Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing to share a progress report on the Institute Council’s fall 2022 Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) that we presented at the most recent ILG meeting.

• Finalizing Focus Areas: Market research is underway to inform our focus areas and associated degree and non-degree programs. We’ll be receiving reports from our consultants in December and presenting to the board in January.
• Expanding Online: We have decided to move forward with developing stackable credentials for TLM and that work is underway. The decision on new program launches for fall 2024 is contingent on OPM selection. We’re currently behind schedule on forming the Online Task Force.
• TI Transformation: We have formed the TI Task Force which is preparing recommendations on curricular reform to go to the Provost in January 2022 (adjusted deadline).
• Hiring Faculty: Hiring is slightly behind schedule with one position posted for NPTS (please share on LinkedIn) and three more in the process of approval and posting.

See the full progress report.

Enjoy your week,

JDJ

Dear Colleagues,

On Friday, I updated our Institute Board of Advisors on implementation of our 5-year “Institute of the Future” strategy and shared this overview grid, which summarizes our immediate, medium-term, and long-term goals:

• 5-year Institute Strategy Grid

The IBA was supportive of our current direction, expressing particular interest in:

• Increasing demand among College undergraduates in Study Away at MIIS semester programs
• Piloting new short-form online offerings, including microcredentials and “bite-size” competency-based courses
• Developing and deploying larger-scale online degree offerings

Provost Michelle McCauley underscored that alongside new online offerings, we will continue to foster vibrant in-person programs in Monterey.

Thank you to Maha Baimyrzaeva, Helen Jiang, and Jill Stoffers for joining the meeting as our faculty, student ,and staff constituent members of the IBA and for their informative reports (below).

This January, the full Middlebury Board of Trustees, including the IBA, will come to Monterey for several days of meetings. This will provide a special opportunity to highlight our academic achievements and the work we’re undertaking to construct the Institute of the future to trustees and senior Middlebury leadership.

JDJ

——

More information:

The Institute Board of Advisors (IBA) serves as an advisory committee under the Middlebury Board of Trustees and is responsible for reviewing and monitoring academic and student affairs at the Institute as well as proposed budgets and initiatives related to facilities, grounds, advancement, enrollment, and other new initiatives.

October reports to the IBA from:

• Faculty
• Staff

Dear Colleagues,

I started these weekly email updates during the pandemic to ensure clear and regular and responsive communication with our community. I’m glad to say that COVID is no longer the primary topic of focus for these updates. However, I want to continue my commitment to transparent and regular communication.

We’ve made a couple of changes:

• Focus on the Future: This update will be focused on our work to implement key changes to create the Institute of the future, including progress updates on the fall OKRs
• Timing: You’ll receive messages on Mondays rather than on Fridays to better fit the rhythms of our work. We will occasionally shift to biweekly, depending on how much there is to report.

It’s important to note that this is just one of many touch points you can expect, in addition to focused meetings with staff and programs around key initiatives, Town Halls, and other forums.

I will be traveling to Middlebury next week for the Board of Trustees meetings. I will share highlights of the meetings related to the Institute of the Future in my next update.

In other news, congratulations to Jeffrey Lewis for placing a timely op-ed in the New York Times:

Opinion | It’s Time to Accept That North Korea Has Nuclear Weapons

Have a wonderful week –

JDJ

For reference: You can find all past updates from me (as well as other standing committees/groups), and track curricular changes at the MIIS Leadership Group hub.

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for your input on our draft Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for fall 2022.  Based on this input, we:

• Reworded the top objectives to make them clearer
• Reordered and added deadlines for related milestones
• Will set up an “ongoing inbox” to streamline feedback and holding Council accountable, a principal theme of feedback from many of you.

These will be the top priorities for the Institute Council in the coming months.

Read the final OKRs.

We have been working together for some time to envision the Institute of the future. This year, we are taking major steps forward in making that vision a reality.

• We are radically refocusing by getting clear on how we need to update and shift our current programs to align with what students and employers want and need now.
• We will expand our online offerings, including existing and new degree programs and non-degree programs or stackable credentials, to reach more – and more diverse – learners.
• We are deepening collaboration with Middlebury by improving and marketing our Study Away and 4+1 programs.
• Most importantly, we are making calls on the right program mix and the required investment to bring in new revenues in the years to come.

I look forward to our work together this year.

JDJ

Dear Colleagues,

I’ve enjoyed connecting with many of you over the past few weeks. In meetings with faculty and staff, I’ve affirmed my commitment to keeping everyone informed and engaged on all of the critical work underway, including through these regular updates.

