MIIS Staff Return to Campus Policy

Dear Colleagues,

This has been sent to all MIIS staff as well as all supervisors of MIIS staff.

As part of our ongoing efforts to foster a vibrant and engaging campus environment, we have carefully reviewed feedback from students, staff, and faculty and other community stakeholders. A recurring theme has emerged from these discussions, one we started to highlight a couple weeks ago in the town hall: there is a profound impact of in-person interaction on our community’s dynamism and the fulfillment of our mission. As you heard in the March 11 town hall, the Institute’s low student enrollment and high costs make up the majority of Middlebury’s $8 million deficit. As we continue to invest in the future of the Institute, we have committed to revitalizing our campus and on-the-ground activities to support the in-person programs that will be located in Monterey.

With this perspective, your presence here is more important than ever, so we have decided to increase the days and hours that student-facing employees will be required to work on campus. The new policy is a return to pre-COVID norms, and will take effect on August 1. We are writing to you now so that you have sufficient time to adjust to the new schedule.

Why the Change?

We all know that relationships and social capital are at the heart of our Institute culture. It’s the people who make MIIS the special place that it is. It’s what brings students to study in person in Monterey and makes the learning experience here a truly transformational one. 

As we shared in our most recent town hall, over the past year we heard that students are often frustrated that office hours are inconsistent and students aren’t always able to find staff in person when they need them. We also heard that employees who currently work in person experience a disproportionate burden, fielding inquiries for other departments from students who can’t find the right person. 

Our phasing out of blended synchronous instruction has also influenced our decision. As of September, all incoming students in our in-person programs, including spring 2024 starts, are required to attend classes here in Monterey. With students returning fully to campus this fall, we believe it is important to have a strong presence of student-facing staff.

In addition, we’ve heard that staff themselves miss having a more lively campus, at the same time that they value flexible working arrangements. In a campuswide survey in August 2022, two-thirds of respondents said a vibrant campus was “important” or “very important” to them. They said a vibrant campus was also integral to attracting undergraduates to our Study Away at Monterey programs. As we shared at the town hall, we lost our vendor providing food in Samson this winter because of the lack of business—and staff is an important part of the community served by that option.  

We have had several different approaches since 2020—some centralized, some decentralized—to manage where and how different people and roles work. This is a new policy that looks forward and sets shared expectations for all staff to center our students’ experience of our campus, since that is our core mission.   

The New Policy

All staff within student-facing departments need to be in the office five days a week, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those who are part time need to be in the office during all scheduled time. This is a return to the pre-pandemic schedule and norms.

The student-facing departments are the following:

• Career and Academic Advising
• Munras Residence Hall
• Registrar
• Student Services
• Student Financial Services
• Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
• ISSS
• Institute Academic Affairs
• Academic Department Support 
• Media Services (ITS)
• IT
• Global Admissions
• Enrollment

Departments not considered student-facing will be required to work on campus four days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.:

• Communications and Marketing
• Finance
• Human Resources
• Advancement, Alumni and Parent Programs
• DLINQ
• Executive and Custom Programs

Departments that already maintain individualized staff schedules fully on campus but adjusted across days/time to ensure coverage will not have a change in current work schedules:

• Facilities
• Library

This policy does not apply to the following:

• Any positions already designated remote
• Staff at CNS, CTEC, or CBE

This new policy will go into effect on August 1, 2024.

As always, we will maintain reasonable as-needed flexibility (family, child care issues, house repairs, etc.).

Next Steps

We will host an open meeting for staff specific to this topic on April 9 from 12:45–1:45 p.m. PT (3:45-4:45 p.m. ET) in McGowan 100 (with Zoom link). An invitation is forthcoming. 

Managers are invited to drop in to a Zoom meeting with questions at 8–9 a.m. PDT (11 a.m.–.Noon EDT) on Wednesday, April 3. An invitation is forthcoming.  

We welcome questions and discussion during the April 9 town hall and in regularly scheduled meetings with ILG, SAT, and Leadership Alliance. In addition, we expect that many have already had conversations with SLG members and your direct supervisors and encourage you to continue those discussions. 

Thank you for all your work on behalf of our students. And best wishes for the rest of the spring semester.

Sincerely, 

Caitlin Goss

Vice President for Human Resources and Chief People Officer

Michelle McCauley

Interim Executive Vice President and Provost