October/November, 2019 Working@Duke

TUNNEL UNDER EAST CAMPUS 8

HOW TO HANDLE FEEDBACK 10

FURNISH YOUR OFFICE 13

NE W S YOU CA N USE • O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2019

Time for a

Checkup? working.duke.edu

1

Editor’s Note

CONTENTS

LEANORA MINAI

“I’m not done with life yet” Smiling and tanned in the photograph, Dot Mishoe stands on a boat under a deep blue Florida sky that goes on forever. She holds her prized Permit fish.

Dot, a tournament angler who once netted $50,000 for a king mackerel, reeled and reeled while the Permit fish fought in waters off the Florida Keys – her happy place with her husband, Monty. After landing her catch, Dot kissed the game fish and tossed it back in the water.

The photograph, which she shared in June as part of our Duke Time Off photo contest, is seared into my memory because it reflects Dot’s grace and gratitude.

She has stage IV colorectal cancer.

When I talked with Dot in her office for this column, she seemed more worried about a vendor fixing an office software glitch. As director for student accommodations in Duke’s Disability Management Office, Dot ensures an accessible learning environment for students.

After Dot was diagnosed in 2016 at age 48, her surgeon at the Duke Cancer Center removed a 5-inch lateral mass.

She underwent radiation and chemotherapy and remained cancer free until 2018 when scans showed cancer in lymph nodes at the base of her spine, an inoperable area.

Throughout treatment, Dot has leaned on Duke’s medical plan, which we highlight on page 4 as part of Dot Mishoe, right, holds her prized Permit Open Enrollment. fish with friend, Robert Miller, in Florida.

And she remains humbled by Duke employees who donated hundreds of hours of vacation time and sent gift cards.

“I've just been blessed with Duke insurance,” she said.

“All I had to do was pay my $55 co-pay to go see my doctors, and that, within itself, has just been unmatchable … it’s just been a godsend.”

Doctors told Dot she has a 50-50 chance of being alive in 33 months. “No,” she says. “That's not an option. I'm not done with life yet.” She chokes back tears. She wants to set an example of strength for her daughter LucyAnne, 18.

“It will be my demise. I know that,” Dot says of the cancer. “But I'm living while I'm dying.”

2

WORKING@DUKE WORKING@DUKE

4

8

10

4 Time for a Checkup?

With Open Enrollment for medical, dental and vision coverage from October 21 through November 1, it’s time to think about your health and medical plan choices. Physicals, immunizations and screenings are the most common encounters Duke employees have with the health care system, and they’re the most important.

8 Tunnel Beneath Your Feet

Did you know? There’s a mile-long tunnel that was excavated and built under East Campus between 1925-1927 to provide heating, water, electricity and a protected walkway to buildings.

10 How to Handle Feedback

While feedback can be tough to hear, keeping a few things in mind can make growing from feedback easier.

11 New military association unites employee veterans 12 A cemetery near the campus football stadium 13 Furnish your office for free 14 One-stop-shop discount at BJ’s Wholesale Club Contact us Editor/Executive Director of Communications: Leanora Minai (919) 681-4533 leanora.minai@duke.edu Assistant Vice President: Paul S. Grantham (919) 681-4534 paul.grantham@duke.edu

Graphic Design & Layout: Paul Figuerado (919) 684-2107 paul.figuerado@duke.edu

Jonathan Black Writer (919) 681-9965 jonathan.c.black@duke.edu

Stephen Schramm Senior Writer (919) 684-4639 stephen.schramm@duke.edu

Working@Duke is published every other month by Duke’s Office of Communication Services. We invite your feedback and story ideas. Send email to working@duke.edu or call (919) 681-4533.

Visit Working@Duke daily on Duke Today: working.duke.edu

Cover: Ebony Coley, financial care counselor at Duke Eye Center Raleigh, holds the device she uses to check her blood sugar. Photo by Alex Boerner.

2017, 2014 Gold, 2019, 2015, 2013, Silver, 2016, 2009, 2007 Bronze, Print Internal Audience Publications and 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing

BRIEFLY Fight phishing with new ‘Phish Alarm’ button Starting in October as part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, you can report suspicious emails with one click of a button and test your cyber-savvy with a phish detection quiz.

The new “Phish Alarm” button is in all Outlook email clients (Windows, Mac, Web, Android and iPhone). Duke’s information security offices are encouraging users to use the button instead of sending an email to ‘security@duke.edu’ to report suspicious emails.

In most email clients, the button will appear in the toolbar.

The new quiz allows you to test your phishing detection skills. All Duke users who take the quiz will be entered into a drawing to win an AppleWatch.

Both the button and quiz are part of Proofpoint, already in use at Duke for protecting accounts against malicious links and attachments in emails.

To take the quiz and to learn more about other Cybersecurity Awareness Month events at Duke, visit security.duke.edu.

Give back by giving to Doing Good in the Neighborhood Help support schools, community health clinics and more through “Doing Good in the Neighborhood,” Duke’s employee giving campaign.

