Important Information About Measles and New Requirements

Dear MIIS Faculty, Staff, and Students:     

We are writing to share some important information regarding measles. All faculty, staff, and students living and/or working on campus or MIIS housing must take steps now to ensure that they obtain valid proof of immunity by June 15. 

This requirement does not apply to Middlebury undergraduate students who have already provided proof of immunity to Middlebury’s Center for Health and Wellness.    

In this message we will provide information about the following:

• What’s changing?
• What is measles?
• Exclusion from work and school
• Proof of immunity
• Vaccination guidance
• Health insurance coverage
• Documented proof of immunity

More information can also be found on this website.

What’s Changing?

Measles cases have been recently documented in Vermont and California and are rising both domestically and internationally.

Middlebury is now requiring documented proof of immunity for all faculty, students and staff to avoid exclusion from work or school in the event of a measles outbreak on a Middlebury campus. 

Deadlines to submit proof of vaccination are as follows:

• June 15, 2024 for individuals working or learning during the summer programs
• August 15, 2024 for all other students and employees

We will provide a system for you to submit this information in advance of the start of our summer programs, and we will provide those instructions, along with frequently asked questions and answers, within the next two weeks.   

A measles case on a Middlebury campus would result in immediate exclusion of individuals who do not have valid proof of immunity and potentially cause significant disruptions in learning and operations. Proof of immunity can be provided through vaccine documentation or a blood test.    

What is Measles?

Measles is a highly infectious virus that causes fever, cough, conjunctivitis, runny nose, a classic rash, and sometimes ear infections and diarrhea. It can live for up to two hours in airspace where the infected person coughed or sneezed. If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch an infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become exposed. While two doses of MMR vaccine are considered 97 percent effective at preventing measles and one dose is about 93 percent effective, non-immunized people have a high likelihood of becoming infected and spreading measles to others. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), measles is so contagious that if one person has it, nine out of 10 people of all ages around that person will also become infected if they do not have immunity.

As we move into the summer and welcome a whole new population to our campuses, including students, faculty, staff, and family members from locations around the world, it is especially important to protect ourselves and one another. Although the likelihood of an outbreak on campus remains low, the impact would be high for students, faculty, and staff.    

Exclusion From Work and School

In the event of a measles outbreak, Middlebury will enforce the restrictions from theCDC and the Vermont and California Departments of Health, which is exclusion from school and/or work for 21 days after the last case occurs for people without documented evidence of immunity. This includes people who have been exempted from measles vaccination for valid medical reasons. 

For example, if a student working on campus this summer attending one of our summer programs were exposed to measles and did not have valid proof of immunity, they would miss a minimum of three weeks of the session. This would have a significant impact on their ability to complete the program. Similarly, a Middlebury faculty or staff member exposed to measles who does not have proof of immunity, may not be eligible to work on a Middlebury campus for three or more weeks.   

Please note that while it is possible for unimmunized people to avoid exclusion if given the measles vaccine within 72 hours after exposure, measles vaccine supply cannot be guaranteed. Also, since measles patients can transmit the virus up to four days before knowing that they have measles, it is possible that someone who is exposed will miss the opportunity for post-exposure vaccination.

We understand that this is short notice, but we wanted to get this information to you now so that you can avoid exclusion from a Middlebury campus in the event of a measles outbreak.     

Proof of Immunity

All incoming students, faculty, and staff, as well as all current faculty and staff who will be working on the MIIS campus or on any Middlebury campus this summer must obtain documented proof of immunity for measles, such as blood test results showing antibody against measles (Measles IgG test) or a valid record of immunization. See instructions below. There will be a similar requirement for faculty and staff returning to MIIS in the fall, and we encourage those individuals to provide proof of immunity as soon as possible. Partners/spouses and children of summer faculty and staff who are living on a Middlebury campus must also have documented proof of immunity. Please obtain this documentation as soon as possible. You will receive instructions within the next two weeks about how to submit this information to MIIS.    

