Month: December 2008

AACSB Accreditation News

Here is some good news, just in time for the holidays: In October, Middlebury president Ron Liebowitz submitted a substantive change request to AACSB.  This request described the planned academic reorganization at MIIS in the context of integration with Middlebury.  This week, we received notification from AACSB that that our re-accreditation process can continue as originally scheduled:

“Your letter and supporting materials dated 30 October 2008 were reviewed by the AACSB Maintenance of Accreditation Committee at its meeting on 8 December 2008. On behalf of the committee, we appreciate the thoroughness of the report on the integration of the Monterey Institute of International Studies into Middlebury College.  At this time, MAC does not see the need to change any of our plans regarding the next review of the business programs at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.”

This means that our next re-accreditation visit will occur in 2011.

Staff Receive “Above and Beyond” Awards

One of the highlights of the annual MIIS faculty and staff holiday party is the announcement of recipients of the Institute’s Above and Beyond Awards. As described in the Employee Handbook,

The Above and Beyond Award was established in 2006 to recognize employees of the Institute who go above and beyond the normal duties of their position.

This year’s awards went to Sam Bravo, Ann Flower, and Kathy Sparaco.  Congratulations!

To Sam Bravo, Maintenance Assistant, In recognition of his countless hours of service to the Monterey Institute campus, at all hours.  Sam is a “can do” member of the MIIS community, who doesn’t know the meaning of “that’s not my job.”  He takes great pride in his work, and genuinely cares for the Institute’s faculty, staff, and students.

To Kathy Sparaco, Manager of International Services, In recognition of the expertise and innovative ideas she has brought to the Institute, especially in supporting international students, staff, and faculty.  She is an outstanding new staff member, energetic and passionate about community building, and about providing the highest level of service.

To Ann Flower, Coordinator of Public Services for the Library, in recognition of her consistent, excellent service to faculty, staff, and students.  She is well informed, helpful, pleasant, and willing to go the extra mile.  Whether blogging, doing research, or answering inquiries, her performance is always excellent, and greatly appreciated by all.

Clara Yu Honored by City of Monterey and MIIS Colleagues

On Tuesday, December 16, the City of Monterey City Council honored MIIS President Clara Yu for her accomplishments over the past three years.  Later, at the annual faculty and staff holiday party, colleagues paid tribute to Clara and wished Clara and John a fond and regretful farewell.  Thanks, Clara, for everything, from all of us!

Appropriate Use of MIIS Faculty and MIIS Staff Email Addresses

Now that we have the capability of posting email messages to all faculty and staff simultaneously through Exchange/Outlook, we would like to suggest some guidelines to make sure that this capability is used to greatest effect to convey those messages that are truly of community-wide interest and importance.

The following guidelines are adapted from those in use at Middlebury.  They have had this capability for some time, and these general guidelines are fairly well respected by all (or the sender usually gets swift feedback from colleagues).

* Messages should relate directly to Institute events and activities. Announcements of non-Institute events, fund-raisers, activities, etc. should be handled through other channels. MIIS@work is happy to publish such announcements, and we will continue to use the MIIS Faculty and MIIS Staff emails to publish the latest blog headlines.  This gives the reader the opportunity to choose items of interest, and reduces the number of separate email messages people receive in their already-crowded boxes.

* E-mail blasts should be avoided for Institute events already listed on-line or in publications, unless there is significant supplemental information or last-minute changes in location or time.

TLC Sandbox: digital stories!

Come and open your mind to the possibilities of using new forms of media to bring your story and the stories of MIIS to the world.

This Friday, December 12, at 3:30 in Kade, Innovation Consulting will present their findings and recommendations on how MIIS can implement a new broadcasting movement to build community,
break down barriers and connect us to the world.

Learn about new programming ideas capturing alumni stories from the field, recording current students working in far off places, highlighting our amazing and talented faculty and producing new signature content showcasing the Monterey Way 2.0.

Come learn how this idea can impact you!

Panel discussion about the Russian-Georgian conflict

On December the 3rd about 40 Monterey Institute community members were given a chance to inform themselves more thoroughly and discuss about the ongoing conflict in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The two-hour event hosted by the MIIS Conflict Resolution Association featured in addition to speakers from our own university also a foreign guest- Mr. Andrey I. Belousov from the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco.

He was supported by Mr. Alexander Melikishvili from James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and Professor Gordon M. Hahn. Speakers introduced their viewpoints about the conflict and discussed the possibilities of its peaceful resolution.

For further information please contact:

Andreas Sepp
MA Candidate Spring 2010
MIIS International Policy Studies, Conflict Resolution
831-2246-798
andreas.sepp@miis.edu

Staff Members Discuss Formation of Representative Group

Fifty staff members met Thursday afternoon in Irvine auditorium to initiate discussion about providing an ongoing and sustained voice for staff at the Monterey Institute.

The meeting was facilitated by Provost Amy Sands, but was quickly turned over to break-out groups of staff members who brainstormed possible approaches to representation.

There was broad interest in developing a vehicle analogous to the faculty senate that would represent staff perspectives and concerns in a constructive way that contributes to excellence across the institution.  A working group emerged from this meeting, charged with looking at next steps, such as:

1) Getting more info about who staff are at MIIS;
2) Looking at other institutions to see how their staffs are organized,
starting with Middlebury;
3) Talking to Jeff Wood and others who might have been directly
involved with previous MIIS Staff Groups;
4) Expanding the group of 6 to include 10-12 core members since several staff groups could not attend yesterday’s meeting.

The working group members are:

Karen Weiss
Priscilla Lorenzo
Toni Thomas
Lynn McDonald
Susan Wolfe
Erika Johnson

An Invitation to Be the Solution!

Contribute to a community-wide perspective on big issues: academic excellence, interdisciplinary synergies, Monterey Way 2.0 teaching and learning, student-centered services, “one MIIS.”

Identify and prioritize tasks that need to be accomplished in a semester-long planning process.

What: Half day planning retreats in support of administrative reorganization

Who: Faculty, Staff and Students – choose one or more retreats to attend, based on your interests. Sign up HERE.

When:

* Graduate School of International Policy and Management – Friday, February 20, retreat from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, followed by lunch from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.
* Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation and Language Education – Friday, February 20, lunch from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m., retreat from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
* Advising and Student Services – Friday, February 27, lunch from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m., retreat from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Where: All retreats will take place at the La Playa Hotel in Carmel

Why: The retreats are designed to kick off a semester-long planning process resulting in organizational roadmaps for the two new graduate schools and for a new office of advising and student services.

Expected outcomes include:

* A sense of common purpose and direction, as we move forward
* Excitement about new ideas and synergies
* A set of planning groups with clear tasks for the spring semester, leading to a smooth implementation of the new organizational structure in the summer of 2009

Examples of some of the questions we will consider:

* What will the internal structure of each school look like?
* How will we encourage synergies in program development between the two schools?
* How will the new program heads function within each school, vis-a-vis their deans, their faculty?
* How will the advising and student services functions be organized?
* How will the advising and student services staff interact with the two schools?
* How will the advising and student services functions interact with other administrative areas, such as admissions and alumni relations?
* How will we encourage-disciplinary collaboration and research opportunities among programs and schools?

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS AN FAQ ON THE REORGANIZATION PLANNING PROCESS.