Contribute to Doing Good in the Neighborhood in up to seven categories: Community Care Fund, Emergency Relief Fund, Health, Neighborhoods, Schools, Youth Empowerment and United Way of the Greater Triangle.

Last year, 2,726 employees donated to Doing Good in the Neighborhood. The campaign raised a total of $653,323.

“Through collective giving to the Doing Good in the Neighborhood campaign, donors demonstrate the true Duke spirit and support partnerships with greater impact than could be achieved alone,” said Stelfanie Williams, vice president for Durham Affairs.

Staff and faculty can get started with payroll deduction or give in another way by visiting doinggood.duke.edu. While the campaign blitz is in October, employees can contribute year-round.

Maintain your weight during the winter holidays Keep weight off between Thanksgiving and the New Year with “Maintain Don’t Gain,” which runs Nov. 11 through Jan. 5.

Participating employees receive weekly emails that include easy recipes, stress management tools, workout suggestions and other tips for healthy behaviors from LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program.

Early in the initiative, employees can visit the LIVE FOR LIFE office in Duke Clinic’s Orange Zone basement to measure body fat percentage.

Screenings may be done during a scheduled drop-in time or as part of a fitness consultation.

Domonique Redmond has participated in the program for the past five years. She joins Maintain Don’t Gain every year because the weekly email reminders and weigh-ins help fight off chocolate indulgences.

“It helps keep me accountable around the holidays when I work out less and more sweets are around,” said Redmond, assistant director of the Duke Community Service Center.

Last year, 699 employees participated in the program and lost a combined 670 pounds.

Sign up at hr.duke.edu/maintain.

Get or renew a passport on Nov. 21 Need to apply for, or renew, a passport? Duke community members are invited to the Duke Global Passport Drive on Nov. 21.

The free first come, first served event is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Penn Pavilion on West Campus. Officials from the U.S. State Department will be on hand to accept applications and renewals. Staff members from Duke Global Administration and Travel Support and the Office of Global Affairs will provide advice and notary services.

FedEx will offer free passport photos, and the Duke Credit Union will help prepare methods of payment.

Paul Baker, professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the Nicholas School of the Environment, gained an appreciation for Duke’s travelrelated services when Duke Global Administration and Travel Support helped him get a visa to travel to China.

“You’re connected with the people who really know what they’re doing,” Baker said of the service.

Visit global.duke.edu/passport for information on documents and fees.

Update your personal and work information Ensure your work and personal information are correct and up-todate through your payroll representative and in Duke@Work (work.duke.edu).  Contact your school, department or unit payroll representative to change your name, marital status, education and payroll check mailing address. Find your payroll representative in Duke@Work by clicking “MyInfo” > “MyProfile” > “Contact My Payroll Representative.”  To update your home address, log into your profile on Duke@Work. Click on “MyInfo” > “MyProfile” > “Maintain your Addresses & Phone Numbers.” There, update your home address, external mailing address, Duke interoffice address and phone numbers.  You can update additional information by clicking “MyInfo” > “MyProfile” > “Review and Update your Race, Ethnicity, Veteran and Disability Status.”  To change information that appears in the Duke Internal Directory (directory.duke.edu), scroll down on the “MyProfile” page on Duke@Work and select “OIT Account Services.”

working.duke.edu

3

Time for a

Checkup?

Staying current with physicals and screenings could save 100,000 lives annually

A

routine physical three years ago gave Kyle Skrinak a dose of reality.

He chalked up the extra pounds, achy knees and trouble sleeping to growing old. His Duke doctor disagreed, telling Skrinak he had high blood pressure and, at 290 pounds, was clinically obese.

Something had to change.

“It hurt,” said Skrinak, 56. “He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t know. But when you hear another person tell you, it was an epiphany.”

Down 70 pounds with a low-carb diet and regular exercise, Skrinak’s wake-up call ignited a drive toward a healthier lifestyle.

“You’ve got to take control of your health,” said Skrinak, manager of Web Development and System Administration with Trinity Technology Services. “You don’t want to end up at the mercy of medication or facing serious problems.”

With Open Enrollment for medical, dental and vision coverage from October 21 through November 1, it’s time to think about your health and medical plan choices. In 2020, monthly premium increases will stay below projected national averages. For Duke Select, the most popular employee plan, the increase is $2 per month for individuals and $14 for families.

Co-pays and deductibles for medical, dental and vision plans stay the same. Premiums for vision and most dental plans are unchanged for 2020.

In the past fiscal year, Duke paid $250 million for health concerns for around 72,000 plan participants, up $21 million from the previous year.

Physicals, immunizations and screenings are the most common episodes Duke employees have with the health care system, and they’re the most important. The $25.3 million Duke spent on preventive health is more than any other type of care.

A study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates that staying current on immunizations, physicals and screenings could save as many as 100,000 lives annually. Duke employee medical plans provide colonoscopies, mammograms and most vaccines without a co-pay. And routine physicals and prostate tests are covered with just an office co-pay.

