Constituent Message Regarding the Institute Board of Advisors Meeting

To:       MIIS Staff

From:   Ashley Arrocha, Staff Constituent member of the IBA

Regarding Meeting Held: November 15^th and 16^th

Institute Board of Advisors (IBA) Overview
The IBA serves as an advisory committee under the Middlebury Board of Trustees and is responsible for reviewing and monitoring academic and student affairs at the Institute as well as proposed budgets and initiatives related to facilities, grounds, advancement, enrollment and other new initiatives. Additionally, the IBA also reviews all academic and senior staff appointments for the Institute. 

The IBA has three Constituent Advisors – Faculty Constituent Advisor, Staff Constituent Advisor and Student Constituent Advisor – along with Trustee, Partner, and Emeriti Advisors. 

The IBA meets three times a year, two of the meetings are in conjunction with Board of Trustees meetings in Middlebury and one is an IBA meeting in Monterey.

Meeting Reports and PresentationsThrough pre-reading and presentations during the meeting, the IBA receives reports on Institute topics. For this meeting, IBA members received reports or presentations on the following:

• Center for the Blue Economy (CBE) “Blue New Deal”
• TLM Program and New Online Program
• Center for Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism (CTEC)
• Enrollment & Marketing Strategy
• Communication and Marketing Strategy
• Career Advising Initiative
• Endowment
• Master Plan

Constituent Engagement
At this IBA meeting, the Board engaged with each constituent group:

• Updates from the Faculty Senate, followed by discussion
• Updates from the Staff Advisory Team, followed by discussion
• Lunch and discussion with Student Council members

Constituent Key Highlights and Observations
**These are individual observations and impressions and not a comprehensive nor official record of proceedings.**

• Excellent marketing strategy presentation by David Gibson, VP of Communications and Marketing.  He really captured the essence of what our story is and how best to communicate the power and uniqueness of MIIS, and the larger Middlebury enterprise.  Working with the SAT, we have arranged for David to talk with all staff about his vision at the March 6th staff meeting. Eva will also present on her latest projects.
  
  
• There is a continued commitment to addressing the need to clear the “underbrush” to help facilitate more opportunities for students throughout the Middlebury enterprise.
  
  
• Meeting with SAT highlighted the need and desire for improved communication and parity in benefits with the College.
  
  
• Admissions, Enrollment, and Marketing have an excellent enrollment and marketing plan.  This is another presentation that has been arranged for an all staff Friday meeting.
  
  
• Interesting collaborative work CACS is doing with the Center for Careers and Internships (CCI) at the College, including a peer career training program, launching Handshake and career advising.