Note: Individuals born before January 1, 1957, are assumed to be immune to measles and do not have to provide proof of immunity, but they will still need to provide an attestation of their date of birth. Attestation instructions to follow.

Exemptions are for those who should not take the vaccine for medical reasons. Signed medical exemption forms must be submitted, but please note that a medical exemption will not prevent exclusion from campus during an outbreak. Individuals with medical exemptions should create and maintain a plan for immediate exclusion in the event of a measles outbreak on campus. Individuals will receive instructions for submitting medical exemption documentation within the next two weeks. 

Individuals should also have a conversation with their personal physician or health care provider about immunization and/or proof of immunity for other vaccine-preventable illnesses such as mumps, rubella, varicella, and pertussis.      

Vaccination Guidance

People who were vaccinated between 1957 and 1968 should be revaccinated with at least one dose of live attenuated measles vaccine (MMR). This recommendation is intended to protect those who may have received a killed measles vaccine, which was available between 1963 and 1967 and was not effective. 

Two doses of the vaccine are recommended for all international travelers, healthcare workers, K-12 students and undergraduate students living in dorms. Undergraduate students attending Middlebury are already subject to a separate documentation process and do not need to do anything further. 

The CDC has advice about how to get copies of vaccination records. The MMR vaccine is available through your doctor, and U.S. pharmacies offer easy online scheduling for vaccination.   

Health Insurance Coverage

Many health insurance plans cover the costs of vaccinations and/or antibody testing, but everyone should confirm if that is true for your insurance plan as well as how it should be billed (i.e. in-network, preventative care).

For Middlebury employees with Cigna, Green Mountain Higher Education Consortium has confirmed that Cigna allows for coverage on both the antibody lab testing as well as the vaccine for MMR as follows: Coverage benefits will be based on whether the provider is in or out of network. In-network will pay at 100 percent when billed as preventive. Be sure that you confirm that it is in-network and will be billed as preventative.   

For out of network providers: Gold and Silver plans pay 70 percent for immunizations after the deductible. Platinum immunization plans pay 100 percent.  

Documented proof of immunity  

All medical records must meet the following criteria: 

• Documentation MUST be in English and legible. Original documentation may be in a foreign language with translation attached   
• Show patient name and date of birth consistent with an official government ID (i.e. passport or driver’s license)  
• Show medical clinic, pharmacy, or laboratory contact information.
  • The Figure 1 vaccine record below meets documented proof of immunity requirements. 
  • The Figure 2 vaccine record below does not meet documented proof of immunity requirements    
• Lab results must be on an official report indicating that the result shows immunity to measles (rubeola)
• Vaccine records must show:
  • The vaccine provided  
  • The number of doses   
  • The date(s) provided  
  • Meet the recommended dosing schedule for immunity (see Table 3) 
• International travelers, undergraduate students, and healthcare workers require two documented doses of MMR vaccine. Others, such as short-term program summer students and employees who do not fall into those categories require one documented dose of MMR vaccine (Language Schools, BLSE, Writers’ Conference, etc.)   
• Verbal reports of vaccination without written documentation will not be accepted as presumptive evidence of immunity

Figure 1: Here is an example of a vaccine record that meets documented proof of immunity requirements.

Figure 2: Here is an example of a vaccine record that does not meet documented proof of immunity requirements.

For questions or support regarding any information in this message, please contact Middlebury’s Immunization Verification Team at immunizationverification@middlebury.edu.

Update on the Dean of Faculty Selection Process

Dear MIIS Colleagues,

We write today with an update on the Dean of Faculty selection process. As we shared with you earlier this semester, Laura Burian will be stepping down from her role as the Dean of Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development at the end of June. We began an internal search to select a new Dean of Faculty in January, and we want to thank those who submitted nominations and the candidates who interviewed for the Dean of Faculty position. We had an amazing group of qualified colleagues lean in to support MIIS. 

After careful deliberation, we have decided not to hire a new Dean of Faculty for the upcoming year. This decision is based entirely upon our current fiscal challenges, and in no way reflects on the truly excellent quality of the candidate pool. 

