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Provost Update 5.23.24

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Updates from MIIS Town Hall and Video

Dear MIIS Colleagues,

We are writing to provide some important updates following Tuesday’s town hall meeting during which we announced some critical changes at the Institute. 

As we shared, the Institute faces significant organizational and budget challenges that have required us to make some difficult decisions, including restructuring some academic programs and eliminating some faculty and staff positions. 

Please know that these decisions were not made lightly and they are essential to the future of the Institute. This is difficult news for all of us, and we know that many of you are processing what this means for you individually as well as collectively for the Institute. We have shared the video link below for those who could not attend.

As Middlebury President Laurie Patton underscored Tuesday, the Board of Trustees is committed to the Institute. The trustees have also given us a clear charge: we must get the Institute’s budget to break-even by the 2028 fiscal year. Along with this, the board set key target metrics against which we will regularly report our progress.

2028 Targets

The specific goals and targets are as follows:

  • Increase in-person enrollment from the current 446 FTE to 650 FTE.
  • Increase online enrollment to 450 to achieve online revenue targets.
  • Reduce instructional costs to 40 percent of net tuition from the current 77 percent.

The Path Forward

Right now, the Institute faculty and staff are structured to serve 750 students, while our current enrollment is closer to 450. For this reason, we made the difficult decision to end some programs and eliminate several staff and faculty positions. Based on this fiscal reality, we are implementing these changes over the next year: 

Academic Program Changes

Based on persistent low enrollment, we have decided to sunset two of our in-person programs: TESOL/Teaching Foreign Language (TFL) and Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Social Change. 

We will continue to offer our Online TESOL degree, as well as our Online MPA in Sustainability. We also offer graduate degrees in foreign language through the Language Schools. 

For our MA in Translation and Interpretation, we will be shifting some languages with historically low enrollment to a by-demand model in which we will stand up a language program when we have a cohort of eight students. We will determine which languages will shift to the by-demand model by June 5.

We will teach out and support current students in all of these programs as they complete their degrees. However, we will stop enrolling new students in the in-person TESOL/TFL and MPA programs, and associated joint degree programs, as of fall 2024.

We have also identified several areas where we see potential for growing enrollment. For example, we are adding a Threat Intelligence program as part of our global security offerings. We are also developing a translation and interpretation program designed specifically for diplomats.

In fall 2024, we are launching a new online degree in Localization Project Management, with a M.S. in Cybersecurity being added in fall 2025 and online degrees in analytics and organizational development to follow. These build on our current online programs in TESOL, International Education Management, and MPA in Sustainability, which began in January.

Faculty and Staff Impact

Based on current enrollment and these program changes, we have been working to restructure our staffing. As a result, we identified a need to eliminate eight staff positions in the areas of advancement, recruiting and enrollment, career and academic advising and student financial services. Staff who were affected by these changes were notified personally on May 20 and 21.

We also eliminated three faculty lines this year that will not be replaced. Given the overall academic program restructuring, we know that we will have additional reductions in faculty positions in the upcoming fiscal year. Those decisions will be made, and faculty colleagues will be notified, by June 10.

We want to emphasize that these decisions were not made based on performance. We are grateful to each of these colleagues for their work at MIIS. All staff directly impacted by this reorganization have a transition period during which they will receive full pay and a severance package, both based on years of service.

View the full video of the Town Hall.

Important Dates

To provide ample time for faculty and program transitions going forward, the timeline for these changes will be as follows:

  • May 21 to June 5: Meetings with program chairs to discuss the impact on faculty.
  • May 28 through fall: Meetings on curricular changes to be implemented fall 2025.
  • June 10: Faculty who will not have contracts renewed after FY25 will be notified.
  • October 1: Review financial and enrollment metrics against trustee expectations.
  • November 1: Update to MIIS community.

We know that this is a lot to process and ask for your patience and understanding as we move forward with these plans in the coming weeks and months. We strongly believe that this difficult work now will put us on a course for a sustainable academic and financial future in support of our mission.

If you have questions, please submit them here. We’ll reply to individuals and also keep updating our FAQ.

Thank you to all of you for your hard work and dedication to the Institute. We will continue to keep you updated as we progress with our plans. Below we have included a list of resources for all employees should you have further questions or concerns.

Kind regards,

Michelle McCauley

Executive Vice President and Provost

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Resources

Following is a list of resources for those who have specific questions about the changes ahead: