A positive lesson coming from our COVID experience was the ability to cross departments to help our fellow staff members and many of you can recall, it was fun and educational! We saw the inefficiencies of multiple spreadsheets and different communication channels to recruit which made us think, there has to be a simpler way. Several months later, Staff Council created this grassroots initiative, MiddTogether. Please consider..

• “lend a hand” to a department in need or post a dept’s need
• contribute a few hours a month, or more, if your schedule allows
• reconnect, meet new colleagues, and “cross” the campus
• opportunities currently posted include dining support, dishwasher, reunion support, ice cream scooper, planting flowers on campus, etc.
• for more information and to sign up, please visit go/middtogether

Please join us for our next Open Staff Council meeting on Wednesday, February 16th from 11:00 AM – 12:00 Noon ET.

Invest Employee and Household Assistance Program (EAP) is our new free, confidential, and independent
program that supports the health, safety and well-being of you and your household. Gen Halbeck, Deputy Director from Invest EAP will join us as well as Rebecca Schubert, GMHEC Employee Well-being Program Coordinator to talk about this benefit to you.

Zoom link will be provided by email closer to date – or reach out to scouncil@middlebury.edu if you don’t receive it

We hope you can join us!

Our wonderful students reached out to Staff Council last week and asked us to forward this Thank You card to all of you – please check it out.  We love our students!

The Sustainability Solutions Lab (SSL) invites you to participate in the first Creative Climate Art Contest. 

This contest is designed to educate and inspire members of our Middlebury community to personally contribute to Energy2028—the college’s commitment to reduce energy consumption by 25%, power the campus with 100% renewable energy, divest from the fossil fuel industry, and incorporate sustainability education into everything we do.

To participate, submit an original work of art (i.e. a painting, drawing, print, collage, or other visual art form) that relates to Middlebury, showcases your creativity, and calls for climate action and environmental justice on campus. No formal art training is necessary—artists and non-artists alike are encouraged to submit! Submissions will be received through this submission form (go link: go/creativeclimate/) or at sustainability@middlebury.edu. 

Any member of the Middlebury community can participate. We encourage current students, alumni, faculty and staff to submit artwork. We hope your art will function as a public reminder of our commitment to making Middlebury a more sustainable and just community. 

The deadline for submissions is August 1st, 2020.

The winning posters will be showcased around campus and distributed to the class of 2024 with credit for your work. The winning artists will receive $75 to donate to an environmental justice non-profit organization of the artist’s choice (suggested NGOs will be provided). Any questions can be directed to sustainability@middlebury.edu.