Working@Duke September, 2009 Issue

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GIVING CAMPAIGN Doing Good in the Neighborhood invites faculty and staff to donate money to about 30 local organizations and programs.

N E W S YO U CA N U S E

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POSTMARK DUKE A day in the life of Duke Postal Operations involves a flurry of activity at a warehouse, where envelopes and parcels are processed for delivery.

Vo l u m e 4 , I s s u e 6

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SUSTAINABLE DUKE A pilot mobile fish market rolls out this month, and faculty and staff can order and pick up fresh fish on campus.

September 2009

‘A Place of Great Discovery’ PRESIDENT RICHARD H. BRODHEAD TAKES QUESTIONS FROM THE DUKE COMMUNITY

ate last summer, Duke was sailing along smoothly.

A Duke doctor won the National Medal of Science. The USA men’s basketball team, led by Coach K, won the Olympic gold. And the El Greco exhibit opened at the Nasher Museum of Art. Then, as President Richard H. Brodhead describes it, a “tidal wave” hit.

“I’ve been keenly aware of the fact that at this time last year, none of us really foresaw the economic situation that was going to unfold,” Brodhead said during a recent interview with Working@Duke.

“When you first get in this line of work, every bad thing that happens seems like the end of the world, but after a while, you get used to the fact that institutions proceed toward their goals through changing circumstances … you’ve got to keep trying to advance toward your goals under whichever circumstances you are dealt.”

For this interview, Working@Duke asked you, our readers, to pose the questions. You submitted 50 questions, ranging from whether Brodhead or senior administration received a salary increase (no) to why the campus stairwells aren’t colorful (didn’t make the final cut).

Here’s what employees asked, and what Brodhead, who recently completed his fifth year as Duke’s president, had to say:

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d The budget shortfall of $125M (result of endowment decline) was identified last year and for the next 3 years. As a result, many monthly-paid employees did not receive a raise this year. Should we expect the same measure for the next two years while inflation is expected to increase?

Bertrand Guillotin International Center

Brodhead said. “We’re here to promote excellence in academics, excellence in health care, to make Duke desirable to the best students, to make it the employer of choice for people on faculty and staff. Now we have to do that with a somewhat smaller budget. That’s the new reality, and we’re going to get there through a number of cost-cutting measures that, we believe, will not harm the essential mission of Duke. When we announced in February that there would be no raises for university employees earning more than $50,000, I had no idea what the response to it would be. But the Duke community recognized the necessity to be prudent with our resource in a way that we had not confronted for a long time. The university is here for the long run. We’re here for decades, centuries even. I can’t make promises for next year, but we will keep the interests and needs of our employees in the forefront as we make decisions about the budget, and we’ll be transparent and open in communicating those decisions.”

Is there any sense that, in light of the current economy and Duke's financial situation, there will need to be cuts in employee benefits? Rumors are going around that the education benefit for employee children will be reduced or eliminated.

John Witek, Continuing Studies

“Duke was just cited by the Chronicle of Higher Education as being one of the best employers in the country, and our benefits were one of the major factors,” Brodhead said. “This is certainly not an area where we want to cut, but it is still too early to determine whether changes will need to be made later to address our financial challenges.”

>> See BRODHEAD, PAGE 6

“Once we began to see the magnitude of the budget challenge, we could not ignore it,”

2009, 2008, 2007 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing 2009, 2007 Bronze Medal, Print Internal Audience Tabloids/Newsletters

This paper consists of 30% recycled post-consumer fiber. Please recycle after reading.

Editor’s Note LEANORA MINAI

Newsbriefs

Leanora.Minai@duke.edu

Change of venue for Trading Post classifieds

Peering at Picasso

Looking to rent a house or buy some used furniture? Trading Post classified ads have moved to a new location: the DukeList website at dukelist.duke.edu.

Anyone can read the advertisements, and faculty and staff must use their NetIDs to post ads on the list. Users can subscribe to regular updates through RSS feeds to Web browsers and RSS readers.

In addition to classifieds, DukeList also includes notices about volunteer and clinical research opportunities, ride shares and lost and found items.

For $5 – half off regular admission price – Duke faculty and staff can enjoy the Nasher Museum of Art’s groundbreaking exhibition, Picasso and the Allure of Language.