Instead of appointing a new dean, VPAA Jeff Dayton-Johnson will take on some of the essential work of this role when he returns from his sabbatical on September 1, 2024. Jeff, who has been an invaluable leader for the Institute, has generously offered to assume these additional duties as we move to address the $8 million budget deficit, meet enrollment targets, and foster a vibrant campus.

To make this possible, we will be significantly streamlining some processes including those around faculty review and promotion. We will be in touch with all program directors and faculty who will be under review to detail what these changes will mean, but we do not expect them to have a noticeable impact.

We are truly grateful to Laura for her six years of extraordinary service as a Dean at the Institute, and we deeply appreciate Jeff for taking on these additional responsibilities as we address the current challenges.

Sincerely,

Michelle McCauley

Provost & Executive Vice President

Stephen Snyder

Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Institute

Update on Phasing out Blended Synchronous

Dear Colleagues,

In September 2023, the Institute announced that we would begin phasing out blended synchronous classes for on-the-ground programs (see that full message). 

Although blended synchronous was a critical tool for us to weather a time of crisis, as we move forward, we are returning in-person modality for the on-the-ground programs (with a few classes remaining fully online).

Implementation Timeline

As mentioned previously, we told all remote students admitted in fall 2023 or before that they may finish their programs remotely if they choose. Given this, we will continue to have some blended synchronous course offerings to accommodate these few students through spring 2025. A very small number of students currently on leave may expect to finish their degrees online and will be accommodated on a case-by-case basis.

All newly admitted students in the fall 2024 cohort will be on campus. Thus, classes will be offered fully in-person, unless there is a remote student who requires this specific course to proceed through their degree map. 

This means:

• In-person students must attend classes in-person even when the blended synchronous format is offered.
• Blended synchronous will ONLY be offered if there is a student enrolled in the course who requires this modality. 
• By fall of 2025 the vast majority of classes will be in-person with a few synchronous online offerings. None of the courses will be blended. 

Thank you to all of the program chairs and staff who have been working hard to make this implementation as smooth as possible. We greatly appreciate your flexibility and support for our students.

Stephen Snyder

Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs

Michelle McCauley

Provost

Dear Colleagues:

I hope this finds you well. I enjoyed meeting and working with many of you during January. After being in Vermont for the board meeting and to teach, I’m headed back to Monterey tomorrow and staying through the end of next week. I look forward to meeting with many more of you then.

The Institute Council recently finalized our goals and areas of focus for spring, and I wanted to share the full details and deadlines with all of you, including who is leading the work in each area. The primary focus for all of us continues to be increasing enrollment.

Our Focus areas:

• Provost Michelle McCauley: Leading implementation of the business model across all areas
• Myself: Deepening language collaboration across Middlebury
• Patricia Szasz: Online programs
• Daniel Chatham: Revitalizing on-ground programs
• Laura Burian: Faculty evaluation and governance

Key areas of work for spring 2024

Revitalizing on-ground programs

• Develop an umbrella security program reorganized into three degrees for fall 2025:
  • M.A. in Terrorism and Global Security
  • M.A. in Nonproliferation and Global Security
  • M.A. in Threat Intelligence and Global Security
• Revision of on-ground programs for fall 2025

Launching new online programs

• Complete program design for the new 30-credit MA in Localization Project Management and 36-credit MS in Cybersecurity
• Complete market research and initial program design for degrees in Analytics and Organizational Leadership
• Implement curricular updates to Online TESOL and IEM programs to align with the new online calendar and competency-based model

Faculty governance

• Introduce a new process with improved workflow for contract renewal, promotions, sabbaticals, and annual review 
• Support process to establish new faculty salary structure (for regular and adjunct faculty) with updated ranges
• Identify and hire new Dean of Faculty

See the full Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for Spring 2024.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us for greater detail on these initiatives and to provide input. Thank you to all of you for your resilience and creativity during this period of major change. I appreciate your collaboration and the ways that you all go above and beyond to ensure an incredible educational experience not only for our current students, but for our future students.