“If we capture conditions early, or even before they happen, there are tremendous opportunities to change lifestyles and behaviors, and minimize the long-term impact and risk of disease,” said Dr. Daniel George, Professor of Medicine at Duke.

For Kyle Skrinak, exercise and a commitment to a low-carb diet helped him take control of his health.

4

WORKING@DUKE

Team Effort

Duke Physician Assistant Jenna Brothers, right, checks the vital signs of Ebony Coley, left, during a recent appointment.

When Ebony Coley met with her nurse practitioner during a 2013 appointment to discuss worrisome blood test results, she was unnerved.

Ten years earlier, Coley, a financial care counselor with Duke Eye Center of Raleigh, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Initially, Coley embraced lifestyle changes the disease demanded, altering her diet, exercising, losing weight and sticking to a blood-testing routine.

As years passed, life got busy, unhealthy foods crept back into her diet and blood-testing became sporadic. So, in 2013, Coley’s tests showed blood sugar levels well out of the healthy range.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Makeba Felton, nurse practitioner with Duke Primary Care Knightdale, told Coley at the time.

Coley didn’t do that work alone. She received encouragement and advice from Felton and an endocrinologist and nutritionist, covered by her Duke plan.

Diabetes ranked second among top health conditions in 2018. In all, Duke spent $15.3 million treating diabetes for 3,275 plan participants last year.

Coley’s medical coverage allowed her to take preventive steps. She enrolled in DukeWell, a free care management program for chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. DukeWell, which partners with LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, provided Coley with feedback from Duke experts and helped pay for medications.

In addition to DukeWell, Duke offers a range of services for employees through Healthy Duke, the institution-wide wellness initiative organized

by LIVE FOR LIFE. As a staff or faculty member, you can get a free health assessment by a LIVE FOR LIFE nurse throughout the year at locations across campus.

The quick checkup is a biometric screening that measures blood pressure, height, weight, body mass index, cholesterol and glucose.

In the past year, LIVE FOR LIFE helped 15,391 employees by conducting 7,050 health assessments, enrolling 3,917 in discount fitness club programs and providing 660 nutrition consultations.

With Coley’s refreshed commitment to preventive care and a network of Duke resources, her diabetes is under control.

“I feel better,” Coley said. “The Duke resources made it so much easier.” >> continued on page 6

working.duke.edu

5

What You Need to Know for Open Enrollment 2020

A

ccording to multiple national projections, health care costs are expected to rise by around 6 percent in 2020.

But Duke’s employee medical plans for 2020 feature no increases in co-pays and no changes in deductibles. In addition, there will no changes in vision plan premiums and no changes to most of Duke’s dental plans. Monthly health premiums will increase $2 per month for individual coverage and $14 per month for family coverage under Duke Select, the most popular employee plan.

“Through a multi-faceted set of strategies, we’re able to have a projected year that places our employees and their families in a very enviable position,” said Kyle Cavanaugh, Duke’s vice president for Administration. “The only thing that’s changing in the medical plans are monthly premium adjustments that are again well below the national level.”

Open enrollment for Duke medical benefits runs from October 21 to November 1. With over 72,000 covered lives and more than 90 percent of eligible employees enrolled, Duke’s plans are among the largest on the East Coast and as popular as ever.

Among reasons costs for employees are able to stay competitive is Duke’s focus on pharmacy programs, wellness and prevention and close management of plans with vendors.

An area of strength is the high rate of generic drugs used to fill prescriptions. Of the prescriptions filled for Duke plan participants last year, 88.6 percent were generic drugs. Each percentage point of generic utilization represents nearly $1 million in savings.

Duke also provides robust preventive health offerings, which are part of the Healthy Duke initiative organized by LIVE FOR LIFE, the employee wellness program.

Offerings include DukeWell, which provides customized care programs for those with diabetes and heart disease. Also, LIVE FOR LIFE provides free health assessments, fitness activities and personalized coaching for nutrition and tobaccocessation, all of which are at the forefront of Duke’s wellness push.

“It’s all about living your best life and you need to be healthy to do that,” said Julie Joyner, director of LIVE FOR LIFE.

“Why Didn’t I Go Before?”

John Nocero thought he was just a poor sleeper. Each night, his sleep was interrupted, leaving him wide awake, waiting for daylight.

One night in January, Nocero, 44, snapped awake, unable to breathe.

Terrified, he rushed to his wife and told her he felt like he was drowning.

She greeted him with concern and exasperation.

“She looks at me stone-faced and said, ‘No, you probably stopped breathing again,’” said Nocero, a quality assurance and regulatory compliance associate with Duke’s Clinical Quality Management Program. “She’d been on me for years to get this checked out.”

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows 20.4 percent of men – versus 11 percent of women – have gone more than a year without seeing a health care professional. In 2018, among adults covered by Duke’s health plans, women had four times as many preventive health visits as men.