The exhibition, which will be at the Nasher until Jan. 3, 2010, includes 60 works in a variety of media by Picasso. The works illuminate his deep and multidimensional interest in writing and language.

Yale University Art Gallery The museum is also hosting the following related free activities: Sept.

10, 7 p.m. Picasso Film Series: The Man and His Work; Sept. 17, 6 p.m.

Picasso Poetry Evening; Sept. 24, 7 p.m. Picasso Film Series: Blood of a Poet and excerpts from Picasso and Dance.

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n April, about 500 faculty and staff attended the Primetime employee forum to learn about the effects of the economic downturn on Duke. This month, Duke employees have another opportunity to hear an update about the situation from Duke administrators.

Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III, Vice President for Human Resources Kyle Cavanaugh and Vice President of Finance Hof Milam will discuss Duke’s progress toward filling a $125 budget shortfall during the Sept. 17 Primetime forum.

This is a valuable opportunity for two-way dialogue – to hear directly from senior university leaders and get your questions answered.

September’s event marks the 12th forum since Primetime launched in 2006 to enhance internal communications.

The topic Sept. 17 is of concern to everyone at Duke. The university has taken strategic steps in the past year to reduce expenses, including initiating a retirement incentive, restricting salary increases and implementing vacancy management to curtail hiring.

But, as you’ll hear in the update, Duke is not out of the woods. Its investment portfolio lost more than 20 percent of its value during the last six months of 2008, which will impact the University’s operating budget for the next three years.

One certainty: the deadline of June 2011. This is when the university must have identified how to address the $125 million shortfall.

Fresh veggies all winter Summer isn’t the only time to get crisp, fresh vegetables from local farmers.

Through LIVE FOR LIFE’s Mobile Farmers Market, faculty and staff can continue to prepay for a share of fresh produce throughout the winter months and pick up their harvest each Tuesday at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

Register by Sept. 20 to participate in the mobile market from October through March. Farmers and prices vary.

For more information, visit hr.duke.edu/mobilemarket.

Duke University and Health System among the best For the eighth consecutive year, Carolina Parent magazine has named Duke University and Health System one of the top family-friendly workplaces in North Carolina.

The magazine published its annual family-friendly list in September, highlighting companies that offer benefits such as child care assistance, generous time-off benefits, discount programs and elder care to help employees maintain a healthy balance between demands of work and family.

In another honor, and for the 20th year, U.S. News & World Report’s annual best hospital edition named Duke University Hospital among the top 10 best hospitals in America. In the report, published in July, Duke tied for 10th place overall, and ranked among the top 10 in eight of the 16 specialties measured.

Learning at lunch (and other times) The Office of Information Technology’s Learn IT @ Lunch series is back. The free, one-hour lunchtime seminars cover many technologies available at Duke – from Wikis to VoiceThread and more.

Upcoming seminars include “Online Training Opportunities at Duke” September 23, and “Information Security? -- Easy” October 28.

Sessions run from noon to 1 p.m. in RENCI Conference Room, OIT Telecommunications Building (behind Perkins/Bostock Library).

Registration is not required, but seating is on a first-come, firstserved basis. Participants may bring a brown-bag lunch. For a full schedule of seminars, visit oit.duke.edu/training.

For other training, faculty and staff can visit Duke’s Learning & Organization Development website to discover the latest learning opportunities for computer, management and other work skills. L&OD courses range from two-hour “power sessions” that focus on specific functions like formatting and printing in Excel to two-day introductions to software programs.

L&OD has added additional workshops this fall to help faculty and staff transition from Microsoft 2003 to Microsoft 2007 office software. Dates and descriptions for all classes are available at hr.duke.edu/train.

Letters to the Editor must include name and contact information. E-mail letters to working@duke.edu or mail them to Working@Duke Editor, Box 90496, Durham, NC 27708. Fax letters to (919) 681-7926. Please keep length to no more than 200 words.

The Duke Economy – a Year Later Primetime employee forum is Sept. 17 he “good old days” for the economy ended around this time last year when the government announced plans to take over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and the Dow Jones Industrial Index plummeted nearly 3,000 points.

The downturn had a drastic impact on Duke’s investment portfolio, which helps fund the University’s operating budget. The portfolio lost more than 20 percent of its value during the last six months of 2008. In the last year, Duke has taken steps to address the loss of income by reducing its operating budget, which must be $125 million less by June 30, 2011.