Steve Snyder

Interim VPAA

Highlights from the Institute Board of Advisors Meeting

Dear Colleagues,

It was wonderful to see the incredible energy on campus at the start of the semester – before I had to head back to Vermont – and thank you for the warm welcome from so many of you at the lunch on Tuesday. You made me feel very much part of your community.

On January 26 & 27, we hosted the Institute Board of Advisors (IBA) on campus for two days of meetings with administrators, faculty, staff, and students. The IBA serves as an advisory committee under the Middlebury Board of Trustees. The January meeting is primarily an opportunity for them to hear updates on the implementation of our business plan and to connect with our campus.

They left inspired by the work all of you are doing on the issues of our day and impressed with our incredible students, as always. 

Highlights:

• A thought-provoking presentation about how artificial intelligence is affecting different fields and opportunities we’re pursuing featuring:
  • Bill Potter, CNS Founding Director
  • Carles Andreu, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, Spanish Translation
  • Thor Sawin, Associate Dean of Language Schools
• A roundtable with students who are working with CNS, CTEC, and CBE 
• An update on our online expansion from Patricia Szasz
• A visit to the new mural and street art on Pierce Street 
• Dinner with undergraduates in the California Coast and Climate semester

Thank you to Sharad Joshi, Landry Dohou Bi, and Jill Stoffers for joining the meeting as our faculty, student, and staff constituent members of the IBA.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Steve Snyder

Interim VPAA

Kicking Off the Semester Together

Dear MIIS Colleagues:

I can’t tell you how exciting it has been to be on the ground here in Monterey for the past two weeks. I want to thank those of you I’ve had the chance to meet with for making time and for helping me better understand the amazing work being done here. Thank you for giving me a warm welcome, and I hope to have the opportunity to meet with many more of you in the coming weeks.

While JDJ is on sabbatical, Provost Michelle McCauley and I are working closely together and coordinating to ensure that we are on campus as much as possible.  When I’m not in Monterey, I am always available for Zoom meetings. Barbara Burke has been kind enough to take over my schedule for the duration, so please feel free to be in touch with her about finding time to meet.

Michelle and I will continue to focus on:

• Revitalizing our in-person programs, including updating our Translation and Interpretation program and restructuring our NPTS degree offerings
• Expanding new online programs

I will also be working on deepening collaboration across our language programs at the College, Language Schools, Schools Abroad, and the Institute. I’m particularly excited to work with Thor Sawin and our TESOL, TFL, and TI faculty on this project, which we’re dubbing Language Cooperation Across Middlebury. I look forward to your input and collaboration on this and other projects this spring.

Finally, I encourage all of you to attend Welcome Week events, especially the opening breakfast and closing reception (details are in Ashley’s email below). Thank you for putting in so much work to warmly welcome students and prepare for a great semester of learning and growing.

I hope to see many of you at the lunch gathering with Michelle at the Holland Center on Tuesday, January 30, from 12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Don’t forget to RSVP here to attend by this Thursday, January 25.

All the best,

Steve Snyder

Interim VPAA

Wrapping Up as I Start my Sabbatical

Dear Colleagues,

I look forward to seeing many of you at the holiday party this afternoon.

I am headed out on sabbatical at the close of this semester, returning September 1. The Institute is in capable hands with Steve Snyder serving as interim VPAA and Provost Michelle McCauley also taking on some of my responsibilities. 

Don’t forget that faculty and staff are invited to join Steve and Michelle for a casual lunch gathering in the Holland Center on Tuesday, January 30, at 12:15PM in the Holland Center.

Who to contact during my absence

Several individuals can serve as first point of contact for inquiries around these areas:

• Institute Operations & Office of the VPAA: Barbara Burke
• On-site Programs: Daniel Chatham
• Online Programs: Patricia Szasz
• Faculty: Laura Burian
• Staff: Michael Ulibarri or Hannah Ross
• Students: Ashley Arrocha
• Non-degree Programs: Alicia Brent
• Grants: Meghan Rasmussen

As needed, primary contacts will engage with the interim VPAA and Provost for decisions and strategic direction. All calendar requests for Steve Snyder should go to Barbara Burke. Calendar requests for Michelle McCauley should go to Erin Southworth.

