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The Duke IT Academy is building a layered professional development pathway for IT staff at Duke. Beginning with Foundations, the Academy helps participants develop the skills, institutional knowledge, and leadership capabilities needed to advance their careers, contribute to strategic priorities, and pursue new opportunities.
Purpose
The Duke IT Academy serves both early-career staff and experienced professionals, helping them see where they fit within IT@Duke and where they could grow. It exists to:
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- Strengthen shared identity across IT@Duke
- Build institutional awareness and systems thinking
- Develop applied capability aligned with strategic priorities
- Make internal mobility and growth pathways more visible
- Support leadership development at multiple levels
While structure matters, how people learn matters just as much.
IT Academy seeks to function as a community of learning. Cohort experiences, peer discussion, reflection, and cross-unit engagement are essential components. The Academy encourages self-awareness, shared accountability, cross-unit empathy and support, allowing participants to see themselves within the broader mission of OIT and the university.
It's given me more confidence and more tools in my toolkit and allowed me to get outside of my comfort zone.
Cole Archer | 2026 IT Academy graduate
A Layered Model
Growth doesn't happen all at once.
Our layered learning model recognizes that professional development looks different at every career stage.
The IT Academy is designed as a layered learning experience, allowing participants to build knowledge and skills progressively over time. Each level builds on the last, creating a clear pathway for professional growth and leadership development.
Expected for early-career and new-to-Duke IT staff.
Focus:
- Customer service mindset
- Customer Service
- Communications
- ServiceNow
- Trusted advisor orientation
- Cultivating Cross-Cultural Connections
- Project Management
- Essential Presentation Skills
- Critical Thinking Skills
- Personality & Effective Communication
- Overview of core OIT services
- Identity Management
- IT Security at Duke
- IT Tips from the Field
- IT Tools
- Network & Connectivity
- AI @ Duke
- SAP
- PeopleSoft
- Alumni Development
- User Experience & Web Accessibility
- Web & Mobile Apps Development
- Institutional context
The Foundations layer is where shared language, peer learning, and community are built. It reinforces belonging and clarifies how individual roles connect to broader institutional goals.
Foundations also provides value to experienced staff who would benefit from a structured refresher or reconnection to core service principles.
Open and encouraged across the IT community.
Focus:
- High-level overviews of priority domains such as Research & Data, AI, Security and related areas
- Key university initiatives and how different IT units depend on one another to implement them (e.g., AI rollout, Sponsored Accounts changes, Research Computing initiatives)
This layer builds visibility and perspective. It helps staff understand how different areas of IT connect and where future growth may be possible.
Broad Exposure modules increase mobility awareness without requiring immediate specialization.
Role-aligned and capability-focused.
Focus:
- Applied skill development in priority domains
- Operational readiness aligned with institutional direction
- Domain credibility and growth
Technical Tracks is currently under development and may vary in format, with some cohort-based and others modular depending on content. The goal is to build real capability while maintaining institutional context.
IT Academy made me more focused on my goals in OIT.
Bryan Wilson | 2026 IT Academy graduate
If you have questions and wouldl like to learn more about the Duke IT Academy, email coordinator Trina Rodriguez.