The CDC recommends that men have yearly testicular exams, cholesterol tests starting at 35 and prostate exams starting at 50. These screenings are covered by Duke employee plans with an office co-pay.

Nocero’s father avoided doctors for most of his life. Nocero was the same, using doctors for sports injuries and little else.

But in January, that changed.

Nocero saw a doctor, who referred him to the Duke Sleep Disorders Center. An overnight study confirmed that he had obstructive sleep apnea, a dangerous condition where relaxing throat muscles block airways.

Now, with a CPAP machine – which opens airways with constant air pressure – Nocero is getting quality sleep.

“Why didn’t I go before?” Nocero asked. “Looking back on that now, I was afraid.”

Review and update medical plans and enroll in reimbursement accounts at: hr.duke.edu/enrollment2020.

6

WORKING@DUKE

John Nocero holds the CPAP machine that has helped him overcome obstructive sleep apnea.

Early Warnings During the year when Cheryl Morgan Maxey had a cancerous lump cut from her right breast and drugs and radiation punished her body, she kept her mind on a kayak.

In November 2015, a few days after the death of her father, Maxey discovered a lump in her breast while in the shower. The day before Thanksgiving, a mammogram confirmed the marblesized lump was invasive ductal carcinoma.

She endured six rounds of chemotherapy, surgery to remove the growth, 20 doses of radiation and a cocktail of medicines that kept her alive while killing her cancer.

Maxey’s treatments took place in the Duke Cancer Center, which is also where she works as a clinical research coordinator for Duke University Hospital’s Pharmacy Department.

“It took its toll,” said Maxey, who lost her hair, suffered radiation burns and battled fatigue and nausea during treatment.

Through it all, Maxey, who is happiest in nature, kept her focus on brighter times to come and sunny afternoons on Jordan Lake or the Eno River in a perfect kayak. Now cancer free, Maxey reached that goal because Duke doctors diagnosed and treated her cancer early.

According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for patients whose breast cancer is caught before spreading is 99 percent. Early detection, through regular screenings, allows for a broader range of treatments and less invasive surgical options.

An important part of proper preventive care for women is staying up to date on recommended screenings, such as pap smears and mammograms. These tests diagnose disease and increase the odds of effective treatment.

Last year, Duke spent $5.7 million treating breast cancer for medical plan participants. It was the seventh-top health condition among members.

To celebrate her victory against cancer, Maxey bought a nine-foot, orange and green Perception kayak with a molded seat and generous storage.

“It’s my cancer kayak,” Maxey said. “I love it.”

On beautiful days, you’ll find her in it, savoring the sunny moments that inspired her fight through darker times. 

Cheryl Maxey stands next to the kayak she picked out and purchased while battling breast cancer.

By Stephen Schramm Photography by Alex Boerner

Find your health, wellness and fitness program at hr.duke.edu/liveforlife

working.duke.edu

7

A Tunnel Bene

Dating to 1925, the campus tunnel c

S

The tunnel: a solution

weat drips down Yancey Leonard’s face as he leans over a steam trap, a device that removes condensation from steam pipes.

With a leather-gloved hand, Leonard rubs a crayon-tipped plastic stick against the trap. Part of the orange crayon melts in seconds, leaving a trail of wax running down a 3-inch wide steel pipe. That’s a sign that the system is running correctly.

“The crayon is made to melt at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is how hot the steam should be,” said Leonard, operations coordinator for Duke’s Facilities Management Department.

“That’s exactly what we need to see down here.”

Down here is the mile-long tunnel that was excavated and built under East Campus between 1925-1927 to provide heating, water, electricity and a protected walkway to buildings.

During excavation, the unique underground tunnel was billed as a passageway that would connect 11 new buildings planned for East Campus.

“In cold or muddy weather it will be possible for students to do all of their day’s work without putting on an overcoat or slicker in order to go from building to building,” states a front page article in The Chronicle on Sept. 23, 1925.

What the tunnel now holds is a secure and intricate system of pipes and wiring that provide steam, hot and cold water, high voltage electricity and teledata to 13 residence halls, the Marketplace, Lilly Library and Baldwin Auditorium on East Campus.

8

WORKING@DUKE

On March 12, 1925, Frank Clyde Brown, an English professor and chief financial officer for Duke University, wrote a five-page letter to Horace Trumbauer, the Philadelphia architect who led the firm that designed Duke’s campuses.

Brown detailed a dozen changes to blueprints of future residence halls on East Campus. He notes a need for a tunnel with a two-fold purpose: a passage for students to travel from building to building and a place to house heating and water pipes, telephone lines and electric cables.

The utilities were a bonus for Brown, who was mainly concerned about students walking around campus during inclement weather.

“We feel sure that, if tunnels are used, this is the solution to our problem both from an economical and from a practical point of view,” Brown wrote in the 1925 letter.

In 1926, construction was underway with plans to connect to a new heating and power plant, now the East Campus Steam Plant, near the entrance to campus. Work continued through the next year with regular correspondence about the project between Brown, Trumbauer and B.M. Hall, Trumbauer’s construction superintendent.

