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MIIS Donor Challenge: Will Match with $25,000 if 250 Give in Next 25 Days

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu Alumni, donors, Featured, newsroom
Donor Challenge

MIIS community members do the math on this exciting challenge!

The Monterey Institute community has been presented with an exciting challenge by long time Board Member and supporter Jed Smith. If 250 alumni and friends of the Institute make a gift of any size in the next 25 days, or from June 5 to June 30, he will match these gifts with $25,000 for financial aid.

Financial aid ensures that great students from all of backgrounds can come together at the Monterey Institute. It’s what makes a MIIS education possible for about 90% of our fantastic students. “I hope this match will inspire others throughout the Monterey Institute community to step up and show their support – MIIS needs us!” says the enthusiastic Jed Smith.

The challenge ends on June 30, so people are encouraged to match Jed Smith in this enthusiasm and give now at go.miis.edu/give. If you already gave this year, an additional gift made in June will still count towards the challenge. Remember any size gift counts!

Toastmaster Magazine Spotlights MIIS Club for Its Unique Multilingual Program

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu Featured, newsroom, Student Life
MIIS Toastmasters

MIIS Toastmasters Club members Molly Lineberger (MBA ’03) and Will Heilbut (MBA ’14)

Highlighting the diverse and international character of the Monterey Institute Toastmasters Club, members have partnered with the school’s translation and interpretation program to offer multilingual live events. At a special event last year members had the option to give a presentation in the language they are most comfortable with, and have their presentation interpreted simultaneously by students into other languages.

Toastmaster Magazine featured the unique event hosted by the MIIS club in its April edition. The club includes members from the Monterey Institute community, faculty, staff, and students as well as people from the local community.

Building on the academic strengths of the Institute and the diverse backgrounds of members, the club’s live event featured seven speeches presented in Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and English, interpreted simultaneously for the audience into those four languages as well as Japanese and French. As member Will Heilbut (MBA ’14) explains in the article, “We not only highlighted the language diversity of our club and our school, but also the complexities of working with an interpreter.”

The MIIS Toastmasters Club created a short short video about their partnership with translation and interpretation program.

MIIS Delegation Makes Waves at National Conference of International Educators

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu careers, Featured, IEM, newsroom, Student Life
National Conference of International Educators

Kristen Greene and Alex Nichol with their co-presenters David Wick and Kevin Long, and MIIS student Heather Frank (MAIEM ’14).

As the International Education Management program at the Monterey Institute heads into its third year, it continues to grow in size and scope. The program is hiring new faculty this summer to prepare for the large incoming class in the fall. That the program is also growing in reputation was clearly evident at the national NAFSA (Association of International Educators) conference in San Diego this week where a delegation of two faculty members, five staff members, half a dozen alumni, and dozens of students made waves with highly regarded presentations and sessions.

Among those presenting were recent alumna Kristen Greene (MAIEM ’13) and current student Alex Nichol (MAIEM/MPA ’14) whose presentation, “Mentoring in International Education: Strategies for Success,” was voted best in session at the 4-day regional conference in November. They were invited to give an encore presentation as part of the Region 12 Highlight. Kristen, who graduated in December, is the International Exchange Coordinator at San Francisco State University. She and Alex presented with two other international education practitioners, David Wick of Santa Clara University and Kevin Long of UC San Francisco.

Other Monterey Institute representatives presenting at the NAFSA conference included Gael Meraud and Jennifer Holguin of the Center for Advising and Career Services (CACS) who presented on “Integrating Career and Academic Advising to Create Globally Competent Leaders,” and current students Jarod Hightower-Mills (MAIEM ’14) and Anessa Escobar (MAIEM ’14) who presented their ideas on the “Integration of Underrepresented Students into Campus Internationalization Efforts.” Program chair Katherine Punteney also hosted workshops on student advising.

Spring Commencement: Celebrating Achievements of 278 Graduates from 40 Countries

Bergthora Gudbergsdottir evag@miis.edu careers, Featured, MBA, newsroom
commencement_miis_2014

Spring Commencement at MIIS, held on Saturday, May 17th 2014 at the historic Colton Hall lawn. 

Under sunny skies on Colton Hall lawn, 278 students from 40 countries received their degrees from the Monterey Institute of International Studies on Saturday afternoon.  Friends and family members gathered from near and far to celebrate their achievements, providing cheers and laughter in competition with the barks of sea lions and calls of seabirds, the daily soundtrack of downtown Monterey.

Commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient David A. Jones, co-founder of Humana, Inc. and a longtime MIIS board member, called language acquisition “the essential gateway to cultural understanding,” and urged the graduates to “be adventurous, be willing to take some risks.”

Former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, who serves on the advisory board of the Institute’s James Martin for Nonproliferation Studies at MIIS, received an honorary degree as well. Also honored at the ceremony were Middlebury trustee emerita and alumna Betty Jones, and longtime MIIS board members Beverly Hamilton and Stephen McDonald.

Student speaker Charles Ruegger, who received his Master’s in Business Administration, highlighted the diversity of the relatively small student body.  “It helps you to see what life is like on the other side of the fence,” said Ruegger adding, “It can really open your eyes.” Prefacing Jones and Ruegger’s comments, the processional featured flag-bearers representing each of the 40 home countries of students in the graduating class, led by bagpiper (and Russian professor) Mike Gillen in full Scottish regalia.

 

 

MIIS Receives $2.1 Million Gift to Support Language Scholarships

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu donors, Featured, language_learning, newsroom, scholarships
Supporting Language Scholarships

Arabic students in the Institute’s Summer Intensive Language Program are among the many potential beneficiaries of the new $2.1 scholarship funds designated to support the acquisition and enhancement of language ability.