How much progress has Duke made toward filling the budget shortfall in the last year? How much money has been saved to date? And what will the next two years look like?

Don’t miss the next Primetime quarterly employee forum Sept. 17 when Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III, Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for Human Resources, and Hof Milam, vice president of Finance, discuss these questions and take yours. The forum is noon to 1 p.m. in the Bryan Center’s Reynolds Theater.

Faculty and staff can submit questions in advance at the Primetime websites, hr.duke.edu/primetime.

The event will also be webcast live from the Primetime website (hr.duke.edu/primetime) for

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During the Primetime employee forum in April, Provost Peter Lange, far left, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III, Vice President of Finance Hof Milam and Vice President of Human Resources Kyle Cavanaugh discussed the impact of the economic downtown on Duke’s finances.

those unable to attend and posted afterward on iTunes U. Efforts to rein in expenses to date have included a retirement incentive initiative, restricted salary increases and a vacancy management program to curtail hiring.

“About 60 percent of our operating budget is people,” Cavanaugh said. “Ultimately, we must find a way to reduce this expense, but we want to

do so in a thoughtful and planned way that helps mitigate the potential for large scale layoffs later.”

Primetime is open to all faculty and staff.

Because there is limited parking available in the Bryan Center Parking garage, employees are encouraged to use University transit if possible.

— By Paul Grantham, Assistant Vice President, Office of Communication Services

2 Submit a question for Primetime at hr.duke.edu/primetime

What can reimbursement accounts do for you?

TAKE THIS QUIZ, DISCOVER HOW TO SAVE MONEY

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1. If you meet eligibility requirements, a dependent care reimbursement account can be used to pay for pre-school tuition and for many before-or after-school care programs or summer day camp expenses for children under age 13.

True or False?

2. Which item is not covered by a health care reimbursement account? a) contact lenses and eyeglasses b) toothpaste c) mileage for travel to and from health treatment d) hearing aids e) mail-order prescriptions f) co-pays and deductibles required by health insurance g) over-the-counter cold medicine

3. If your spouse loses his/her job, which of the following is not permitted with the dependent care reimbursement account? a) contacting Human Resources within 30 days to stop or reduce contributions b) moving money in the account to your bank account 4. It pays to carefully calculate how much money to set aside and protect from taxes because the Internal Revenue Service has a “use it or lose it” rule for these accounts each year.

True or False?

5. You can enroll in a health care reimbursement account even if you don’t have health insurance through Duke.

True or False?

6. The minimum amount you can deposit in a health care or dependent care reimbursement account each pay period is: a) $5 for employees paid biweekly, and $10.83 for employees paid monthly b) $20 for employees paid biweekly, and $50 for employees paid monthly

8. If you are married, to be eligible for your family to use a dependent care reimbursement account, your spouse must have a job, be looking for a job or be a full-time student.

True or False?

9. Adult day care expenses for relatives are eligible for reimbursement through your dependent care reimbursement account if: a. the dependent lives with you b. the dependent is claimed on your personal income taxes c. the care is primarily custodial (not medical) d. the care allows you (and your spouse, if married) to work e. all of the above 10. How much is saved annually with reimbursement accounts depends on: a) taxable income b) amount of money deposited in accounts c) how well you forecast expenses d) all of the above — Compiled by Marsha A. Green, Office of Communication Services

7. Using the Wage Works debit card provided with a healthcare reimbursement account means you don’t have to save receipts.

True or False?

ANSWERS:

1. True; 2. b; 3. b. You cannot withdraw the money from the account except for eligible expenses; 4. True; 5. True; 6. a; 7. False. Always save receipts to verify expenses you claim are an eligible expense; 8. True. However, there are special exceptions if your spouse is disabled; 9. e; 10. d.

uke faculty and staff members can protect part of their salary from taxes and keep more money in their pockets by signing up for reimbursement accounts during open enrollment for health benefits in October.

Two reimbursement accounts are offered: one for health care costs; the other for dependent care expenses. These accounts allow participants to shelter some of their salary from taxes and use it to pay for certain products or services.

Not sure how to use this tax-free money?

Take this quiz to learn the benefits of enrolling in health and dependent care reimbursement accounts.