Photos from left to right: Tim Duggan, left, and Yancey Leonard, right, walk in the tunnel; Leonard uses an orange crayon to measure the temperature of a steam trap; Duggan uses a wrench to close a gate valve that carries the flow of steam; Duggan carries wrenches through a long passageway.

eath Your Feet

contains an intricate utility system

“The work is progressing very well at the Power House and in the tunnels,” Hall wrote in an Aug. 2, 1926 letter. “The tunnel foundation wall through Jarvis is poured.”

The tunnel and heating plant were completed in October of 1927, according to an Oct. 5, 1927, report in The Chronicle. Since opening, the tunnel has served as a main artery Crews install drain providing heat, water and electricity tiles and gutters to East Campus buildings. in the tunnel near Amy McDonald, assistant West Duke Building in 1926. Photo university archivist at Duke University courtesy of Duke Archives, said the tunnel system University Archives. illustrates the scale of construction on East Campus during the 1920s.

“It was a complete re-imagining of the campus, down to below the ground,” she said. “The tunnel is a reminder of the unseen labor that was and continues to be carried out on campus today.”

Easier access for maintenance On a 92-degree day this summer, Tim Duggan and Yancey Leonard walk into the tunnel wearing hard hats and safety glasses and carrying wrenches.

The two men walk the mile-long stretch looking left to right, up and down. They look for signs of water leaks; they check steam traps; and replace burned out light fixtures.

“We’re trying to get a jump start on identifying any issues,” said Duggan, a steamfitter for the Facilities Management Department.

Preventive maintenance is a key benefit of the tunnel, according to Russell Thompson, director of utilities and engineering for Facilities.

The tunnel makes it easier for staff to access pipes and electric cables to make repairs. Without the tunnel, the infrastructure would be buried, resulting in excavation to troubleshoot and road or sidewalk closures.

“If our waterlines or steam pipes were in the ground, we would have to start digging and hope we could find the root of the problem,” Thompson said.

In the past decade, Facilities has updated the tunnel with new lighting, fire doors, ventilation, and more. For years, furniture, luggage and other miscellaneous items were stored in the passageway. But crews cleared the tunnel and reduced the number of entrances, which are all secure. Only approved staff who have completed tunnel safety training and have DukeCard authorization can access the tunnel, which is closed to the public for safety reasons. From time to time, the Facilities Management Department conducts tours of the tunnel. During 12 different tours in May, about 200 students visited the tunnel.

“The tunnel is a hidden piece to keeping campus operational,” Leonard said. “It’s amazing the people building Duke had the foresight to include this.” 

By Jonathan Black Photography by Chris Hildreth

working.duke.edu

9

How to Handle Feedback Constructive appraisals can be difficult, but they have value

La Tondra Murray, center, gained valuable insights through a 360-degree evaluation. Photo by Stephen Schramm.

W

hen her 360-degree evaluation – a collection of anonymous feedback from colleagues – landed in her email inbox, La Tondra Murray had to collect herself.

“It was one of those things where your heart’s beating really fast because you’re nervous about opening something,” said Murray, director for online and distance education for Duke Engineering.

A component of the Duke Leadership Academy, which Murray completed, the evaluation contained appraisals of her as a colleague. While there were plenty of positives, Murray recalls being stung by a few critiques.

“I was in my feelings a little bit,” Murray said.

Looking back, Murray said the report carried immense value. The feedback inspired her to be more concise when communicating her needs and to respond quickly to requests.

“Part of what I took from that experience was how I should ask for feedback more regularly,” Murray said.

While hearing feedback can be tough, keeping a few things in mind can make growing from feedback easier.

10

WORKING@DUKE

Set emotions aside After her evaluation, Murray reflected on why she took comments about juggling priorities and communication so hard.

She figured it had more to do with a bruised ego.

Don Shortslef, senior practitioner for Duke Learning & Organization Development who teaches courses on delivering and receiving feedback, said understanding and processing emotions is crucial.

“You’ve got to stop yourself and ask, ‘What do I really want? What do I want for myself ? What do I want for the other person, our team and the organization?’” he said. “That enables you to let your emotions go.”

Use the information During her 10 years at Duke, Murray has contributed to evaluations of colleagues. She understood that those who evaluated her were trying to be helpful. She also didn’t want to waste a chance to learn from people who know her work best.

“Feedback is just data,” Murray said.

“It’s just information that can allow us to continue doing things or allow us to pivot so we can do things differently.”

Look at the big Picture While Murray dwelled on critical pieces, the report praised her abilities to collaborate, manage employees and build relationships with students.

“There were things that they said were going super well,” Murray said. “I almost threw those out.”

Now she looks at the entirety of the feedback so she doesn’t overlook affirming parts.

“I’ve tried to be very holistic in my approach,” Murray said. “Some information is going to support what I’m doing and some is going to suggest that I need to do things differently. I want to take it collectively and look at it as a neutral opportunity to grow.” 