Thank you so much to all of you for making the Middlebury Institute what it is. I wish all of you rest and plenty of merriment with the people you love over the holiday break.

Take care,

JDJ

Progress on Online Programs

Dear Colleagues,

I’m excited to say that we’ve made great progress on expanding our online programs this past fall. This work is critical to the future of the Institute, allowing us to reach new students and expand accessibility.

Patricia Szasz is now leading this effort in her new role of Dean of Middlebury Institute Online, a new unit within the Institute to house and organize all of our online programs.

• The Online MPA in Sustainability kicks off on January 8. Seven courses have been developed and three more are in progress. Faculty contributors Maha Baimyraeza and Lyuba Zarsky have done incredible work to recruit top instructors from the sustainability sector, including many MIIS alumni.
• The next launch will be a 30-credit Online MA in Localization Project Management. This re-envisioned program will replace our current online advanced entry Translation and Localization Management degree, for which we’ve stopped admitting students.
• This will be followed by an Online MS in Cybersecurity for spring 2025. We are in the final stages of hiring a program director to lead the program design process in collaboration with DLINQ.
• We have a 10-year master services agreement in place with an online program management company through which we’ll launch up to 10 new online programs. The initial phase will include degrees in analytics, organizational leadership and educational leadership, which we will start developing next year.
• We’ve put essential infrastructure in place, including policies, an academic calendar and course catalog specific to online programs, as well as setting new competitive tuition rates of $850/credit for online programs. An online program budget is also in development.
• We’re hiring for a program manager to provide program coordination and administration – please spread the word. 

Thank you to the many faculty and staff both in Monterey and Vermont who have been working hard to make this happen. It’s truly been a team effort to bring us to this point. I’m excited to see the vision for the future of the Institute moving into implementation.

JDJ

Updates from the Middlebury Board Meeting

Dear Colleagues:

I wanted to provide some highlights specific to MIIS from the recent Middlebury Board of Trustees meeting, in addition to the news story that went out Tuesday.

The board explored the academic and operational implications of AI. A project of our own Dan Chatham was highlighted, in which he’s creating a ChatGPT simulation for one of his IEM classes.

Kenshin Cho ‘20, a student at Columbia Law School, was named to the Middlebury board as the new young alumni representative. We’re proud to say that he was a summer intern at CNS.

Campaign Launch

The campaign officially launched with $343M already raised towards the $600M goal. 

• Notably, this includes the largest estate gift in Middlebury history – $38M from a member of the College class of 1955 who was a language interpreter – English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
• There have been $25M in commitments to MIIS, 38 percent from foundations and the rest split fairly evenly between estates, parents, friends, and trustees.
• Save the date for the San Francisco campaign launch event on March 28 at the Salesforce tower, which will be open to all. 

2024-25 Tuition Increase

As we continue to expand our online programs and further invest in our in-person programs, we are creating clearer, differentiated structures for each. One important step is that starting in the 2024-25 school year, we are setting different rates for our in-person and our online programs. These are aligned with the associated costs of running these programs, the competitive landscape, and industry best practices. 

The board approved these adjustments to tuition fees for the 2024-25 AY:

• In-person fees (including blended synchronous):
  • Comp fee: $24,092/semester (3.5% increase; Middlebury Institute and partner scholarships available) 
  • Part-time fee: $2,008/credit (This is equal to the comprehensive fee divided by 12, which is the minimum number of credits to be considered full-time; Middlebury Institute and partner scholarships available) 
• NEW: Online fee:
  • $850/credit (No Middlebury Institute and partner scholarships available. However, students benefit from the more affordable rate and are encouraged to continue working while they study.)
  • Will apply to all asynchronous online programs: IEM, TLM, MPA in Sustainability, TESOL
• Student fees: No change
  • Activity fee: $85/semester (covers professional development, workshops, student clubs, emergency funding, MIcommunity etc)
  • Resources fee: $150/semester (covers TimelyCare)
• Munras Residence Hall: 3.25% increase

Updates to the Institute Board of Advisors

The Institute Board of Advisors (IBA) met on Friday.

