Communications Transition Coverage (David Gibson, Muchadei Zvoma)

• Update on communications transition coverage in advance of AVP for Marketing Robin Gronlund’s departure on April 30th, and following on Communications Director Eva Gudbergsdottir’s departure on March 24th.
• AVP for Marketing
  • This is a critical role for supporting student enrollment, and a search committee has been established to begin the hiring process:
    • David Gibson, Vice President for Communications and Marketing
    • Nicole Curvin, Dean of Enrollment, Middlebury College
    • Jill Stoffers, Senior Director of Institutional Partnership, Middlebury Institute
• Communications Director
  • This is a critical role for Institute communications, and a search committee is in place and accepting applications:
    • David Gibson, Vice President for Communications and Marketing
    • Muchadei Zvoma, Marketing Director
    • Stephen Diel, News Director
    • Anna Vassilieva, Professor; Program Head, Russian Studies; Director, Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies
• Communications Interim Coverage
  • The Communications team is prioritizing the continuity of this work. 
  • A detailed coverage plan will be shared with all employees via email on Friday, March 25th.

Fall Planning Status (Patricia Szasz)

• The Return to Campus committee continues to meet weekly, led by Barbara Burke.
• Barbara Burke has been focusing on logistics and operations for the fall return, and has been instrumental in furthering vaccine opportunities for Institute employees.
  • Barbara has also sent an email to all students notifying them about vaccination eligibility for current GAs, and, where needed, has provided letters of eligibility for those students. Some students may also be eligible due to medical needs. This email included links to sites that are offering vaccine appointments, it is the student’s responsibility to make their own appointment.
• Patricia Szasz is taking on the academic planning side of this work, especially because there are so many moving parts. Her main role is to project manage the academic planning and communications. 
• Overview of fall academic planning & return to campus
  • We are currently in the Red/Substantial Tier (25% capacity), the next lower tiers are Orange/Moderate and Yellow/Minimal which are both 50% capacity.
  • The distancing for higher education is still 6ft, it was lowered for K-12 to 3ft, but adults are still recommended to maintain 6ft.
• Triangulating Student Information
  • Continuing/LOA Students: Student Intention Survey (Closes April 15)
    • This will be a short survey that gauges student intentions and time zone for remote learners, it will also interface with Banner to ensure we have program specific information. The initial survey is a temperature check for continuing students, we recognize plans may change as more information becomes available.
  • New Students: Admissions Dashboard
    • We are working with Devin and Much to coordinate new student input further down the line.
  • International Students: Immigration Document Applications
    • ISSS is now in the process of helping students with their visa application materials.
• Faculty Support for Hybrid Learning & Teaching
  • DLINQ Workshops & Resources
    • Ongoing workshop and consultation support throughout spring and summer
  • Academic Technology
    • Working to source appropriate technology to support HyFlex classroom instruction with colleagues in ITS & DLINQ
  • In-Class TA Support
    • Prioritized TA support to ensure equitable participation of remote and in-person students.
    • We have Cisco technology that will help create a more immersive classroom experience, and are looking for other technology resources that can expand to other classrooms. Patricia will also be pulling together a small team that includes DLINQ and other key folks to ensure that there can be successful classroom integration for in-person and remote learners.
  • Return to Campus Timeline (some of these dates may be subject to change)
    • 15-Mar ISSS opens immigration document applications
    • 15-Apr Non-binding intention from continuing and LOA students
    • 15-Apr ISSS starts issuing immigration documents
    • 16-Apr Publish fall schedule
    • 27-Apr Registration begins
    • 3-May ISSS starts mailing immigration documents
    • 15-Jun Intention from newly admitted students
    • 1-Jul Final decision about fall guidelines
    • 15-Jul Binding intention from all students
    • 2-Aug Getting to know MIIS course opens
    • 30-Aug New Student Welcome Week
    • 7-Sep First day of classes
• There were two continuing student town halls this week and today JDJ is presenting to prospective students as part of virtual preview days at noon and 5pm to discuss fall planning.
• If you have any further questions or ideas, please contact Patricia or Barbara.