Bartlett has overseen facilities upgrades that added 30,000 square feet of office and clinic space and transformed classrooms into state-of-the-art teaching spaces (leading to the Law School’s placement at the top of The National Jurist’s “Technology Honor Roll” in 2005). Plans are also finalized for the complete renovation of the Law Library, and the construction of a 4,200 square-foot atrium, “the Star Commons” – named for benefactor Stanley Star ’61 – as well as outdoor gardens and landscaped areas for community gatherings.

“If you had asked Kate on day one whether she planned to do seven different building projects totaling more than $50 million during her tenure, she would have said, ‘Of course not.’ It wouldn’t have been her priority. But she recognized the opportunity to seize the moment,” says Professor Thomas Metzloff, who has managed the projects for the Law School.

Metzloff had started “exploring options” for the building before Bartlett became dean, and found her a fully engaged and highly practical partner from the start.

“Kate would be the first to say that she’s cheap – and that’s not a bad thing,” he says with a laugh. “She embraces the strategic goal of building spaces that are very nice, well finished, and highly and efficient, but not over-the-top. She always asks whether a particular project is worth doing: ‘What are we getting for this? What’s the real goal?’ She also insists that we do things right the first time, so that we aren’t having to spend money again to fix problems.”

BOV member Buck Ferguson ’70, who has been integrally involved in all aspects of planning and construction, recounts with admiration the way that Bartlett held firm to her strategic priorities when the original plan to construct an atrium by enclosing the courtyard at the back of the Law School proved to be impractical.

“Plans for that project were well down the road when we found out that the cost to do it properly would be astronomical. Kate refused to spend that kind of money on construction, saying, ‘We want to pour it into the academic side of the School.’” He also commends her flexibility and openness to new ideas “even if she cannot immediately visualize the finished product,” her adroitness in knowing when to be extremely hands-on and when to step back, and her courage in pushing forward, even when “money wasn’t in hand but it was the right thing to do.”

Pointing out that virtually all the fundraising for the project has fallen to Bartlett, Metzloff lauds her success in engaging alumni and friends of the Law School, and Duke University itself, to bring it to fruition. Donors have responded with enthusiasm. Russell Robinson, chair of The Duke Endowment, which has contributed $6.5 million to the building projects, has a quick explanation for the Endowment’s generosity in this regard: “Kate’s leadership has been the biggest single factor in the strong support we’ve given.”

BOV life member Richard Horvitz ’78, who endowed the garden – “Marcy’s Garden” – which will soon grace the front of the Law School, says that Bartlett’s strength as a consensus-builder has been evident as the building project has progressed, with donors and the BOV consulted at each stage. “The iterative process that has taken place regarding the design has improved it. Kate has never been stubborn about any aspect of it. She listens to people, takes them seriously, and makes the Board feel their ideas are welcome – that we’re in a partnership. It helps impart a sense of ownership of the project and the future.”

The finished spaces also make a concrete difference in the lives of their occupants. The consolidation of a number of the clinics into a dedicated, attractive, and well-designed office in one floor of the Law School’s new wing has made a significant improvement in all aspects of their operations, says Clinical Professor of Law Carolyn McAllaster, who directs the AIDS Legal Project. “It’s moved us forward in leaps and bounds on any number of levels – facilitating essential collaboration among the clinical faculty, giving us easy access to our students and they to us, enhancing visibility of the clinics to the faculty and the rest of the University, and really boosting the respect our clients feel when they come here. That would not have happened if Kate had not been willing to support the initial idea of creating this space.”