Learn more about reimbursement accounts, visit hr.duke.edu/benefits/reimbursement/

Employee giving campaign begins Sept.7 Doing Good in the Neighborhood strengthens communities hen Duke’s expanded employee contribution program was unveiled last year as “Doing Good in the Neighborhood,” Courtney Frankel was among the first to pledge a contribution.

She said she chose to support local healthcare clinics through a regular payroll deduction “because I don’t like the thought of people not having access to adequate healthcare.”

“I hadn’t given through Duke before,” said Frankel, a physical therapist at the Center for Living. “But I was struck by the variety of ways to give to the community directly.”

Led by Phail Wynn Jr., Duke’s vice president of Durham and Regional Affairs, “Doing Good in the Neighborhood” invites faculty and staff to give directly to about 30 organizations and programs supported through the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership and Duke’s Division of Community Health. The campaign also includes an option to contribute to United Way agencies.

This year’s campaign begins Sept. 7 and runs through November. Last year, employees pledged more than $203,000 through the Doing Good in the Neighborhood campaign. Unlike many charities, the campaign does not deduct administrative fees from employee contributions before passing them to Duke-supported organizations in local neighborhoods. This allows 100 percent of employee contributions to flow to the community.

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Frankel’s pledge led her to other connections in the community like delivering groceries from the Durham Food Bank to the Walltown Neighborhood Ministries for their food distribution.

“That experience introduced me to a Durham neighborhood I had never spent time in,” said Frankel, who lives in Durham. “And I saw how the programs are directly benefiting people in the community.”

Betty Henderson, business manager at Duke’s Center for International Studies, had a similar experience.

“I’ve worked at Duke for 29 years, but never felt connected to the neighborhoods near campus,” she said. That changed when she received a monthly e-mail of volunteer opportunities from the campaign. Soon, she found herself participating in a neighborhood clean up in Walltown.

“I feel Duke needs to do as much as possible in these neighborhoods, and I’m glad to help,” Henderson said.

Henderson and Frankel hope Duke employees join them in this year’s campaign by donating time or money to improve the lives of people living in and around Durham.

“I know times are tough,” Frankel said, “but I’m actually looking forward to contributing more.”

Henderson agreed. “I never know when I’ll be the one needing help,” she said. “It creates a good foundation in your life if you give to others while you can.”

Physician assistant Diane Davis weighs 6-year old Brian Parada Rives during a check-up at the Lyon Park Clinic.

HOW TO GIVE

— By Marsha A. Green Writer, Office of Communication Services

VIDEO: See how your donations help at community.duke.edu

• Pledge packets are being distributed to employees through campus mail. Review and submit a pledge form.

• Faculty and staff may also visit community.duke.edu to make a donation or volunteer.

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Postmar

A Day in the Life t 5:15 a.m., Robyn Johnson stepped inside the quiet, dimly lit building off Hillsborough Road and flipped a light switch. Within a few minutes, the 10,000-square-foot warehouse, where all Duke mail passes, buzzed with activity.

Envelopes zipped through a whirring sorting machine. Metal carts packed with parcels rattled as Duke Postal employees pushed them to sorting areas and awaited the arrival of a U.S. Postal truck carrying morning mail.

“We jump right into high gear in the mornings,” said Johnson, a sorting supervisor who has worked a decade at Duke. “It’s true what they say about rain, sleet and snow. The mail has to be delivered.”

A unit within Campus Services, Duke Postal Operations sorts, meters and delivers 12 million pieces of mail annually for about 50,000 staff, faculty, students, departments and patients, making it one of the busiest private postal operations in the state.

Duke Postal has evolved since the early 1980s when a handful of employees used index cards to address and sort campus mail from the West Union building. Now, computers track parcels, machines sort letters, scanners collect signatures for packages, and Duke mail carriers drive dozens of miles daily, delivering to Duke offices across the university, health system and downtown.

“It’s been an incredible transformation,” said Mike Trogdon, director of Duke Postal Operations.

“Many people don’t realize that we’re the largest postal customer in the city of Durham, and we have more technology and more routes than your average rural town post office in North Carolina.”

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Sorting It Out Just after 5:30 a.m., the first U.S. Postal truck backed up to the loading dock at the warehouse. A driver rolled metal cages and cloth hampers filled with first-class letters, scientific journals and other parcels into the building.

