New ILG Format & August Leadership Team Retreat Recap

• The Institute Leadership Group (ILG) held its first regular meeting in the new combined format now that former Academic Affairs Group (AAG) has been merged with the ILG.
• The decision to combine the two groups was one of the outcomes of a leadership group retreat that took place in August. The retreat discussion also reviewed the role, purpose, and expectations of the ILG, including communication and reporting expectations for members. The individual reporting expectations are being finalized and will be included on the leadership team overview page of this website once complete.
• ILG Purpose:
  • The ILG exchanges updates, discusses Middlebury-wide changes, and coordinates between units. The ILG also considers and consults on institutional policies, initiatives, and opportunities to make recommendations, inform decisions, and determine next actions.  
• There are three key areas that this group will engage on different levels:
  • Major Institute curricular/academic policy decisions (Consulted)
  • Major Institute non-academic policy decisions (Consulted)
  • Middlebury wide decisions that apply to the Institute (Consulted/Informed depending)

Leapfrog Project: Intercultural Communication (ICC)

• As an outcome of the 2017 Leapfrog process where three ideas were selected for further exploration, Alicia Brent has been working with consultant Jacqui Oliveira to further develop the proposal for an ICC for business professionals program called “Harnessing the Power of the Global Team.”
• Harnessing the Power of the Global Team would be a corporate training program that teaches the skills global corporations need to capitalize on 1) increasing intercultural diversity, 2) achieving business goals, 3) expanding the vision of their organization, and 4) making a positive impact on the global community.
• Alicia and Jacqui have conducted significant research and market analysis, and believe this is an opportunity that aligns well with our strengths and resources.
• They are at the stage in the process where they will be seeking approval from leadership to move into program design and implementation. The Institute Council will review this proposal further to make a decision about next steps.

Chinese T&I Program

• The Chinese T&I program has a long history of receiving greater demand than we can accommodate, and the academic leadership is exploring ways to expand the program offerings to meet that demand.
• Some possible ways to expand the program would be to diversify the program offerings to reach new audiences and provide new pathways, while another would be to expand our capacity for more students to participate in the degree program by adding an additional section. The latter would require investment to expand and upgrade our lab spaces, which is a growing necessity for the T&I programs in general, and increase the teaching capacity.
• This conversation was an introduction of the options being considered, the Institute Council will be revisiting this topic before November to determine what expansion pathways are feasible.