President Clara Yu will hold open office hours on Tuesday, October 7 from 12:00PM – 2:00PM in the President’s Office in the Segal Building. Individual meetings will be scheduled with her for every 15 minutes on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have a desire to meet with Clara, please e-mail Barbara Burke (barbara.burke@miis.edu), with the time that might work best for you during the two-hour period. Barbara will respond confirming your scheduled time.
Category: Office of the President
Sunder Ramaswamy Outlines Process for Administrative Appointments
In a message to faculty and staff, President-designate Sunder Ramaswamy thanked the community for its participation in discussions of the administrative reorganization announced last week, and described the process he will follow for making administrative appointments. In case you missed the message:
Dear Colleagues:
I would like to thank you for your time during last week’s Town Hall meeting. Clara and I appreciated the opportunity of being able to present the roll out of the administrative reorganization and take questions. I would also like to thank members of the community who sent follow up questions and comments. I very much look forward to being a part of this community and to work with all of you to build on the positive momentum gathered in so many areas of the Institute.
With regard to the process of next steps, let me spell it out in a bit more detail. A finalized version of the organization will be presented to the MIIS Board of Trustees during their October meeting. Once that is approved, I will begin in earnest the search for a number of the key administrative (both academic and non-academic) positions. As I mentioned at the Town Hall, I will look at current administrators, some external and other internal nominees. In a process that is more aligned with the Middlebury practice, I plan to vet my decisions with the faculty representative group, the Senate. As we all know, the current Faculty Handbook in many ways does not reflect the unfolding reality of MIIS becoming a part of the Middlebury, starting at the level of the Board of Trustees, and including the appointment of the President and other administrators. We will have time and opportunity to work through governance issues in a timely and methodical manner to meet the integration timeline of June 30, 2010 that we have set forth to NEASC and WASC.
I will be back on campus third week of October but in the meantime, please do not hesitate to e-mail me any questions you might have.
Sincerely,
Sunder Ramaswamy
AACSB Accreditation
Clara posted the following supplementary information on the MBA to a First Class conference, in response to some student concerns. We though we would share it here as well, in case there are faculty and staff have similar questions.
1. The MBA degree will continue.
2. The reorganization does not put the AACSB accreditation in jeopardy. We have already had preliminary conversations with AACSB, have notified them of our upcoming merger with Middlebury, and have started proceedings to request a substantive change that would officially transfer accreditation to Middlebury upon the completion of the merger in 2010. AACSB personnel have expressed an eagerness to work with us, as they, like we, are interested in the outcome of a rigorous and vital MBA program.
3. Current students will have the same curriculum, the same degree, and the same accreditation.
4. The two school model of administrative organization does not preclude any program being appropriately distinguished by specific admissions requirements or degree requirements, or the engagement of appropriately qualified faculty in curricular decision making. Nor does it preclude program-specific data collection, resource allocation, or tracking of expenditures.
5. Attached are the AACSB accreditation standards, for those who are Interested. They are focused on program quality, not administrative structure. As they state, “The administrative structure within which the
programs are offered is at the discretion of the institution. While no particular administrative structure is mandated, the organizational structure and procedures must foster strategic management and continuous
improvement.”
Yu, Ramaswamy, Announce Administrative Reorganization
You should all have received today’s memo from President Clara Yu and President-designate Sunder Ramaswamy, outlining organizational changes designed to facilitate the Institute’s pursuit of academic excellence.
If you would like to have more information, several options have been made available for members of the community to address questions to Clara and Sunder.
- Attend the faculty and staff town meeting on September 18 (12:15-1:45 in Irvine).
- Submit a question to the question box located near the library circulation desk.
- E-mail a question to Clara’s official mailbox.
- Comment on this bog post.
Your engagement, as we move forward, is of the greatest importance!
Walking a Mile in Clara’s Golf Shoes
In a recent blog post, Golf Digest editor Bob Carney agreed with Clara Yu on the issue of a language requirement for LPGA members (now withdrawn after much public denunciation). He said, “Being an old Peace Corps volunteer myself and a supporter of golf in the Olympics…I liked this letter from Clara Yu, president of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, where they teach lots of languages.” He then includes the full text of Clara’s letter, which both reflects on the LPGA’s position and offers a constructive solution: custom language learning for golfers delivered by the Monterey Institute.
Regardless of whether the LPGA takes us up on our offer, the whole world now knows how we think about languages: … “in this world, whether walking 18 holes, or walking up to a lectern at the United Nations, isn’t speaking another language a worthwhile skill to possess?”
Middlebury News and Events also covered this story.
First Town Hall Meeting of the Year Scheduled
Town Hall meetings have been scheduled approximately once a month throughout the fall semester, to give the Institute community a chance to hear from President Clara Yu about important new developments and directions for the Institute. The first Town Hall Meeting, on September 18, will also include President Designate Sunder Ramswamy. Clara and Sunder will answer questions from the audience, as well as questions submitted in advance. (Look for a submission box near the Library circulation desk a couple of days before the meeting.)
Additional Town Meetings for faculty and staff are scheduled for October 28 and November 20, and a meeting for students is scheduled for September 25.
All meetings will be held in the Irvine Auditorium from 12:15PM – 1:45PM.