Strategic Priorities this Year

The focus for this year is to make the “business plan” vision for the future of the Institute less abstract and map out concrete steps towards realizing it. We are moving forward several key projects, including:

• Choosing and designing the next online program – for a scale our existing online programs have not yet been able to achieve. 
• Improving our current semester study away programs to attract more undergraduates and ensure better outcomes – and designing the next study away program. 
• Transforming the T&I programs in light of last year’s external review

All of this work will be done with many ways for you to participate. This ranges from staying informed via these updates or town hall meetings, to providing feedback on each of the projects we’ll undertake, to serving on task forces to design and implement the particular changes for this year. The first of these task forces – the T&I transformation task force – has already been formed and charged with its mission. It serves as an example for the partnership among faculty, staff, and the administration that will be a hallmark of our work this year.

Priority Objectives This Fall

Linked below, you will find the Institute Council’s draft objectives for fall – these signal our near-term goals, in pursuit of the longer-term vision encapsulated in the business plan. I’ll finalize these objectives by Friday, September 23. Please provide me with any feedback you have before then. 

I look forward to continuing to engage with all of you as we work together to transform the Institute.

In other news, our own CTEC was mentioned in a release for the White House’s United We Stand Summit for their work with Meta to analyze trends in violent extremism and tools that help communities combat it. This is a great example of how people – notably students – at MIIS are doing meaningful work on the most critical issues of our day, partnering with a network bridging government, business and community organizations.

JDJ

For reference:

• Draft Priorities for Fall 2022
• Academic Leadership Restructure Presentation
• Leadership Group Updates

Dear colleagues,

It’s Friday of Welcome Week as I write. It is so affirming and motivating to talk to new students, in person and online; to learn about the journeys that brought them here, and about their dreams and goals at MIIS and beyond. I hope you have been as energized by these interactions as I have, all this week. For those of us working on the Monterey campus, it has been particularly gratifying to be part of a revitalized in-person campus setting. I hope that we can maintain some of that Welcome Week vibrancy on campus throughout the coming academic year. At the same time, we must be committed to the experience of new and continuing MIIS students studying remotely; and we of course remain committed to the new flexible work arrangements that we have adopted over the last year or more. An important question of the year ahead is how best to balance vibrancy and interaction on the one hand, and flexibility on the other.

Early in the semester, you can expect news of opportunities to learn more about, and contribute to the development of, the Institute of the Future. In particular, I am excited to share the Institute Council’s Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for the fall semester in the next couple of weeks, for your review and comments. These OKRs focus on our near-term priorities. There will also be news regarding our longer-term objectives: the development of online programs, new nondegree initiatives, and study-away opportunities for undergraduates at the College and elsewhere, among other ambitious new plans. Look for more information in these weekly updates.

My warmest thanks to all of you for the work you’ve done to attract the remarkable group of students we’ve met over this past week. Thanks as well for your efforts in organizing the varied orientation activities that have introduced these students to MIIS.

My best wishes to all of you for the fall semester. 

Jeff

Dear Colleagues,

The cold, foggy afternoons, and traffic clogged with outrageously expensive cars with out-of-state plates, means it’s mid-August in Monterey. That in turn signals the quick approach of our fall semester. There are encouraging signs all around of the ramping of up our academic activities, as programs schedule retreats and planning days, looking to the coming academic year and beyond. 

And while MIIS has always been a dynamic organization, you can be excused for feeling that much more is changing, and more rapidly, than in past decades. This is stimulating and exciting; it also occasions fear and anxiety. It is my hope that the year ahead will mark another meaningful turning point in the Institute’s history, pointing us to the Institute of the future, characterized by educational impact, change-driving alumni – and financial sustainability. As we get closer to semester’s start, I will share more details about how you can participate in deliberating, designing and rebuilding the Institute of the future. This biweekly update will switch back to its weekly cadence, and serve as a record of conversations underway, and a herald of conversations to come.  As always, you can find past updates archived at this link. 

Reading suggestions. In the meantime, I’d like to share two stories from the past week in the higher ed press that provide useful context for the changes we’re making at MIIS. First, Karin Fisher has written a historical overview of declining enrollments in general in “The Shrinking of Higher Ed” in the Chronicle of Higher Education (thanks to Lydia in the Library for providing a link that should take you right to our institutional subscription). Second, Temple University’s president, the innovative Jason Wingard, argues that “Higher Ed Must Change or Die” in Inside Higher Ed. Temple is a very different institution from MIIS, but Wingard’s assessment struck me as pertinent to our case: “We need to broaden access, leverage our industry and corporate partnerships to create scholarships and funding sources, and pursue entrepreneurial investments that seek to incubate alternative ventures. This is nonnegotiable; this is our only path forward.”

Keep your eyes peeled for these important updates in the coming days:

• An update on the work on Van Buren Street (talk about campus vibrancy!)
• Revised campus COVID-19 protocols for fall 2022
• Invitations to the opening and closing Welcome Week events the week of August 29: I hope as many faculty and staff as possible will participate. 

