Agenda

Topic	Leader
New Website Rollout	Muchadei Zvoma (Guests: Aaron Smith & Ian McBride)
Fall Planning Update	Patricia Szasz

Notes

New Website Rollout (Muchadei Zvoma, Aaron Smith, & Ian McBride)

• Reference: Zoom Recording (Password: miis2021!)
• Guests: 
  • Aaron Smith, Enterprise Web Services within ITS
  • Ian McBride, Web Developer in ITS
• Overview (Aaron Smith):
  • The new Institute website design launched yesterday (September 1).
  • One of the benefits is that for the first time in Middlebury’s history, all of the parts of Middlebury are using the same design system. A related benefit is that when improvements are developed, we can apply them across all pieces of the organization with consistent website templates.
  • The most dramatic change is the change to the menu. We have moved to a more traditional horizontal approach. When you scroll down the header and menu disappear to allow visitors to focus on the content, but reappear immediately when someone starts to scroll up to give them quick and easy access.
  • There is also a new presentation of our calls to action, and some additional information in our footer that is important from an enrollment perspective. 
  • On the admissions page, as an example, we used to have a small blue bar on the left hand side. We realized visitors do not use our website in a linear fashion, and in the old design it didn’t include the full Institute identity, and the menu was collapsed. Now you have clear access to the main menu from any point on the website.
  • The other change is to our sub-menu system. On the top level pages (home page of academics, admissions, student life, etc.) the menu was within the content of the page itself, and there is a new logic that shows the menu clearly underneath the main heading. The sub-menu has also changed from the right hand side to the left hand side, and this change aims to increase the overall usability of the website. 
  • The changes to our news and events section follows the pattern of taking the right hand menu and moving it to the left. There have also been some small changes to the presentation, functionality, and visibility of dates.
  • We have rethought our stories page and have reintroduced the menu to allow easier access to other content and related stories. 
  • Muchadei: In the newsroom the related stories are now presented in a better way that will hopefully encourage people to click into a new story with adding images and a horizontal presentation. 
  • We also want to have inquiry forms embedded on the homepages of our degree programs. This is now in practice on the IEM page. We drive all of our advertising traffic to the homepages of our programs, and we are hoping to see an increase in inquiries based on this approach.

Fall Planning Update (Patricia Szasz)

• Residence Hall Update
  • Munras housing opened yesterday with the first day of move-in. 62 residents (70%) moved in, more will be arriving today and tomorrow (September 2 & 3). There are 89 beds, including 2 for student RAs that have been hired and are in place.
  • Saiya Yanagihashi, our new Director of Residence life, has hit the ground running to support student move-in, and so far things are going extremely smoothly.
  • There are still some minor outstanding building items that are being finalized, but students are excited to get in and start their semester.
  • John Grunder and Barabra Burke have been working together on the technology support for 787 Munras, and it appears that all students have been onboarded smoothly for Wifi. If there are any issues please contact John Grunder and HelpDesk. The Wifi is the Middlebury wifi, so using the system is very similar to on campus.
• Lanyard, ID, Vaccine Compliance Sticker on ID (The big three)
  • Anyone using campus needs to be wearing their lanyard with an ID and vaccine compliance sticker visible.
  • Neon green lanyards represent faculty/staff, and pink lanyards represent students.
  • If you notice someone not wearing a lanyard in a campus space, please gently and respectfully direct them to security for their lanyard/ID/sticker, employees will need to obtain their sticker from HR. 
  • We are near 100% vaccine policy compliance with employees, and near 94% compliance on the student side. We are doing our best to follow-up with individuals as needed. Students that are not compliant will not be able to register for classes.
  • We hope that everyone feels empowered to help ensure our campus community stays safe by gently and respectfully directing people to the appropriate place. Our community is worried about Covid and the Delta variant, and this is how we keep everyone safe. It will be especially important for faculty to support students in honoring the policy within classroom spaces.
• Indoor Mask Mandate
  • We have introduced a mandatory mask policy, which will likely become a county requirement in the coming days.
  • If you see someone indoors not wearing a mask, please gently remind them to put their mask on. Masks are available through security and office services if someone needs to use one.
  • Questions:
    • Are masks required outdoors?
      • This is not a requirement unless someone is unvaccinated, but people may feel more comfortable wearing a mask both indoors and outdoors.
    • Are there any guidelines for approved mask types?
      • There is not an Institute set of guidelines at this time, but there are a set of CDC recommendations. There seems to be some confusion with the distinction between a face shield and a mask, Barbara will see if we might provide some additional guidance.
• Technology (Toni Thomas)
  • Patricia has been heading up a team that has been looking into technology upgrades and setups to facilitate hybrid learning. The team includes David Wright, Bob Cole, Tom Woodward, and Toni Thomas.
  • There have been new Poly systems installed in 14 classrooms across campus, specifically focusing on larger and frequently used classrooms. These systems include a sound bar, tracking camera, and allow for sharing documents and powerpoints to better facilitate the hybrid experience for those in the classroom
  • There is also laminated documentation to help people get up and running and also shut down the systems at the end of class. We are continuing to develop tips and tricks.
  • There have been 11 mock class sessions for faculty to demo classroom technology, and DLINQ has also been hosting open houses for engaging with this technology. Both students and faculty have been attending these sessions.
  • DLINQ has also been hosting HyFlex teaching workshops, and continue to have their tips and tricks and tools of the trade available to support faculty. They are also available for individual consultations with faculty.
  • Media Services is ramping up the GA services available to help troubleshoot the first few weeks of class. 
  • There has been lots of work on the tech and course development side to help people feel as comfortable as possible. 
  • Laura: There are a number of smaller classrooms (including the interpretation labs) that don’t have Poly systems, but will have webcams on tripods and USB microphones to help give everyone in the class the ability to see and hear.
  • Thank you to our DLINQ colleagues, ITS, and Media Services for their work supporting our technology setup.
• Covid Diagnosis Response Plan (Barbara Burke)
  • We have a document that will be posted to the website later today under the title “What to do if you are diagnosed with Covid.” This document is designed for members of the Institute community. It is not a lengthy document – but walks through the important actions and points of contact for both students and employees and follow-up protocols for the Institute.
• Food Service (Barbara Burke)
  • Beginning on Tuesday, September 7, we are going to have a coffee vendor on the Samson Center Patio from 8:00-11:00am M-F whenever classes are in session, and every Friday we will have a bowl food truck on campus from 11:00-1:00pm. We are hoping that faculty, staff, and students will take advantage of this opportunity and support these vendors.
• Additional Question:
  • Will there be information provided to students about where COVID testing is available locally?
    • The number of testing sites has been reduced, but we will do whatever it takes to get someone to a Covid test. Barbara is the contact for testing needs. Information on getting vaccinated is available here: https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/covid19/covid-19-vaccine-policy#how-to-get-vaccinated 
  • What percentage of students will be studying remotely?
    • 25% of all students will be remote (including our fully online TLM program), 22% of students will be remote who are enrolled in programs with onsite offerings. For the purposes of the registrar and our vaccine policy, if a student plans to spend any part of the semester on campus they are not considered a remote student. 
    • Faculty are now able to see which students are studying onsite or remotely on the course roster.