pathway to New Skills Free for Duke employees, Lynda.com offers thousands of training videos

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manda Gunter’s job is to find ways new online learning techniques can help busy students in her program. That means Gunter needs to have a good handle on every technological tool out there.

To do that, she has made a habit of spending at least 15 minutes each day learning new skills such as Kahoot, a tool that blends learning with online games, on Lynda.com. The site is free to Duke employees and students and offers nearly 6,200 instructional videos by industry experts on a wide range of topics from creative skills to technology and business.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Gunter, an education technology specialist for Duke Community and Family Medicine. “It shows that Duke wants to make sure its employees are able to stay current. This is a place employees can go to consistently and get information they need.”

Keep up

Rattling off names such as Jekyll, Python and PowerShell, Kyle Skrinak has a long list of software programs he’s learned – or learned more about – on Lynda.

Duke Community and Family Medicine Education Technology Specialist Amanda Gunter uses Lynda.com to stay up to date with online learning tools.

As an IT manager with Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, he can’t afford to not know what those names mean.

“Lynda’s just made it easier to stay up to date with the rapidly changing OIT landscape,” Skrinak said. “There is no standing still when you’re in IT. You’ve always got to be looking and surveying and updating.”

More than tech

Christine Vucinich, IT education and training practitioner coordinator for Duke’s Office of Information Technology, keeps a close watch over courses that get added to Lynda every week. She’s always impressed by the site’s range of subjects.

“I think people are surprised that the library includes more than just technology,” Vucinich said. “You can learn anything from stress management to leadership skills.”

Skrinak said he benefited from a project management course. Gunter took

a course on photography so she could get more use out of her camera.

“I wanted to use it more than just in auto mode,” Gunter said.

Pick your path

A recent count showed that Lynda’s library featured 6,159 courses. To help make sense of the total, Lynda offers course lists – called learning paths – that turn individual lessons into useful skillsets.

Examples of paths include “Become a Digital Marketer,” “Design a Logo” and “Become an IT Security Specialist.”

“When you go to the library, there are thousands of courses,” Vucinich said.

“This gives you a map and shows you where to start.”

Once completed, Lynda provides certificates that can be printed or displayed on your LinkedIn profile.

“You get to show that you value learning,” Skrinak said. 

By Stephen Schramm

Learn a New Skill Online

With thousands of courses, something will pique your interest. Lynda.com is free for Duke students, staff and faculty. Learn more at training.oit.duke.edu/lynda.

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Pankaj Agarwal, far left, a database analyst in Duke Surgical Sciences, speaks with Tim Horan, center, and Ed Barber of Pattern Health, during the Mobile App Gateway kickoff at Duke.

Got an Idea for a Mobile App? Mobile App Gateway supports digital health and app research and development

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osa Gonzalez-Guarda wants to develop an app to prevent intimate-partner violence in young Latino immigrants. She envisions the app providing information for users to learn about PTSD, relationship stress and community support programs.

But she needs advice on design and financing. And for that, she set up an appointment with Duke’s “Mobile App Gateway” to discuss how to make her idea a reality.

“I definitely don’t have the technological expertise, so they gave me a sense of how realistic my expectations were,” said Gonzalez-Guarda, associate professor in the Duke University School of Nursing. She will use the Gateway to budget her project.

From concept through deployment, the Mobile App Gateway provides consultation, toolkits and education for employees and students interested in creating mobile technology. Advisers lead Duke community members to on-and-off campus resources for development, investment opportunities and prototyping.

Consultation is free; other services may be fee-based. The Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute oversees the program.

So far, nearly 30 groups have requested a consultation.

At a launch of the Mobile App Gateway in the fall, Duke employees spoke to a packed lecture hall about using mobile technology for a variety of issues from autism and multiple sclerosis to stress-management tools used by patients with cancer.

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“Previously, if you wanted to build an app, it would have been really complicated to figure out how to do that,” said Ryan Shaw, Mobile App Gateway faculty adviser.

For Duke community members who want to create a research app, the Mobile App Gateway has partnered with a health care and analytics platform that complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and reduces app development costs from about $100,000 to $11,000.

“We have had a lot of experiences where people wanted an app and they had a great idea, but they didn’t have the funds to build one,” said Katie McMillan, senior adviser for the Mobile App Gateway. “We can get the cost of developing an app for research purposes down to something that’s affordable.”