Finally, consider ending your scheduled meetings – whether Zoom or in-person – ten minutes early, like our class schedule. This will make it easier for your colleagues to get from one meeting to another in their hybrid schedules – or just take a bio break.

My very best wishes for the waning days of summer 2022.

Jeff

Dear Colleagues,

The last time I sent out a Friday update like this, Provost Jeff Cason was still alive. I am so grateful to the many members of the MIIS and Middlebury communities who have shared expressions of support and solidarity with me and with each other.  (You might appreciate this obituary, from the Addison Independent, which captures something of his personality.)  I miss Jeff’s friendship and his counsel every day. And I am motivated to work on the many projects he championed here at MIIS to ensure and strengthen his legacy.

Much of Jeff’s vision for the Institute and its future inspire the Business Plan that is the subject of these Friday updates. I’m restarting the update series – biweekly, for now – as we approach the start of the new academic year.

1. Academic restructuring is at the heart of the Business Plan: how do we organize our teams to make our educational programs as effective as possible? One component of that is the reconfiguration of our academic leadership roles to better equip us for institutional change, which I announced in my July 1 message. My Institute Council colleagues have been working with many colleagues to clarify how these changes impact each of us. If you have a question for a dean and you’re still not sure who to go, let me know. Thank you for your patience as we adapt to this new structure.
2. The development of new online programs will require more extensive collaboration with external partners to complement our in-house capacity in lead generation, marketing, enrollment management and instructional design. As such, over the spring semester, a number of online program management (OPM) firms met with stakeholders in Middlebury and Monterey. We hope to select a partner very soon so that we can get to work. When I share details about the partner, I will also provide a summary of feedback that we received about the firms’ presentations, and how that feedback influenced the decision.
3. The improvement and expansion of Study Away @ MIIS opportunities for College undergraduates was particularly dear to Jeff Cason. We are committed to incorporating the lessons learned during the first iteration of the California Climate Semester (likely to be renamed) this past spring, as well as working on our Global Security and Language Education options.

There will be much to do in the coming year, and I intend to use these Friday updates to ensure effective information-sharing. There will be many other options for debate, deliberation, and communication. And we will need to set up new and/or improved processes for curricular and other changes, with clear information about how you can be involved, how and when decisions will be taken, and how your contributions will inform those decisions.  Thank you for your ongoing commitment to the Institute’s mission and to its students – current, past and future.

As always, these updates on the Institute of the future are archived here for your reference.

My best wishes to all of you for a great end to your summer.

JDJ

Dear Colleagues,

Two weeks ago, my campus update summarized the feedback that my Council colleagues and I received during the last several months regarding the MIIS Business Plan, and the Academic Leadership Restructuring that is a part of that plan (you can find all of the weekly VPAA updates here). In this week’s message, I want to return to the recurring items that came through in your feedback, and how our plans have or will take on those concerns. Your feedback had to do with four broad themes:

• Accountability and information sharing
• Opportunities for engagement
• Greater specificity 
• DEI

Accountability and Information Sharing: 

• The Institute Council uses the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework to develop measurable and transparent strategic targets. These OKRs are shared at the beginning of the semester with the Institute Leadership Group. They are available to any Middlebury employee at this link. At the end of each semester, we evaluate how well we’ve met our targets. 
• Your comments make clear that the OKR process at MIIS, though it includes elected faculty leadership and program chairs, is not reaching all stakeholders, including all faculty. Among the proposals under consideration to better share this information, we will incorporate the full faculty into this OKR process. The Faculty Senate already is considering how this might happen; I welcome your ideas. 
• The Faculty Senate and Staff Advisory Team/Staff Council has regular communication with the Institute Board of Advisors and the Provost, which are additional ways for stakeholders to hold the MIIS campus leadership accountable for our performance.

Engagement: 

• We will refocus our communication with campus partners to address campus stakeholders’ priorities and concerns, in addition to reporting outcomes to Middlebury Leadership and the Board. 
• You will have already noticed that we have instituted this new weekly update on issues related to the MIIS Business Plan and the Institute of the future. 
• We will continue to use open meetings and work with programs, departments, and existing teams and committees to invite input on these processes.
• We continue to welcome your input via the feedback form on the Business Plan and the  feedback form for the Academic Leadership Restructuring.

