Duke Going Global?

Duke University is planning to expand their campus to another location in China. The relatively new university, comparatively speaking, is looking to further their reach and globalize their name.

There is some push back coming from some of the faculty already associated with Duke stating that they don’t want to lose the reputation and the quality education they already produce at their institution in North Carolina and that expanding is too risky and could cause a lot more trouble then it’s worth.

There is a lot of criticism about the new campus in China as well because they feel like there has been little explained by the president and the chair of the committee to establish the campus. The plan seems poorly thought out and not enough structure to be successful. The faculty and some of the staff want to know why they are going to spend so much money that they essentially believe is being wasted in setting up a campus so far away from home.

Duke is not the only one to start setting up campuses around the globe to reach more students and expand their name recognition. NYU has a campus in the Indonesia that hosts about 2,000 students. There are many higher education institutions that are building campuses or reaching out to international military bases to allow for further learning that way as well. These efforts may be safer because there is a guaranteed enrollment and soldiers show consistent interest in the school and earning a degree before they leave the military. The military pays for it and there’s less worry about what happens with financial aid and other legal issues. There seems to be less apparent buy-in for a Duke campus in China.

There is also the issue of how are students going to be taught in international universities. Some international schools are using all online learning whether that means utilizing programs like Blackboard or blogging sites or professors teaching a class through a video chat that’s projected in the classroom. There are arguments that this is much less effective than a traditional university and whether Duke should lower their standards of teaching and learning for the simple gratification that they will be expanding internationally.

Overall, I think it’s a great idea to expand a university if they have the resources and they are capable of doing so. The main argument that seems to be taking place at Duke is that they may have the resources but the structure, goals, and the plan are not entirely clear. Perhaps they need to take a second look at their plan and be willing to share more details with the campus community, especially if they’re seeking they’re buy-in.