• I presented updates on the MIIS business plan and shared that we have officially signed our contract with Wiley to expand online programs. Wiley is in the process of selling its online division to Academic Partnerships.
• Our constituent representatives present at the meeting were Sharad Joshi (faculty), Jill Stoffers (staff) and Landry Dohou Bi(student).

I hope everyone had a restful Thanksgiving and enjoyed some well-earned time off.

Jeff Dayton-Johnson

Our New Land Acknowledgment, Upcoming BIPOC Voices Events, and an Update on MIIS Online

Dear Colleagues,

After a two-year engagement process, the Middlebury Institute has formally adopted this Land Acknowledgment, which will be used at all formal events:

We pause to acknowledge that the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) sits in the Village of Achasta on the ancestral and unceded land of the Ohlone (Costanoan) Rumsen/Rumsien people, a Rumsen-speaking group. Several contemporary tribes, including Esselen, call this land home today. The surrounding Monterey Bay region includes lands traditionally inhabited by the Esselen (to the south), Chalon (to the south), Mutsun (to the north), and Salinan (to the east) groups. We honor these groups’ experiences in the past, present, and future, as we work collaboratively with them to protect the land and its inhabitants.  Let us take a moment of silence to honor these Indigenous communities, past and present. We give thanks for the opportunity to respectfully share in the bounty of this place and are working collaboratively to protect it.  We are all one in the sacred web of life that connects people, animals, plants, air, water, and earth. 

A Land Acknowledgment is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous peoples as traditional stewards of this land and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous peoples and their traditional territories. 

This land acknowledgment represents one act in an ongoing, long-term process of cultivating meaningful relationships with local Indigenous communities through partnerships, educational programming, events, and additional initiatives. We seek to raise awareness about these Indigenous communities’ ongoing efforts for cultural sharing, education, and social change, as well as historical and present-day injustices they have faced with resilience. We also strive to preserve, create, and transmit knowledge so that those who benefit from the dispossession of these peoples may commit to reckoning with history and the contemporary legacies of imperialism and settler colonialism. This acknowledgment has been created in consultation with Indigenous groups and is a living document. 

Learn more on our website about how this landacknowledgment can be used, how the statement was developed, and about the history of the land on which MIIS sits.

This process was initiated by students in the Advocacy in Action class and the Student Council DEI committee. I would like to offer a special thank you to Professor Netta Avineriwho has been stewarding this process of partnership and communal learning, as well as the many faculty, staff, and students who have contributed to different phases throughout. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Ohlone Sisters, who have closely collaborated with us, generously sharing their meaningful knowledge and wisdom.

BIPOC Voices Speaker Series

Intercultural communication is at the heart of our mission to advance peace. To that end, I would encourage all of you to attend one of the upcoming events in our BIPOC Voices Speaker Series. Dr. Nick Creary, Institutional Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Officer,has lined up some top-notch speakers.

Thursday, October 5 – 12:30 p.m. – Latino/a, Latinx, Latine, or Other? Gender-Inclusive Language and Ethnic Identity with Dr. Bryan Betancur

Thursday, October 12 – 12:30 p.m. The Time is Now for Original Peoples of this Hemisphere: Speaking from the Heart – A lecture celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day with Dr. Inés Hernández-Ávila

Wednesday, November 1 – 4 p.m. Giving Thanks to Whom? For What?: What to an Indigenous Person is Thanksgiving? with Dr. Daisy Purdy

Update on MIIS Online

Late last week, after a thorough negotiation, Middlebury signed a comprehensive Master Service Agreement (MSA) with an Online Program Management (OPM) company. My thanks to the many colleagues who have worked so hard to get us to this important milestone. This MSA will support the expansion of our roster of online degree programs – and with it, expand access to a high-quality MIIS education to more, and more diverse, learners. As we transition from contract negotiation to execution, watch this space for many more details in the coming weeks. 

Have a wonderful week.

JDJ