Call for Applications: Faculty Director, Center for Community Engagement

Position Description

The faculty director for Duke’s new Center for Community Engagement will take on a vital strategic leadership role in advancing community-engaged scholarship and integrating academic undertakings to forge and sustain purposeful partnerships with communities. Housed within Duke’s Office of Durham and Community Affairs (DCA) and reporting jointly to the vice president for community affairs and the vice provost for interdisciplinary studies, the faculty director will facilitate greater coordination of engaged education and research across the university.

The Center for Community Engagement is a new center, established on the foundations of Duke’s Office of Civic Engagement, that will launch in Fall 2024. A Duke University Board of Trustees task force and a faculty and staff working group have developed key priorities for the center. The faculty director will be responsible for leading the implementation of key aspects of this plan related to community-engaged research and teaching.

The faculty director will work closely with an associate vice president/associate vice provost for community-engaged scholarship, which is a new full-time staff leadership role that will oversee the daily management of the center. The center also includes five full-time staff who are available to work with the faculty director to execute on the mission of the center.

This is a half-time position for a three-year term, with the potential for reappointment after a review in the third year. The faculty director will receive an administrative supplement and appropriate course or service releases, determined in discussion with their primary unit and school leadership, and will be expected to maintain a proportionate role engaging in teaching and research within their academic unit.

Key Responsibilities

Working with staff in the center, the faculty director will set a vision and provide leadership for the following key functions.

Community-engaged research

• Foster and support all community-engaged research across campus, in partnership with all Duke schools and units, and with Durham community representatives, to ensure a coordinated and thoughtful approach.
• Foster greater understanding across campus of the Strategic Community Impact Plan (SCIP) priorities for Duke’s engagement with Durham and environs, and encourage and incentivize faculty to engage in aligned research.
• Establish intellectual hubs to connect faculty and staff engaging in community-engaged work in thematic areas, with a focus on themes that align with the SCIP priorities.
• Create and administer mechanisms, such as seed grants and research programs, to incentivize and support faculty engaging in research premised on sustainable partnerships for community benefit, particularly in relation to the SCIP priorities and with a focus on projects co-created with Durham and North Carolina partners.
• Serve as a key liaison to Duke research entities, including but not limited to the Office of Research & Innovation, Office of Institutional Research, and DCA’s Research and Advancement team, to develop appropriate policies, practices and communication strategies to facilitate equitable community-engaged research, regardless of geographic focus, and the strategic collection and analysis of relevant data.
• Guide the development of trainings and workshops for faculty and staff engaged in community-engaged research and ensure consistent use of these materials across campus, as appropriate; serve as a resource for faculty navigating the complexities of community-engaged research.
• Periodically convene community-engaged scholars and practitioners across the campus and foster deeper networks and sharing of best practices.
• Encourage development of authentic research partnerships that engage community members as equal partners.

Educational programs

• Develop a deep knowledge of community-engaged curricular and extra-curricular programs across Duke and seek to connect these offerings to community-defined priorities.
• Develop a vision for educational programming offered by the center and establish the center as an academic unit. Initially, this might include the creation of new courses and deeper partnership with Duke Service-Learning. Long-term plans for the center include the creation of a graduate certificate in community-engaged research and an undergraduate certificate or minor in urban studies.
• Develop a vision for co-curricular programming offered by the center, including a possible summer research program (e.g., +Durham) and more robust partnerships around internships for students at all levels.
• Facilitate Duke’s growing partnership with Durham Tech Community College, including by supporting faculty leading a new joint community-engaged course between the two institutions.
• Advise on the development and use of trainings and workshops for students engaged in community-engaged activities.

Foster connections between campus and communities

• Cultivate authentic partnerships between scholars at Duke and local community organizations, with a particular emphasis on Durham and environs, prioritizing community focal areas and mutual benefit between Duke and its partners.
• Extend Duke’s capacity to meet community needs and achieve community benefits by fostering connections in the region and across the campus, linking community organizations to:
  • Faculty with relevant expertise and interest in co-creation of research agendas and the development of sustainable partnerships.
  • Vehicles for students to address community issues, through appropriate student capstones, curricular offerings and co-curricular programs.

Advance Duke as a leader in community engagement

• Inform university policies related to community engagement and partnerships.
• Serve as strategic advisor to leadership teams within DCA and the Office of the Provost/Office of Interdisciplinary Studies.
• Participate, as appropriate, in engaged scholarship, models of innovation and national conversations about community-engaged research and teaching.

Qualifications

• Current regular rank faculty member at Duke.
• Experience and a track record of excellence in community-engaged research and/or teaching.
• Strong preference for a faculty member with established connections within Durham.
• Demonstrated experience in administrative leadership roles in contexts such as building/sustaining community partnerships, developing curricular innovations and fostering collaborative teams.
• The ability to build networks and work collaboratively.

To Apply

Faculty members who wish to be considered for this role should submit the following materials to Sheriece Smith (sheriece.smith@duke.edu) by August 15, 2024:

• Letter of application that speaks to relevant experience and communicates a philosophy of community engagement.
• Curriculum vitae.
• List of three references.

Contact for Questions About the Position

If interested faculty have queries about this role, they can contact either the vice provost for interdisciplinary studies, Ed Balleisen (eballeis@duke.edu), or the search committee chair, Mac McCorkle (mac.mccorkle@duke.edu).