Specificity: 

• The Business Plan that I shared with the Board of Trustees in May represents a vision––a set of ideas and philosophical principles––and proposals for more effectively designed and marketable programs.
• In the weeks and months ahead we will continue to work with external partners, including Trestle Bridge and Eduvantis, to collect and analyze market data that will inform our decisions. We will plan to engage a firm to act as our online program manager. Those of you who participated in meetings with candidate firms have been invited to provide your feedback, which will inform the selection of this online partner. Moreover, your collaboration with these external partners will be critical to our success.
• I am delighted that Laura, Fernando, and Patricia have agreed to serve in the critical new roles outlined in our academic leadership restructuring, effective today, July 1. We will share official and final job descriptions for the three new deans’ roles shortly. The three new deans will be appointed for fixed terms, subject to a renewal process that will include an evaluation of their performance.

DEI:

Last week’s update shared a thorough summary of activities and plans of the MIIS DEI Advisory Committee. One of our principal objectives is to truly activate the committee’s advisory role by connecting it with other groups central to governance, including the Institute Leadership Group. 

Long-term Sustainability, Commitment to Our Mission:

Thank you once again for your thoughtful comments on the plan. Transformational change will certainly present challenges. At the same time, your excitement, creativity, and optimism are invigorating as we imagine our future. 

Finally, I want to take a moment to affirm my absolute commitment to the Institute’s mission and to the pursuit of our long-term sustainability. I am confident that the restructured leadership team, with your collaboration and input, will deftly lead us through the essential work of implementing, refining, and adjusting this ambitious plan and vision in each of the key areas, and I look forward to working with you as we bring about true and meaningful change. My Council colleagues and I are grateful for the ways our community supports one another and continues to work together to further our mission.

Please note that this weekly update will take a hiatus during the remainder of the month of July. 

My best wishes for the summer, 

JDJ

Dear MIIS Faculty, Staff, and Students:

This week, together with the members of the MIIS DEI Advisory Committee, I am delighted to share updates on the progress made in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as upcoming activities and milestones.

You will remember that an ad hoc task force on DEI was formed at MIIS, facilitated by then-Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández, in spring 2021. That task force produced a detailed plan of action, including several specific recommendations for Middlebury and MIIS. Most of the updates below represent the formal adoption of recommendations made by the task force.

1. Middlebury’s new Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, Khuram Hussain, begins work on July 1. MIIS DEI task force members Morgan Moore and Sabino Morera served on the search committee for this position.
2. President Patton has renewed her commitment to creating and filling a DEI Coordinator position at the Institute. We look forward to recruiting for this position, with the cooperation of the new VPEI, in the coming academic year.
3. The task force itself made the transition this past semester to a standing DEI Advisory Committee. An open nomination process was conducted in February 2022, to bring in new faculty, staff, student, and alumni members who are listed in the signature. This group has been working to establish an advisory structure for connecting with a broad range of governance groups and leaders and will collaborate closely with the new VPEI. Open positions will be filled at the start of the fall semester following the process outlined in the DEI Advisory Committee framework.
4. The Student Council DEI Committee was particularly active in spring 2022; they surveyed students about their experiences, secured a grant from the Provost’s office for the “Voices at MIIS” project (to be launched in the fall), partnered to bring the Ohlone Sisters to campus to initiate development of a land acknowledgement, and secured a class gift of $2,000 for the land acknowledgement fund. All students are welcome to join the Student Council DEI Committee by emailing studentcouncil@middlebury.edu.
5. The Middlebury Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) helped fund the creation of two DEI Graduate Assistant positions at the Institute. We look forward to continuing to support these roles in collaboration with the new VPEI.
6. We recently completed gathering nominations and are now in the process of appointing an Institute employee to the Middlebury Ombudsperson Program in early July.
7. Institute employees, including Graduate Assistants, have continued to engage with the Inclusive Practitioners Program, a continuing education and development program centered on anti-racism, inclusive design, and engaging and supporting diverse communities.
8. Saiya Yanagihashi has been serving as an Institute representative on the Middlebury Community Bias Response Team (CBRT), which is a resource available to all Middlebury students. We are in the process of building a version of this resource specifically tailored to the needs of the Institute community.

The DEI Advisory Committee can be contacted at deiadvisorycommittee@middlebury.edu. Please let the committee or the VPAA know if you have questions or comments regarding DEI activities at MIIS in the coming academic year.

Best regards,

Jeff Dayton-Johnson (Vice President for Academic Affairs)

and DEI Advisory Committee Members

• Heba Mohamednor (TESOL)
• Karan Kunwar (IEP)
• Morgan Moore (MPA/ITED)
• Kent Glenzer (MPA/IPD)
• Sharad Joshi (NPTS)
• Sabino Morera (Language Studies)
• David Wick (IEM)
• Ann Flower (Library)
• Melissa Sorenson (Office of the Provost, interim as facilitator)
• Jessica Varnum (CNS)
• Anna Mei Gubbins (MAIEM ‘21)
• Angela Luedke (MAIEM ’20).