Tim Sell, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of the Michael W. Krzyzewski Human Performance Laboratory, met with Mobile App Gateway advisers before the official launch to discuss developing an app that assesses knee joint stability.

“They’ve been very supportive,” said Sell, who will get help finding developers through the Gateway. “I hit the limitation of what I knew and what I could do, and they pointed me in the right direction. 

By Jonathan Black

Connect with the Mobile App Gateway: ctsi.duke.edu/mobile-app-gateway

Duke Women’s Center Celebrates 30 Years

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Duke students and employees take part in a march on East Campus in 1991 to bring awareness to gender and relationship violence. Photo courtesy of Duke University Archives.

n 1987, 12 women submitted a proposal for a Duke Women’s Center.

“We envision a Women’s Center on Duke’s campus as a physical space devoted to the development of strong women,” they wrote in the proposal.

That mission remains the same for the Women’s Center 30 years later with education and outreach, activism, community building and civic engagement. This year’s anniversary’s theme is “30 Years in the Making: Conquering the Contradictions,” which alludes to female-identifying students and employees continuing to fight for equality.

“The Women’s Center serves as a space to empower and affirm the voices, the presence, the existence of femaleidentified students at Duke,” said Stephanie Helms Pickett, director of the Center. “We do it through a feminist lens supported by social justice and equity.”

Beginning in a cubicle in the Bryan Center, the Women’s Center now encompasses the ground floor of the Crowell Building on East Campus. The center promotes gender equity through co-curricular programming, provides services to survivors of gender-based violence and advocates on gender issues throughout the university and community.

For its anniversary, the center will host several gatherings, including talks by Gretchen Carlson and Amy Kurtz, both in February. Carlson is a former Fox News Network anchor who sued the former Fox News CEO for sexual harassment. Kurtz is author of “Kicking Sick: Your Go-To Guide for Thriving with Chronic Health Conditions.”

One of the Women Center’s most visible projects early on was co-hosting 10 women from the Soviet Union in 1989, before the Iron Curtain fell. The visit provided an opportunity for the groups

Women’s Center Events Feb. 1:

Gretchen Carlson, former host of “Fox & Friends”

Feb. 20:

Amy Kurtz, author of “Kicking Sick: Your Go-To Guide for Thriving with Chronic Health Conditions”

April 14:

WomC Awards recognize outstanding contributions of women on campus, in Durham, North Carolina, and the world

Learn more about the Duke Women’s Center at studentaffairs.duke.edu/wc

of women to discuss issues that concerned both nationalities, like workplace equality, and how they could support one another.

The Soviet women caught the making of the 1990 “The Handmaid’s Tale” as it was filmed on campus.

Women’s Center programming is open to students, staff and faculty with events covering topics around gender violence, gender identity, civic engagement and more.

“We push programming that looks at womanism and feminism in the everyday,” said Bibi Gnagno, student development coordinator. “We try to make it fun while also talking about social justice.”

Helms Pickett encourages staff and faculty, including men, to get involved in Women’s Center activities. She said it’s valuable for students to hear from staff and faculty about life and work experiences.

“They see a dimension of a woman that’s a CEO or entrepreneur and need to see the holistic side of them,” Helms Pickett said. “You can meet with them and somehow have an impact after 20 minutes.

Then, they’ll show up at your door often.

It certainly makes a difference.” 

By Jonathan Black

working.duke.edu

13

PERQS EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS

Holiday pops, the Music of Michael Jackson and More

Save up to 30 percent at the North Carolina Symphony

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ast year, Nasera Hassan used the Duke employee discount to the North Carolina Symphony to treat her two nieces to Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Her nieces enjoyed every aspect of the performance, including the large screen highlighting the stunning scenery of North Carolina that tied into the live performance on stage.

“The seats were excellent and affordable with the Duke discount,” said Hassan, a senior cytotechnologist with Duke Health. “It was their first classical concert, and we had a memorable evening.”

The North Carolina Symphony offers Duke staff and faculty up to 30 percent off classical, pops, Friday Favorites, young people’s concerts, and select special events in Raleigh and Chapel Hill during the 2017-18 season.

Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony hosts about 175 concerts and events each year, as well as the Summerfest series at its summer home, the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre, in Cary. Collaborating with performers that range from classical artists, to banjo players, to jazz bands, the symphony brings some of the world’s greatest talents to North Carolina.

Some performances include “A Classical Holiday Pops” in December, “The Music of Michael Jackson” in March 2018, and Romeo and Juliet in April 2018. The Symphony’s 66 full-time

professional musicians perform under the artistic leadership of Music Director Grant Llewellyn.

“The North Carolina Symphony is proud to be a part of the fabric of our state, and that means working closely with other important institutions in the communities we serve,” said Meredith Kimball Laing, director of communications for the North Carolina Symphony. “Duke employees help to make the Triangle a wonderful place to live, and we are proud to help make high-quality arts experiences here in the Triangle easily accessible.”

In addition to taking her nieces to Four Seasons, Hassan attended the Summerfest series and will be enjoying more performances this season, including “Mendelssohn Scottish Symphony” and “Fountains & Pines” in March.

“Having come from London, where I was fortunate to enjoy an amazing array of classical music events, I was delighted to find that we are fortunate to have such a superb symphony right here in the Triangle and have been attending their concerts over the years,” Hassan said.  Visit hr.duke.edu/discounts, select “Entertainment” and search for the North Carolina Symphony discount and ordering instructions. NetID and password are needed to access the discount.

By Beth Hatcher

14

WORKING@DUKE

SUSTAINABLE DUKE YOUR SOURCE FOR GREEN NEWS AT DUKE

Take the Pledge

After 10 years, nearly 10,000 sign Duke’s Sustainability Pledge

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ith a responsible choices in areas such background as transportation, dining and in humanities energy. But the contributions of and the the thousands who signed the environment, pledge have played a role, too.

Amanda Starling Gould didn’t Taken individually, Gould’s need much convincing to sign sustainable choices may not the Duke Sustainability Pledge seem like much. But, Capps in 2016. explained, when thousands Since signing, Gould has make similar efforts, the effects taught and worked greener, become substantial. coordinating conferences that Individual choices earned Duke Green Event contributed to Duke cutting certifications, teaching Duke its potable water use per gross Green Certified courses and square feet by 40 percent since becoming more mindful about 2006 and its total greenhouse In a move inspired by Duke’s Sustainability Pledge, the Franklin Humanities Institute office paper use. gas emissions by 23 percent has hosted several Green Certified events.

“The pledge itself is not since 2007.

Instead, signers are asked to “consider a life-changing act, but it is a On average, a person at the environmental, social and economic promise,” said Gould, a digital humanities Duke creates 13 percent less landfill impact” of decisions and “make every specialist and project coordinator at the material now than in 2012. effort” to reduce their footprint.

Franklin Humanities Institute. “It’s like “Any small gesture that shows The past decade has seen Duke a nagging reminder to do better daily.” your commitment and dedication to continue its sustainability advances. Due The Duke Sustainability pledge came environmental issues can be a significant in large part to switching from coal to online in 2008, giving students, staff and step toward greening our campus,” faculty a chance to commit to Duke’s push natural gas, greenhouse gas emissions from Gould said.  Duke’s steam plants dropped 40 percent toward becoming carbon neutral by 2024.

By Stephen Schramm since 2007. And there are now 41 LEEDNearly 10 years and 10,000 signers later, certified green buildings on campus, the Duke community’s contribution is Have You Signed? covering 4.5 million gross square feet. undeniable.

A year after the pledge launched, “The pledge is a way for us to inspire Duke’s Sustainability Pledge reads: the Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative people to think about what they could do “I pledge to become an integral was established becoming the country’s to help meet Duke’s larger climate goals,” participant in the Sustainable first university-sponsored carbon offsets said Tavey Capps, director of Sustainable Duke program. I will consider the program. Soon after, the Duke Campus Duke and one of the pledge’s authors. environmental, social and economic “We were trying to make it more personal, Farm was created as a living laboratory. impact of my daily decisions and Sustainability-oriented staff has more tangible.” make every effort to reduce my grown in departments across Duke, as There are no specific green behaviors ecological footprint. I will also share positions were created focusing on making mentioned in the pledge’s three sentences. my individual sustainability efforts with others at Duke.”

Take the pledge at sustainability.duke.edu

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