BOT Committees

GPSC Representatives

To run for a representative, please check GPSC election page for updates.

Each April, the General Assembly elects 10 students to sit on 6 standing committees of the Duke University Board of Trustees (BOT). Any graduate or professional student can run for a position on the standing committee. The BOT meets 4 times are year, and the student representatives who attend these meetings contribute the graduate and professional student perspective to the highest governing body at Duke. The Medical Center Academic Affairs meets at lunchtime on Friday. The others generally meet on Friday mornings.

Representatives are expected to:

  • Read through all materials in BOT packets
  • Attend pre-meetings with all GPSC BOT reps prior to BOT meetings (1.5 hrs)
  • Attend the 4 BOT meetings for the year (2-3 hours each)
  • Submit written reports following meetings
  • When necessary, talk to students to get more perspective on the issues to be discussed
  • Be proactive in bringing issues to the agenda for discussion and participate thoroughly in the conversation

Please visit here to know the current GPSC representatives to BOT standing committees.

Duke University Board of Trustees Standing Committee Descriptions

Academic Affairs

The Academic Affairs shall:

  • Consider proposals for, and make recommendations with respect to: the educational role of each school, college, and unit of the University and for the University as a whole; provisions for the admission of students at all levels; the academic life and activities of students; educational, research, and library programs; and the coordination of all educational activities.
  • Promote and coordinate activities of the Boards of Visitors, review their findings, and transmit their reports to the President and to the Board of Trustees. The President shall appoint the members of the Boards of Visitors.
  • Designate five Trustees who, along with an equal number of faculty members designated by the President, and the President, ex officio, shall serve as a Committee on Honorary Degrees to make recommendations to the University faculty and the Board of Trustees.
  • Serve as a Committee on Earned Degrees.
  • Serve as liaison with the University faculty with respect to academic affairs.

Business and Finance

The Business and Finance Committee shall exercise oversight of the University’s financial policies and resource allocations plans resulting from annual budgeting and multi-year planning. To accomplish this, the Business and Finance Committee shall:

  • Keep informed on, consider proposals for, and make recommendations with respect to, the general business affairs and financial organization of the University including the internal and external debt structure of the University.
  • Review the annual budgets and tuitions and fees schedule of the University and recommend their approval or modification.
  • Review the annual capital budget and also the investment and financing plans associated with capital projects outside the delegated authority of the Executive Vice President, and recommend approval or modification.
  • Maintain an ongoing analysis and review of quarterly operating statements and budget forecast of the University.
  • Review proposals for endowment spending policies and the institutional reinvestment account payout index and recommend approval or modifications of the same.
  • Review requests for the establishment of, and withdrawal from, quasi-endowment funds and special endowment funds.

Facilities & Environment

This committee shall consider proposals for, and make recommendations with respect to:

  • The acquisition and sale of all real property by the University.
  • The siting, construction and expenditure of funds for all buildings, construction and renovations and related appurtenances such as utilities, roads, and parking areas and the commissioning of Project Architects and Engineers, and approval of proposed contractors for construction projects.
  • Evaluation and promulgation of a continuing Master Plan for long-range development of the total physical environment of the University, including inherent standards of aesthetics and quality.
  • Naming of facilities and parts of facilities.
  • The acceptance of all new construction on behalf of the University.
  • The oversight of Duke Forest operations, procedures, and uses, and all planning for those land holdings.

Institutional Advancement

The Institutional Advancement Committee shall review,discuss, and, when appropriate and necessary, recommend action on important and substantive issues and proposals emanating from the Offices of the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations and the Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development. The Committee specifically shall address university-wide policies and practices concerning alumni programming, communications/media relating to government and public relations, and fund raising initiatives.

Medical Center Affairs

The powers and duties of the Medical Center Affairs Committee are limited in scope to the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, Allied Health Programs, and their related libraries. Within these limitations, the powers and duties of the Medical Center Affairs Committee shall be the same as those of the other standing committees of the Board, except the Executive Committee; said committees retaining their respective powers and duties concerning Medical Center matters.

Undergraduate Student Affairs

The Committee shall inform itself concerning, consider proposals for, monitor coordination of, and make recommendations with respect to, all undergraduate student affairs at the University other than programs of research and instruction.