Author Archives: aarrocha

President Yu’s Office Hours

Faculty, Staff, and Students of the Monterey Institute:Just a reminder that President Clara Yu will hold another set of open office hours next Tuesday, November 4 from 12:00PM – 2:00PM here in the President’s Office of the Segal Building. In order to maximize the allotted time, 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 me, with the time that might work best for you during the two-hour period. I will then respond confirming your scheduled time.

Thanks!
Barbara Burke
Executive Assistant to the President
MIIS

Suggestion Boxes Now on Campus

Dear Monterey Institute Community:There are now two suggestion boxes located on campus, available for anyone to add their comments, suggestions, recommendations, etc. One box is located across from the main desk in the library (just inside the front door, to the right). The other is on the wall near the elevator/stairs in Casa Fuente leading down to Pacific Street. The President’s Office will empty the boxes every two weeks and route to the appropriate department to handle. If you have any questions, just let me know.

Barbara Burke
Executive Assistant to the President
MIIS

Student Commencement Speaker Nominations

REMINDER…. DECEMBER 2008 GRADUATING STUDENTS,The Student Affairs Office is now accepting student Commencement Speaker nominations from members of the Graduating Class of December 2008. WE CURRENTLY HAVE TWO NOMINATIONS. You must be a December 2008 graduating student to participate. You may nominate a classmate or yourself. When making your nomination decision, please consider a person that would best represent the entire student body of the Institute rather than a particular graduate school or degree program. Please refer to the schedule of important deadlines below:

STUDENT COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER PROCESS AND DEADLINES

Continue to check the Graduating Students Conference on First Class for updates and additional information related to Commencement.

Commencement Speaker nominations are due in Student Affairs Wednesday, October 29th, at 5 pm. You can either email your nomination to: “Student Affairs” in First Class or stop by the Student Affairs Office and submit your nomination to me (Shawna Routh).

All nominees who accept their nomination will present a 3-5 minute summary of their Commencement speech to fellow graduates at the Graduating Students Meeting on Thursday, November 6th, at 12:15pm in MG102. The Graduating Students Meeting is very important because we will cover important information about Commencement day logistics, graduation announcements, required paperwork needed for clearance, diplomas and more! The meeting begins at 12:15pm and will conclude at 2:00pm. The speakers will present at some point during the meeting (times to be determined).

…and we will be streaming live on the web as well as video taping this meeting!

Commencement Speaker Elections will take place in the Student Affairs Office from Thursday, November 6th at 2pm through Friday, November 14th at 4:00pm.

The Student Commencement Speaker will be announced at the Happy Hour on November 14th at 5:30pm. The winner will also be announced via FirstClass Conferences as well.

Speaker will rehearse their speech with Ashley Arrocha to get timing and pacing perfected.

If you should have any questions, please contact any of us here in the Student Affairs Office.

Cheers!

Shawna Routh
Administrative Assistant
Student Affairs Office/OIS
Monterey Institute of International Studies
Phone: 831.647.4128
E-mail: student.affairs@miis.edu
Skype Address: student.affairs
http://www.miis.edu/saffairs.html

December Commencement Student Speaker Nominations

October 16, 2008

ATTENTION DECEMBER 2008 GRADUATING STUDENTS,

The Student Affairs Office is now accepting student Commencement Speaker nominations from members of the Graduating Class of December 2008. You must be a December 2008 graduating student to participate. You may nominate a classmate or yourself. When making your nomination decision, please consider a person that would best represent the entire student body of the Institute rather than a particular graduate school or degree program. Please refer to the schedule of important deadlines below:

STUDENT COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER PROCESS AND DEADLINES

Continue to check the Graduating Students Conference on First Class for updates and additional information related to Commencement.

Commencement Speaker nominations are due in Student Affairs Wednesday, October 29th, at 5 pm. You can either email your nomination to: “Student Affairs” in First Class or stop by the Student Affairs Office and submit your nomination to me (Shawna Routh).

All nominees who accept their nomination will present a 3-5 minute summary of their Commencement speech to fellow graduates at the Graduating Students Meeting on Thursday, November 6th, at 12:15pm in MG102. The Graduating Students Meeting is very important because we will cover important information about Commencement day logistics, graduation announcements, required paperwork needed for clearance, diplomas and more!
The meeting begins at 12:15pm and will conclude at 2:00pm. The speakers will present at some point during the meeting (times to be determined).

…and we will be streaming live on the web as well as video taping this meeting!

Commencement Speaker Elections will take place in the Student Affairs Office from Thursday, November 6th at 2pm through Friday, November 14th at 4:00pm.

The Student Commencement Speaker will be announced at the Happy Hour on November 14th at 5:30pm. The winner will also be announced via FirstClass Conferences as well.

Speaker will rehearse their speech with Ashley Arrocha to get timing and pacing perfected.

If you should have any questions, please contact any of us here in the Student Affairs Office.

Cheers!

Shawna Routh
Administrative Assistant
Student Affairs Office/OIS
Monterey Institute of International Studies
Phone: 831.647.4128
E-mail: student.affairs@miis.edu
Skype Address: student.affairs
http://www.miis.edu/saffairs.html

Excellence in Teaching Award

Every year, the Excellence in Teaching Award (ETI) recognizes a faculty member’s outstanding contributions as a classroom teacher. The winner gets a cash reward, speaks at the December commencement, and a gets a great deal of accolades from out community.

The neat thing is – it’s completely student-driven: we make the nominations and a student council committee reviews the applications and votes!

So we need you to nominate somebody!