Duke Postal Clerk Earl Robinson quickly rolled the mail carts to the sorting area. Another U.S. Postal truck was expected to bring more mail in an hour.

“We have to hustle around here in the mornings to get everything sorted, so carriers can get their trucks loaded and get on the road,” Robinson said.

Robinson, who joined Duke Postal in 2000, Above: Carol Hawkins, Duke postal clerk, uses the is among 11 members of the sorting team, which machine that sorts 13 envelopes per second. Right: won an Auxiliaries teamwork award last year for Envelopes fly through a scanner. customer service and troubleshooting.

Each day, the team sorts between 10,000 and 35,000 mail pieces by hand and machine.

A lot of mail from the U.S. Postal trucks goes to Duke Clerk like Carol Hawkins, who loads stacks of first-class letters into a machine. The machine sorts letters for delivery based on buildings and areas. Envelopes fly by, 13 per second, and land in designated bins. Hawkins and other clerks bundle the letters and move them to the sorting station for fine sorting by hand, based on campus box number.

“With the sorting machine, things go pretty smoothly and quickly,” Hawkins said. “It’s definitely a lot faster than the old days when they sorted all the mail by hand.”

Mail Call As an elevator opened on the fourth floor of the Yoh Football Center, mail carrier David Snotherly stepped out, pushing a dolly stacked with several bins of mail.

“Good morning, David,” said Frances “Mickey” Laws, an administrative secretary with Duke Football.

“We’ve got a few things for you.” She handed him several letters.

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David Snotherly, Duke mail carrier, hands a letter to football Coach David Cutcliffe.

Learn more about

rk Duke:

e of Duke Postal “And I’ve got some goodies for you, too – and a piece of priority mail for Coach Cutcliffe,” Snotherly said.

Soon after, Snotherly handed an envelope to Coach David Cutcliffe.

“I can always tell when you’re bringing good news because you’re smiling,” said Cutcliffe, as he signed a handheld scanner.

Snotherly, an 18-year Duke Postal employee, delivers to a West Campus route that includes athletics departments, the Physics Building and Fuqua School of Business. He’s among about a dozen carriers who collect and deliver mail at Duke.

For Snotherly, athletics is typically the busiest portion of his route.

“They usually warn me when they’ve got a lot of stuff going out, like when they send out basketball media guides,” he said, hopping in a van outside Cameron Indoor Stadium. “That way I know to bring a dolly or cart.”

No Stamp Needed As carriers deliver mail on campus, clerks at the warehouse spend the afternoon sorting inter-department campus mail. These are the memos, documents and other work-related correspondence faculty and staff send to each other, typically in Inter-Department Delivery envelopes.

While sorting envelopes, Zenaida Juntilla discovered one interdepartment envelope without a proper address. She set it aside, finished sorting campus mail and used the search engine on Duke’s website to find the campus box number for the Fuqua professor’s name on the envelope.

“We do our best to track down the correct box number,” she said, “but things go a lot smoother when people remember to put a box number on all campus mail.”

Duke postal carriers collect inter-department campus mail during morning and afternoon routes and take it to the warehouse for sorting and delivery within 24 hours.

“For campus mail from morning routes,” said Trogdon, the director of Duke Postal, “we usually manage to deliver it that afternoon.”

Postmark: Duke

BY THE NUMBERS 9.5 million Envelopes and parcels delivered 2.2 million Campus mail delivered 50,000 Duke Postal customers Duke Postal Clerk Lamont Pearley sorts Inter-Department Delivery envelopes.

At the end of the day, postal clerks at the warehouse processed outgoing U.S. mail from campus.

Metering clerk Victor Collins picked up first-class letters and fed them into a metering machine, which snapped up eight envelopes per second, stamping a postmark on each one.

“It’s crunch time,” Collins said.

He and four clerks processed all outgoing mail, in time for the U.S. Postal Service truck that arrived before 5 p.m. to collect mail and deliver it to Durham’s main post office. Collins rolled the last mail cart to the truck at the large bay door. A driver hopped out, and rolled mail carts into the truck.

Debra Bass, Duke Postal’s metering supervisor, looked around the warehouse one last time for the day. She flipped off the lights.