By Stephen Schramm

Find professional development courses at hr.duke.edu/training

Duke Military Association Unites Employee Veterans

O

Duke ROTC presents flags of the Armed Forces during a Veterans Day commemoration in front of Duke University Chapel. Photo by University Communications.

ne day last year, Jodi Belanger received an email about a new affinity group for military veterans working at Duke.

Belanger, a U.S. Army veteran, had been at Duke for one year and didn’t know anything about Duke’s military community. She was excited to connect with other employee veterans at a welcome lunch.

“I felt this rush of energy and excitement when I saw all of the veterans,” said Belanger, administrative assistant in the Department of Cell Biology. “Veterans share a common bond where you have this immediate connection whenever you meet each other.”

The Duke Military Association, formed in 2018 with the leadership of Duke University Health System Human Resources and Dan Bruno, chief operating officer of Duke Health Technology Solutions, is open to all Duke staff, faculty and students, regardless of veteran status. The group provides an opportunity for Duke community members to network and build community through activities. About 900 Duke employees identify as veterans of the U.S. armed forces.

“We want to show that Duke is a military-friendly employer,” said Bruno, who served in the U.S. Army for 30 years.

Members of the Duke Military Association meet quarterly for meetings and social events such as Duke Football games and the Triangle Purple Heart Dinner. Members will attend Duke’s Veterans Day commemoration on November 11 in front of Duke University Chapel.

Save the Date:

Jodi Belanger, left, and Dan Bruno, in uniform in the photo at right photo, are Army veterans and Duke Military Association members. Photos courtesy of Belanger and Bruno.

Bruno and Val Eatmon, Navy veteran and IT senior manager for Duke Health Technology Solutions, hope to extend the group’s reach by supporting active duty service members and veterans in the Triangle area who want help navigating Duke’s employment and recruiting system.

“Military people bring a lot of skills to the workforce,” Bruno said. “We’re adaptable, disciplined, prompt and accountable.”

Randy Garcia, senior assistant director for the Duke Annual Fund, looks forward to being part of a tight-knit group of employee veterans. Garcia, who served in the U.S. Army for 19 years, graduated from Duke in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology while working as a commander at Fort Bragg.

“Serving never stops,” he said. “We want to show the military community within and outside of Duke that you are not alone. We are here to support you.”

Get involved with Duke Military Association by sending an email to DukeMil@Duke.edu or visit sites.duke.edu/dukemilitaryassociation. 

By Jonathan Black

Duke will host a Veterans Day commemoration at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11

in front of Duke University Chapel. Visit hr.duke.edu for details closer to the date.

working.duke.edu

11

A

Cemetery on Campus

A

few hundred feet from the gleaming glass and steel of Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium is a quarter acre of land surrounded by a brick and stone wall.

The quiet piece of private land sits elevated and untouched by a parking lot that encircles it, which is how the T.J. Rigsbee Family Graveyard was meant to be.

About 17 gravestones dot the quarter acre of land set aside for the Rigsbee Graveyard on Duke’s West Campus. Photos courtesy of Duke University Archives.

12

WORKING@DUKE

“The cemetery is significant because it represents a time when Durham was mostly farmland,” said Valerie Gillispie, Duke University archivist. “As Durham and Duke change and grow, we need to remember the roots of the city and the people who lived here.”

Jesse and Mary Rigsbee, a prosperous Durham family in the 1800s, tended to 200 acres of land, where they raised eight children, grew sweet potatoes and tended to hogs.

T.J. Rigsbee, one of their sons, built a log cabin on the land where Duke University Hospital now stands. T.J. maintained the property until his death in 1917. T.J.’s son, Thomas J. Risgbee, Jr., managed the land until his death in 1924.

In 1925, the Rigsbee family sold the land for $1,000, enabling the University’s expansion onto West Campus. The deed, signed February 25, 1925, specified that the cemetery remain Rigsbee family property for burying their dead and for “maintaining, repairing and otherwise providing for the upkeep of said burying ground.”

The family continues to preserve the cemetery and its roughly 17 gravestones. A Feb. 2, 1947, article in the Durham Morning Herald notes that early graves do not show names or inscriptions.

The newspaper article concludes with a musing from author Jayne Harwell about what T.J. Rigsbee would think of the cemetery: “It is food for thought to speculate upon his feelings if he were to waken and look about him at the wonderful things that have been wrought on his homeplace.”

Duke isn’t the only institution of higher education with a cemetery. The University of Notre Dame, Kenyon College and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have cemeteries on campus.

What makes Rigsbee Graveyard interesting to Rusty Tysor, registered principal of the North Carolina Cemetery Association, is the land remains privately owned.

“This is the first I’ve heard of a family owning a graveyard that’s basically cut out of a university’s property,” Tysor said. “It’s certainly unique.”