Go to campus E-learning Moodle site to fill out and submit your nomination form.

This is a nice responsibility that we as students have been given – please help ensure that it works by making a nomination. The nominating period ends on October 24th.

Notes From AACSB Conference Call

Notes from AACSB Conference Call

October 9, 2008

Attendees: Laura Burian, Steve Landry (for Fredric Kropp, Faculty Senate), Sunder Ramaswamy, Ernie Scalberg, Amy Sands, Clara Yu, with Jerry Trapnell of AACSB

Purpose and Context of Call:

A call was arranged by President Yu with the attendees above to discuss the changes underway at the Institute and to identify the reporting requirements for AACSB’s accreditation process. This action was prompted by persistent concerns expressed by students, alumni, and others about the impact of the impending structural reorganization on the AACSB accreditation of the Institute’s MBA program. Mr. Trapnell is the Executive Vice President and Chief Accreditation Officer of AACSB.

Notes:

During the first part of the call, Jerry Trapnell provided us with a clear and comprehensive review of what AACSB looks for in evaluating business programs. He predicated his remarks on the assumption that we would like to see the MBA program continue to be accredited by AACSB. Next, he pointed out that AACSB is not overly prescriptive with institutions – the organizational structure is up to the individual institution. AACSB’s main concern is that, regardless of structure, a business program maintains AACSB standards and improves its quality. He outlined several items that AACSB would expect to see in our business program as we move forward. Specifically, he mentioned the following items:

an organizational structure or structures to identify and define the boundaries of the business program (school, college, faculty, department(s)), so that they know what to look at;

a primary contact who leads the business program, but may also lead other departments/programs;

a clearly articulated mission, and documentation of the program’s high quality and feedback mechanism for assessing its progress;

appropriate admissions criteria for students;

a sufficient number of appropriately qualified, strong faculty, who have active research agendae;

a curriculum that meets AACSB standards;

sufficient staff to provide service to students in academic advising, retention, and career management;

dedicated human and financial resources.

The last part of our conversation discussed the boundaries of expectations of the AACSB standards. AACSB expects that the integration with Middlebury, and the internal reorganization at MIIS that will integrate the business and policy programs into one school, will not only retain the MBA program, but strengthen it. One of the reasons for this call was that Dean Scalberg had talked with two individuals with expertise in AACSB accreditation, who reportedly expressed some concerns about our new structure. Jerry Trapnell reiterated what he identified as the main concern of AACSB: the delivery of quality business programs. Although he noted that ninety percent of the time, it is easier to have a school of business, other structures are OK, too. Mr. Trapnell mentioned that he was Dean at a school where he oversaw a large range of disciplines, both in & out of business field.

Towards the end of our call with Jerry, he explained what he saw as possible scenarios as we move forward with our substantive change process. First, he reviewed the timeline: we have to submit a Substantive Change Report to the AACSB’s Maintenance of Accreditation Committee by November 1st so they can evaluate it during its December meeting. Specifically, he saw the following possible outcomes:

1) The committee may approve the report, and it will plan to go ahead with the original plan and timing of our business program’s review;

2) The committee may decide that it needs to accelerate our normal review and plan an earlier visit;

3) In a worst case scenario, it may say it needs to review our Business Program now.

We reviewed what AACSB is looking for, namely to make sure that the business program isn’t being harmed by the impending organizational changes. The November 1 Report should be as comprehensive as possible, including details about both the implications of the Middlebury/MIIS merger and the IPS/IB integration. For example, how will we ensure that all of the services and activities AACSB standards require will be provided in our new organization in which advising and career services are consolidated?

According to Mr. Trapnell, while our reorganization appears to be a rational approach to the allocation of resources, AACSB will need to know the details and be reassured that MIIS can deliver on its promise of not only protecting but strengthening the quality of the business program.

Finally, Mr. Trapnell gave reassurances that the November Report is the first opportunity to have a dialogue with AACSB. “No bomb is going to drop on you. We are not going to revoke the accreditation in December. It’s just not going to happen.”

Rideshare Rewards Club

Dear Members of the MIIS Community,

Do you carpool, bike or walk to work? If not, would you consider it for a chance to win $1000? Well here’s your chance!

MIIS is now registered with the Rideshare Rewards Club, a year-long program to promote the use of alternate transportation! Registered students and faculty keep a log of each day they use alternate transportation. For every day you carpool, vanpool, bicycle, walk, or ride the bus your name will be entered into a monthly drawing to win $1000!

Here is how you can become a member:

Step 1: Download a membership application from www.commutealternatives.info/rewards.html.

Step 2: Drop your application off at the Reception Desk in the President’s Office.

Step 3: Keep monthly commute logs tracking the number of days you use alternative transportation. Then turn them in to Barbara Burke by the 26th of each month for signature. Logs will be faxed to Commute Alternatives for the drawing. The drawing winner will be announced by the 5th of the following month.

Drawings will occur each month throughout the academic year. The Rideshare Rewards Club is offered to you by Commute Alternatives, the rideshare program for Monterey County commuters.

Remember, each day counts as an entry in to the drawing!

October 21st Town Hall Meeting

Dear Monterey Institute Students:

Just a reminder that President Clara Yu and President Designate Sunder Ramaswamy will conduct a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, October 21 from 12:15PM – 1:45PM in the Irvine Auditorium. This will be an opportunity for you to meet Dr. Ramaswamy and ask any questions that you might have.

Please mark your calendars now to attend.

Thanks!

Barbara Burke

Executive Assistant to the President

MIIS