“Another good day of work,” she said.

“And tomorrow we get to do it all over again.”

— By Office of Communication Services

209 Total miles driven each day by carriers

Keep Your Address Current: Update your address through Duke@Work, the employee self-service website: work.duke.edu

Metering Clerk Victor Collins rolls a mail cart at the end of a day.

5 postal services at postoffice.duke.edu

Brodhead CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

If you were given the opportunity (money and resources) to make only one change at Duke during the next year, what would that change be?

“The most important thing we can do is keep this university’s morale and confidence high as we proceed with these budget issues,” Brodhead said. “We must protect the sense that we’re pursuing our most Anne Comilloni Corporate Payroll Services important missions with great energy and confidence. That’s the challenge of the coming year: to promote the cause of education and all the good that society gains from research universities like Duke. If you could get me a magic wand, and give me one wish, that would be it.”

Engagement with the world on many levels stands as one of Duke’s strongest selling points. In the next five years, what do you envision for Duke in the marketing of distance education?

Deirdre Wilson, Perkins Library

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What has been your greatest challenge at Duke, and how did you prepare to address it?

Anonymous

“You might think I would say the lacrosse situation, or the economic downturn,” Brodhead said. “Those have indeed been challenging, and in a very public way. But the greatest challenge of the university is to look into the future and figure out how to advance the excellence in education, the excellence in professional training, the excellence in the research and all the social benefits that flow from that. The greatest challenge of any university is always to live up to its real potential, not just to continue doing what you are doing. The thing that drew me to Duke is the fact that this is a university with an appetite to do even better. This is a university where people look at the place and say, ‘Isn’t it amazing what’s been accomplished here in 80 years?’ ” And instead of adding, ‘So let’s stop now,’ they want to figure out how can we go even further? Will people want the same thing from a college education 20 years from now? In some ways, yes, but the great university is the one that will already be asking, ‘What are the new things people are going to need to learn? What are the new skills people are going to need to master? And how can we get ready to meet those needs?’ And that’s just the challenge for the President. Every day you have to deal with whatever problem is in front of you. But the deep challenge is, how can you get people to work together to define their sense of mission and priority, and then – whether the wind is with you or against you – to make some progress in that direction every day.”

The whole magic of this university is that it’s a place of great discovery and great minds. It’s also a place where people really have a taste for putting their knowledge at the service of solving real problems in the world.”

“The best learning is rooted in a teacher looking you in the eye, knowing your name, paying attention to you,” Brodhead said. “That will always be at the heart of the Duke What keeps you focused and motivated? educational experience. But, in the last 15 or Anonymous 20 years, the power of the Internet to spread education more widely has grown considerably.

“To tell you the truth,” said Brodhead, “I really Many of our schools already have distance don’t need to worry about motivation. I’m a person learning programs and the rest have plans for who loves teaching and learning. So all I have to do them. These are valuable because they give you a chance to reach a much larger audience, President Richard H. Brodhead is to walk on campus and turn my head in any especially professional students who are not direction. I will see busy, smart, ambitious, focused able to leave everything for a year or two and people of all ages going about their business in come to campus. The new Cross-Continent MBA Program that Fuqua support of that great goal. That’s my idea of a great time. Every hour of the launched this year is based on the idea that people will keep their jobs day, I leave this building to go somewhere – all over the place at Duke. around the world. They’ll do the work of the program at night and on And after you’ve been here five years, you know a lot of people, and weekends online, and then from time to time, they’ll get together with everybody knows you. You see people in all the different positions that each other and with the faculty of the school. It’s all about getting the right make the university work. For me, that’s all the motivation I ever need.” balance of online learning with face-to-face learning. I never want anyone’s relationship to Duke to just be a relationship to a computer screen.”

Can you speak to the steps you’ve taken to ensure the ongoing safety of students, faculty and staff?

What resources are in place, and what provisions have been made in the unfortunate event of a mass disaster on campus or in the medical center?

“The tragedy at Virginia Tech really reminded us that horrific, sudden and unexpected things can happen at universities,” Brodhead said.