Andy O’Shea, master carpenter for Duke Facilities Management Department, married into the Rigsbee family in 1984. His wife, Pamela, is a great-great-grandchild of Jesse Rigsbee. Andy and Pamela have visited the cemetery a few times.

Said Andy, “The land is a piece of interesting history that managed to survive all of the growth around it.” 

By Jonathan Black

Take a dive through Duke’s history at library.duke.edu/rubenstein

Furnish Your Office for

Free Duke Surplus provides office furnishings for department use

The Duke Surplus warehouse stores bookshelves, desks, chairs and other office supplies. Photo by Jonathan Black.

T

om Hunter sits in an office chair, wheeling himself up and down an aisle in a Duke warehouse. He swivels side to side, adjusts the chair height and pushes the armrests up and down.

Satisfied, Hunter pushes the chair out of the building to his truck. The test is part of a recent visit to the Duke Surplus donation site in Durham to get furniture for Duke HomeCare & Hospice.

“I do this little test to make sure the seat is comfortable and can move easily,” said Hunter, business services manager for Duke HomeCare & Hospice. “People in my office are always asking me to find them a good chair.”

Duke schools, departments and units in need of office furnishings can get supplies through the Surplus Property Program at no charge. The 2,000-squarefoot space houses bookshelves, desks, rugs, chairs, binders, notepads, toner cartridges and more. The site is open two days a week to only Duke community members, regional nonprofits and local schools.

To get supplies, staff and faculty must bring their DukeCard and an

interdepartmental transfer form signed by a supervisor. The form documents item requests and tracks where property ends up. Items from Duke Surplus are for department use only. Duke does not offer a public access retail store.

In the 2018 fiscal year, Duke Surplus donated 8,098 items, including computers, office supplies and furniture to Duke departments and local nonprofits. Duke Surplus also provides items through the Global Health PLUS (Placement of Life-changing Usable Surplus) program. The program transfers surplus medical equipment such as ultrasounds, anesthesia machines and monitoring equipment to approved, Duke-sponsored projects in low-resource communities around the world.

“The Duke Surplus Property Program helps to eliminate waste and also saves Duke money,” said Mary Crawford, Duke’s senior director of procurement and supply chain. “Just because one

department no longer has a need for 10 desks doesn’t mean someone else at Duke or the community isn’t in need. We want to give these things second, third or fourth chances.”

Duke requires that office property no longer in need such as chairs, desks and computers, go through Duke Surplus for processing. Departments can request collection and disposition of items.

Materials deemed unusable are recycled through Duke Surplus.

The Duke University Police Department has processed police vehicles through Duke Surplus.

Carol Campbell, logistics coordinator for Duke Police, organizes the transfer of cars when maintenance costs more than the vehicle’s value.

“We don’t have to worry about selling the car or trading it in,” Campbell said.

“Duke Surplus makes it easy.” 

By Jonathan Black

Surplus or Get Property

Employees from Duke schools, departments and units may visit the warehouse to select items for office use. For a schedule, email surplus@duke.edu. Learn more about disposing of Duke property at finance.duke.edu/procurement/surplus.

working.duke.edu

13

PERQS EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS

One Stop Shop With a discount membership, harness the buying power at BJs Wholesale

L

During a Caribbean cruise purchased through BJ’s earlier this year, Duke University Hospital IT Analyst Larry Dublin made friends in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, above, and got to see plenty of local scenery in the Turks and Caicos Islands, below. Photos courtesy of Larry Dublin.

ast year, Larry Dublin and his wife Wanda needed new pictures for their BJ’s Wholesale Club membership cards.

Larry’s card had been used so much, his photo was barely visible.

“I was so faded out, you couldn’t see the picture,” Larry said.

Larry, an IT analyst with Duke University Hospital, is a long-time member of BJ’s Wholesale Club. BJ’s sells groceries, household items and an array of other products – often in bulk – at a discount for members.

For the past several years, Larry has received a price break on his BJ’s Wholesale Club membership through the Duke employee discount program.

You can receive a 54 percent discount on new membership for BJ’s – which has four Triangle locations – and 27 percent off renewal.

Visit hr.duke.edu/discounts and select “shopping” to get the discount.

The Dublins, who live in Raleigh, shop at BJ’s in Garner nearly every week. Larry said his wife is a fan of BJ’s fresh produce, and he enjoys salmon filets – which he grills with lemon-pepper seasoning. They use organic frozen fruit in smoothies.

“It’s been a real plus for us. We love going there,” Larry said. “We save a lot of money, and everything is so convenient; everything is so easy to find.”

With BJ’s selling items such as clothing, household appliances and cell phones, the Dublins have found deals on more than groceries. When they moved to a new house in 2016, they bought a TV. “Recently, when we needed a new printer, we looked at BJ’s first,” Larry said. “Nine times out of 10, they’re going to have the best price.”

Earlier this year, the Dublins took a five-day Caribbean cruise. The vacation was purchased through BJ’s, which helped them score a discount, gift card and booking fee waiver.

“It was a win-win for us,” Larry said.

