New Program Development

• Discuss program ideas with your department chair. Assess your teaching load and other departmental considerations. Identify other faculty who can teach. You’ll need a letter of endorsement from your chair to develop a program.
• Review the Faculty & GEO program responsibilities.
• Review program modalities and schedules, and programming logistics (states lists). Review experiential learning parameters.
• Reach out to geodirectors@duke.edu to arrange a meeting to discuss your program concept and ask questions.
• Consult resources for study-away educators.

• Meet with a GEO director to review study away program policies.
• Review the program development timelines and checklists.
• Determine your program term and credit load:

• Develop a program proposal narrative. The narrative should include the following:
  • Department Approval Letter – Proposing faculty need a letter of support from their department chair
  • Program overview – learning objectives, structural elements, and a sample itinerary
  • Course description/s - include sample syllabus/i if available
  • Site-Specific Connections – detail the specific curricular needs that this program will fulfill and why it needs to be taught off campus
  • Feasibility Analysis – describe the target student population, target program enrollment, and proposed recruitment techniques
  • Faculty – include the CV of all faculty involved with the proposal, as well as a list of other faculties who would be interested in directing the program
  • Review and refine the narrative with a GEO director

• The proposal will be presented to the GEC for approval. There are three possible outcomes to the GEC’s review:
  • Approval to develop
  • Suggestions for amendments to academic proposals
  • Rejection of proposal
• If the GEC recommends amendments, work with GEO and other University staff to address committee concerns and resubmit your proposal.

• Work with GEO, OGHS, and Hub staff to develop:
  • Risk assessments and plans
  • Legal audit
  • Budget development & analysis

• Deliver the developed program plan to your department chair, GEO staff, and GEC for a final review.
• Once final approvals are received from all groups, you can begin the recruitment phase.

VIU, located on the island of San Servolo, just ten minutes from St. Mark’s Square in Venice, offers students from Duke and twenty other universities from around the world an opportunity to participate in an international, interdisciplinary, and multicultural learning environment (for detailed information about VIU and its member institutions, see the VIU website).

At the same time, our students have a chance to live in Venice and to learn about local culture through language study, classes, and co-curricular activities. Faculty, too, benefit from this international setting, and will have the chance to meet with colleagues from a variety of other universities. For an overview of the VIU curriculum, the breadth of the offering, and examples of courses taught at VIU, please visit VIU’s Globalization Program website.

Faculty Package:

• A faculty’s regular Duke salary for teaching two full courses. Teaching two courses in Venice is counted as teaching during a regular semester at Duke. In return, the Venice International University Globalization Program will provide course replacement costs for up to two courses in the selected faculty member’s home department.
• Round-trip economy airfare, a per diem for living expenses, as well as logistical and financial assistance in acquiring a visa.
• Assistance with finding housing for the duration of the program.

Faculty Expectations:

• It is not required that faculty members be on sabbatical for the semester they teach in Venice, but the faculty member’s chair must be consulted as to their availability to teach at VIU in a given semester.
• Selected faculty are expected to work closely with GEO in the recruitment of Duke students for the semester of their residency.
• They are also expected to actively interact with Duke students while in Venice.
• Within the framework of VIU’s Globalization program, the selected faculty member will teach two courses in the fall or spring term. The language of instruction is English.
  • Courses should intend to cover the core courses and/or specialization tracks as detailed in the call for lectureships reference documents found here:
  • Appendix 1: VIU Globalization Program and Guidelines for Professors
  • Appendix 2: VIU Globalization Program Course Abstracts
  • Appendix 3: VIU Globalization Program Courses Approved 2023-2025

Interested faculty should submit the following documents via email GEO Directors at geodirectors@duke.edu by May 1, 2025 and indicate for which semester the proposal is intended (Fall 2026 or Spring 2027). This material will also be included in the Request for Proposals sent out to faculty:

• a proposal of three courses (each description should be approximately 500 words)
• a letter of intent with a tentative plan on how to attract Duke students from the Durham campus and engage with them while in Venice
• a recent CV
• a letter from the department chair indicating approval for the faculty member to participate in the program

Proposals will be reviewed by the Duke VIU Faculty Committee which is comprised of Duke professors Steve Nowicki, VIU Academic Council member, and Giovanni Zanalda, member of the VIU Board of Directors, in addition to the Duke in Venice program manager.

Once a faculty member has been selected by the Duke committee, that name and the accompanying three course proposals will be presented to the VIU Academic Council for review. The VIU Academic Council will review the selection and decide on which two of the three proposed courses will be taught. Selected faculty will be required to submit additional materials to VIU.

An individual faculty member and the Global Education Office for Undergraduates (GEO), generally have responsibility for developing a new Duke-administered study abroad or U.S.-based study away program. In developing the program, the faculty member and GEO staff will work in consultation with the academic department head of the sponsoring unit, the faculty-led Duke Global Education Committee, and other appropriate Duke departments and administrators.

We are currently in an active RFP for summer programs and the Duke in Venice semester program.

If you are interested in developing a summer program or teaching on the Duke in Venice program review the steps outlined above. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the proposal process, we recommend you meet with a GEO director to review your proposal idea.

If you are interested in developing a summer program, please contact the GEO directors at geodirectors@duke.edu.

The individual faculty member initiates the approval process by obtaining permission to proceed from their academic department head.

All study abroad and U.S.-based programs sponsored by Duke University must be approved by the appropriate officials at Duke to ensure that the program adheres to university policies and procedures. The approval process also serves as a “checks and balances” to ensure that appropriate provisions were made for the program’s implementation. New programs should not be publicized until approval has been secured.

Once a program proposal has been reviewed and approved by the faculty-led Global Education Committee, GEO will be responsible for notifying the faculty member and department head that the program proposal has received final approval.

If approval is not given, or if the faculty committee has feedback or requires follow-up action on the proposal, the notification generally comes directly from the committee chair.
 

Most on-site summer study away programs are between 4-6 weeks long.  Study away programs can take place in Summer I or Summer II. When choosing dates, you should consider the Duke academic calendar and align your program with a term. Please note the following points on credits and program length:

• A 1- course credit summer study away program requires a minimum of 4 weeks of instruction. A 2- course credit summer study away program requires a minimum of 6 weeks of instruction.
• Please consult the Office of the University Registrar's “Credit Hour Policy”  

Programs that have been approved to run will be evaluated by students, and assessed by GEO and the Duke Assessment Office through the use of program and course evaluations.

It is highly preferred that faculty begin by developing a summer program, as this permits both faculty and the GEO to gauge student interest before developing a semester program.