Day: July 19, 2009

We will be undertaking a software upgrade to the Institute course management system: Moodle, accessible online at http://elearning.miis.edu.

This upgrade will bring the site software up to date and help resolve authentication protocols with the Middlebury network as we continue to align systems with Exchange and Bannerweb.

Our goal is to make this process as minimally disruptive to students, faculty, and staff as possible.

Please mark your calendars for the upgrade currently set for August 17th & 18th.  The Moodle server will be down for these two days.

A notice about the site maintenance schedule will be prominently posted on the Moodle homepage, and reminders will be sent out as we approach the upgrade dates.

If you have any specific concerns or course conflicts with the upgrade schedule, please contact Bob Cole or John Grunder.

The Student Council is responsible for recruiting 40+ volunteers to facilitate the Community Building Activities during New Student Orientation in late August.  Greg Freeman, the SC President, recruited a good number of student volunteers; however, students have requested that we add more faculty and staff into the group of facilitators.

As a Community Building volunteer, you will co-facilitate a group of 10-20+ incoming students from a mix of programs and cultures in getting to know each other and MIIS.  Peter Shaw will train you in many creative icebreakers and team-building activities.  You will also lead the Great MIIS Campus Treasure Hunt (with prizes for the winning team).  Past facilitators have had great fun meeting new people and practicing their facilitation and cross-cultural skills.

If you are on campus during the dates listed below and you would like to volunteer, please click on the link to the Google Spreadsheet and add your information to a new row. Your participation will be greatly appreciated.  For those that will volunteer, more information will be sent to you by email the week prior to Orientation.

If you have already signed up to volunteer, but your plans have changed, please update the Google Spreadsheet accordingly.

DATES & TIMES:

Monday, August 24, 2009
Facilitator Training
10:30am-11:30am
Holland Center
Food and beverages provided

12:00-2:30pm
Community Building Activity Session With New Students

Thursday, August 27, 2009
Community Building Activity Session Part Two
2:30pm-5:00pm

Friday, August 28, 2009
Facilitator Debrief Meeting and Luncheon
12:00- 1:00pm – B106

Monterey Institute student Nikita Perfilyev was awarded the special prize “New Talent in Nonproliferation” by the Russian Center for Policy Studies (PIR Center) on July 3, 2009. In addition to studying nonproliferation at the Institute with the support of a Fulbright fellowship, Nikita is a research assistant at the James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He is currently studying Chinese at the Middlebury Language Schools.  More information.