As a longtime BJ’s shopper, Dublin admits he’s a bit surprised at what he’s able to get through BJ’s. When his family began shopping there, the Dublins’ three children lived with them, so buying in bulk made sense.

With their youngest child away at college, the Dublins’ devotion to BJ’s isn’t slowing down.

“BJ’s is one of those places that grows right along with your family,” Larry said. “We’re empty nesters now, so you better believe we’ll be doing more cruises.” 

By Stephen Schramm

Get a Discount 14

WORKING@DUKE

Visit hr.duke.edu/discounts for a full list of savings. Your NetID and password may be needed to access deals.

SUSTAINABLE DUKE YOUR SOURCE FOR GREEN NEWS AT DUKE

Small Steps, Big Strides

P

Easy sustainable changes you can make

ratt School of Engineering students, staff and faculty recently started a school-wide sustainability push to remove plastic bottles from Pratt’s vending machines, cut paper use and publicize locations where Styrofoam can be recycled.

For organizers of Pratt’s GREENgineering initiative, the path to a greener culture is best paved with small, simple steps.

“If we all do these little things together, maybe we can orchestrate greater change,” said Kelly Rockwell, executive assistant to the dean and GREENgineering co-chair.

A year in, the results are coming into focus, and the picture of sustainability at Duke shows that little steps lead to big progress.

Check out small steps you can take:

Recycling Recycling cardboard boxes and paper may feel like insignificant actions. But scaled to all of Duke’s campus, these habits make a difference.

In 2018-19, Duke Sanitation and Recycling Services, which collects recycling from the university campus, diverted around 600 tons of cardboard and mixed recycling – such as paper, plastic and aluminum – from landfills.

E-Waste When a piece of Duke property reaches the end of its life, Duke Surplus [see story on Page 13] oversees its next move.

Whether donated or recycled, there’s a benefit to giving old computers and office furnishings second or third lives.

Broken technology, or e-waste, often contains toxic chemicals. In the past fiscal year, the Duke Surplus arranged for the safe disposal of 180.85 tons of e-waste, keeping pollutants out of the environment.

Commuting Duke’s overall emissions equated to 256,758 metric tons of carbon last year, and 16 percent of the emissions come from employee commuting.

Around 82 percent of Duke’s commuters drive alone. With the average commute covering 24 miles, each solo commuter adds, on average, 2.23 metric tons of carbon – picture each ton as a round balloon that’s 10-yards in diameter – to Duke’s total yearly emissions.

“It’s always in the back of my mind,” said Christina Norris, a Pratt School of Engineering research and development engineer who bikes to work. “All of those trips add up.”

Find commute options at parking.duke.edu/commute.

Energy Behind cooling and ventilation systems, computers are often the largest energy users in university buildings.

With important software updates installed overnight, turning off computers after work isn’t recommended, but turning off monitors saves energy. Experts recommend monitors be set to enter sleep mode after five to 20 minutes of inactivity, dropping the average monitor’s energy use from 42 watts per hour to one to three watts.

With roughly 20,000 Duke-owned desktop computers on the university campus, turning off a monitor is a small step that reaps rewards. 

Compiled by Stephen Schramm

The Way Forward Duke recently released an updated climate action plan, outlining how it plans to be climate neutral by 2024. Read the update at sustainability.duke.edu.

working.duke.edu

15

@DUKE

SOCIAL

What you’re sharing online Go online to discover more

Dr. Sharlini

News You Can Use:

@DukeHSQ • Sep 3 Replying to @WorkingatDuke and @EshipAtDuke

Stay Safe on Electric Scooters Follow these guidelines when operating scooters on campus. bit.ly/CampusScooters

Highly recommend totally unplugging! Here are a few more photos from that vacay.

Duke Graduate Liberal Studies

Victoria Bright

@DukeGLS • Sep 3

August 28

Signed up for back-to-back excel classes today! Some of the best perks of Working@Duke are the classes employees can take for professional development.

I loveee using excel/google sheets so the nerd in me is super excited.

đ&#x;˜ƒ

Glad to see @WorkingatDuke profile of Prof.

Larry Todd, w/ mention of the "Discovering Music" course he has taught for us over the years & inspiring reflection on how music helped him recover from a 2012 stroke.

Find a Mindfulness Activity Free weekly sessions are open to staff and faculty. bit.ly/Mindfulness Activities2019 Counting Down to Smoke-Free Duke University will become a smoke-free campus on July 1, 2020. bit.ly/SmokeFree2020

Blue Devil of the Week: An Everlasting Love for Music Name: R. Larry Todd Position: Arts and Sciences Professor of Music in Trinity College of Art and Sciences Year at Duke: 41 What he does...

Connect with Working@Duke Facebook

facebook.com/WorkingatDuke

Twitter

@WorkingatDuke

Share story ideas by emailing working@duke.edu Duke University ď‚– Office of Communication Services ď‚– 705 Broad St., Durham, N.C. 27708