“As a result, in these last few years, we’ve really spent a lot of time and effort sharpening our emergency preparedness. I’m confident we can respond to and recover from any emergency situation. We’ve developed processes, engaged people from across the university and the health system, and generally raised the awareness of these issues among students, faculty and staff. We now have a very comprehensive emergency preparedness plan and notification systems like the outdoor warning sirens and text messaging. We’ve also done several complex emergency simulations on campus. God forbid – may we always be safe from such things. But everyone has to take precautions, and we have taken a lot in recent years.”

Beth Stewart Duke Hospital

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What would be your legacy at Duke?

“That’s a great question, but the answer is up to history,” Brodhead said. “Universities are eternal and enduring. Every Duke President is handed what the university is at that moment, and then they get to work with it. I’ve emphasized affordability and accessibility to education. The $300 million Financial Aid Initiative was an important Li-Chen Chin goal, and we exceeded it thanks to the International House leadership and generosity of many people.

I’ve also emphasized engagement and knowledge in the service to society; that is, using what we do and learn at Duke to solve real world problems.

I’ve emphasized Duke’s rare and very pronounced sense of community.

The whole magic of this university is that it’s a place of great discovery and great minds. It’s also a place where people really have a taste for putting their knowledge at the service of solving real problems in the world. It won’t be my legacy to create this kind of engagement, but it is my responsibility to foster, to further it, to make sure it infuses everything we do.”

— By Leanora Minai Editor, Working@Duke

Sustainable uke YO U R

S O U R C E

F O R

G R E E N

N E W S

AT

D U K E

From Coast to Fork

Scenes from Beaufort and Core Sound.

Photos by Joshua Stoll.

Employees can order, pick up fish on campus ost restaurant servers can recite daily specials and name favorite dishes. But there’s one question, Tracey Koepke says, that often stumps even the savvy waiters: Where does the food come from?

As someone committed to reducing her impact on the environment, Koepke, a marketing manager for the Duke University Health System, strives to eat regionally-raised foods.

She will start adding a little protein to her locally-made plate by participating in a new pilot program that offers faculty and staff a chance to order and pick-up fresh fish on campus.

“I’m excited at the prospect of getting access to fresh seafood, and trying different species I’ve never tried before because they’re not available here,” Koepke said.

The newly formed Walking Fish Community-Supported Fishery at Duke is launching the 12-week program in September to bring employees bundles of fresh flounder, shrimp, clams and other seafood caught right off the Carolina coast.

The initiative is a pilot project of Duke’s student chapter of the American Fisheries Society.

“We were looking for a project that was connected to fisheries and conservation, but also would give us the opportunity to engage the community more,” said Joshua Stoll, a graduate student at the Nicholas School of the Environment and member of the fisheries society.

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Stoll and fellow students got started by locating a seafood distributor in Beaufort, N.C. with a track record of working only with fishermen who abide by legal and sustainable commercial fishing practices.

Duke’s program works like the Mobile Farmers Market: participants buy shares of a weekly catch brought in by fishermen from the Pamlico Sound, Core Sound and Atlantic Ocean off the Carteret County coast, about three and a half hours from Durham.

The mix will include seven types of seafood, including regional species such as spot, black drum, mullet and triggerfish for $7.50 a pound.

Each week, a fisherman will drive a refrigerated truck to a parking lot at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens to hand out two- to four-pound packages of fish, whole or filleted – whatever the buyer’s preference. The packages will come wrapped in plastic and ice, and participants will also receive insulated bags to keep their catch cold on the ride home.

Faculty and staff may sign up for the program this month but space is limited to 200 to 250 on a firstcome, first-serve basis. The first truckload arrives Sept. 17. For more about signing up, go to www.walking-fish.org or e-mail info@walking-fish.org.

Many employees said they wanted to try the program because it offered heart-healthy, freshly caught seafood at better prices than they could find locally. Others were encouraged by the relatively short trip

of the food, compared with seafood that might be processed overseas and then shipped to the U.S., leaving a larger carbon footprint. Those with adventurous palettes also were eager to find new favorites.

“One of the benefits is the process of experimentation,” said Koepke, the health system marketing manager. “Whatever they provide in my share I will find a way to cook with it.”

A central theme, Stoll said, is really to educate the community and support local fishermen, specifically those who are using more environmentally sound practices for their work.

“We see this as a wonderful opportunity to start a dialogue with people about sustainability, local food and health,” he said. “I think there are a lot of misperceptions, and we want to move that conversation forward.”

FRESH CATCH To sign up, visit www.walking-fish.org or e-mail info@walking-fish.org.

— By Samiha Khanna Working@Duke Correspondent

Read More About Food “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver “Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods” by Gary Paul Nabhan “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” by Michael Pollan

7 Stay informed about sustainablility at duke.edu/sustainability

WORKING@ DUKE

dialogue@Duke

HOW TO REACH US Editor: Leanora Minai

“With charitable donations down across the country, what are you doing to support your neighborhood or community during the recession?”

(919) 681-4533 leanora.minai@duke.edu Assistant Vice President: Paul S. Grantham

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(919) 681-4534

When it comes to community service, there are two areas I’m very passionate about. I’m a huge supporter of Carolina Ballet, a world-class dance company. I donate some money and my time to work in their box office. I also donate to the Nearly New Shoppe because they take donations and sell them to the Durham community. They take that money and use it for medical school scholarships at Duke. That’s a good cause because they’re helping to pay for people to go to med school who couldn’t afford it otherwise.”

paul.grantham@duke.edu Graphic Design & Layout: Paul Figuerado Photography: Bryan Roth, Office of

Tamara James Director, Ergonomics Division 16 years at Duke

Communication Services; and Duke University Photography.

“

I’ve volunteered at a shelter in Durham. It’s a good way to interact with people who need help. It really just makes you feel good to help people because that’s what life’s all about. If you can help one person, then that’s a good thing.”

Working@Duke is published monthly

by Duke’s Office of Communication Services. We invite your feedback and suggestions for future story topics.

Roderick Johnson Food service worker, Duke Dining 29 years at Duke

Please write us at working@duke.edu or

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Working@Duke, Box 90496, 705 Broad St., Durham, NC 27708

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I recently donated clothing and some household items to the Salvation Army because a lot of families are struggling financially as a result of the economic crisis. I think that if we all do our small part to help out, it can go a long way to addressing the needs of the community.”

Call us at (919) 684-4345.

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Tyson Brown Postdoctoral fellow, Center for Aging and Human Development 1 year at Duke — By Bryan Roth Writer, Office of Communication Services

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PERQS E M P LOY E E D I S CO U N TS Breaking It Down Cost: $99 inclusive What you get: A double occupancy room (rollaway beds available); one buffet breakfast Available: most nights, except graduation weekend Reservations: (919) 660-6400 or e-mail reservations@duke.edu.

Be sure to identify yourself as a Duke employee.

Bed and breakfast at Duke

N

estled in the pine trees behind Duke’s Fuqua School of Business sits a hidden treasure: the R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center, which includes a hotel that offers a $99 “bed and breakfast” special for Duke employees.

“Most folks don’t even know there is a 111-bed hotel on campus,” said Ken Lile, general manager. “And those who do know of us think we are only here for conferences. We aim to change that with our employee room rate special.”

Jonathan Anderson, an assistant coach for Duke’s baseball team, was the first employee to take advantage of the discount, using it for his father when he visited Duke for a baseball tournament in May. “My dad loved the convenience of being right on campus, and that’s one reason he’ll stay there again next season,” Anderson said. “But he also loved that the entire staff was so friendly … And I loved being able to go hang out with him in the Center’s lounge when it was raining. They have snacks, big TVs, games and pool tables. I can’t provide all of that at my apartment.”

The $99 special includes a double occupancy room and one all-youcan-eat breakfast buffet, prepared by Chef Stacey Grisham. The Center also offers Duke employees a 33 percent discount on lunch: $12 instead of $18.

Visit hr.duke.edu/

discounts for a list of discounts available to Duke employees.

Grisham creates eclectic daily menus that feature as much organic food and local produce as possible and mixes southern favorites with international entrees, including Indian vegetarian dishes.

Stacey Grisham, chef at the R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center, flips an omelet for a breakfast patron. On a busy morning, the kitchen staff cooks more than 50 dozen eggs to serve along with other breakfast delights.

“But I also do Philly steaks and Angus burgers,” Grisham said. “Once I brought in my collection of nearly 100 hot sauces for the 2009 MBA class to try with a custom wing bar request.”

— By Marsha A. Green Writer, Office of Communication Services

D U K E T O D AY

For daily news and information, visit duke.edu/today