The Monterey Institute announced on May 16 that it has received a $2.1 million donation to support student scholarships for the acquisition and enhancement of foreign language ability. The Institute is a graduate school of Middlebury College.

The donor, who asked to remain anonymous, directed that the gift create two endowed scholarship funds, one to honor former Monterey Institute president Clara Yu and her husband, John Deppman, and the other to honor the current president, Sunder Ramaswamy, and his wife, Varna Ramaswamy.

The $2.1 million gift to the Monterey Institute came as part of a $4.2 gift to Middlebury. The other $2.1 million will establish the endowed Jessica K. and Ronald D. Liebowitz Centennial Fellowships Fund to provide financial aid to students attending Middlebury’s summer Language Schools in Vermont and at Mills College in Oakland, CA. That fund honors Middlebury President Ron Liebowitz and his wife, Jessica, and recognizes the Centennial of the Language Schools in 2015.

“We are deeply indebted to this family for its generous support of Middlebury and the Monterey Institute,” said Liebowitz. “Their commitment to providing access to Middlebury’s renowned language programs will make it possible for hundreds of students from around the world to study at these premier institutions.”

“I am overwhelmed and humbled by this donor’s generosity,” added President Ramaswamy. “This gift will truly make a difference in the lives of hundreds of students, sending ripple upon ripple of positive change out into the world in the years ahead.”

MIIS Ranks 2nd Among Peace Corps Masters International Programs

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu Featured, Fellowships, newsroom, peace_corps
Peace Corp Fellowship

Noor Puthawala (MPA ’10, second from right) during her PCMI assignment in Guatemala.

It appears the special relationship that the Monterey Institute and the Peace Corps have enjoyed for decades is only growing stronger. This year, after placing third two years in a row, MIIS ranked second in the nation in terms of number of students participating in the Peace Corps Masters International program or PCMI. Currently twenty-five MIIS students are on Peace Corps assignments in partnering countries through the PCMI program.

Further showing the strength of the connection, the Monterey Institute ranked tenth in the nation for its Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship program, launched in 2012. The fellowship, originally founded by MIIS professor Beryl Levinger, provides graduate school scholarships to returned Peace Corps volunteers who complete a degree-related internship in an underserved U.S. community while pursuing their studies. The program is specifically reserved for students who have already completed their Peace Corps service abroad.

A degree at the Monterey Institute pairs perfectly with the Peace Corps experience. Many Monterey Institute PCMI graduates have spoken about the complimentary combination of classroom theory and fieldwork of their degree, use of advanced language skills, and how happy they are to return to Monterey after two years in the field and get an opportunity to further build on their experience in an environment where so many faculty, staff and fellow students can fully relate. For more information about the Peace Corps connection to MIIS, visit go.miis.edu/peacecorps.

MIIS Launches New Center on Social Impact Learning with Funding from Cordes Foundation

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu Business, development, Featured, FMS, MBA, newsroom, research
Whitney Hales in Belize

Frontier Market Scouts participant Whitney Hales (MBA/MAIEP ’14, right) with cacao farmers in Belize, where she worked in summer 2013 as part of the Maya Mountain Cacao project.

On May 12, the Monterey Institute announced the establishment of a new Center for Social Impact Learning (CSIL), which will bring three existing programs together under a single umbrella:

  • The Institute’s Frontier Market Scouts program, which provides graduate students from MIIS and other schools, as well as mid-career international professionals, with an intensive two-week training program followed by a six-month internship designed to prepare them for careers in impact investing and social venture management;
  • The Ambassador Corps, which will provide undergraduate students at Middlebury College and other schools with ten-week in-field learning experiences in development and business in underdeveloped and emerging economies; and
  • The Development Consulting Program, which will engage MIIS students as team members on projects initiated by some of the most reputable consulting firms to provide pro-bono consulting services to nonprofit organizations.

The latter two programs were created by the new center’s director, Jerry Hildebrand, who most recently headed the Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of the Pacific. Hildebrand was previously the CEO for 17 years of Katalysis Bootstrap Fund, a microfinance organization that provides training, technical assistance, and credit to non-governmental microfinance institutions in Central America. His decades of work in grassroots economic development began in Peru, where he served as one of pioneering Peace Corps volunteers in the early 1960s.

“The opportunity to create a groundbreaking Center for Social Impact Learning at MIIS is truly an enviable task,” said Hildebrand. “The MIIS faculty have already laid the foundation of a rigorous academic program, to which we will add a compelling and innovative experiential learning component. Students will be equipped with a practical problem-solving skill set that will be field tested throughout the developing world.”

The new center plans to develop an active research program on management issues in social venture and impact investing, leveraging existing experiential and professional learning programs. Managing the research program and the academic programming for CSIL is Dr. Yuwei Shi, dean of Graduate School of International Policy and Management at MIIS, who also founded the Frontier Market Scouts program. CSIL also expects to collaborate closely with Middlebury College’s Center for Social Entrepreneurship (CSE), which integrates social entrepreneurship and liberal arts education. According to economics professor Jonathan Isham, the CSE’s faculty director, “MIIS and Middlebury College students should celebrate this grand news. Jerry Hildebrand is one of the true leaders in social entrepreneurship education. My CSE colleagues and I look forward to building opportunities with Jerry and Yuwei, on behalf of students on both coasts.”

“This new venture is unique among the many social entrepreneurship programs in existence today,” noted Monterey Institute President Sunder Ramaswamy, “in that it is designed to serve the full spectrum of budding social entrepreneurs, from undergraduates to graduate students to young professionals. CSIL will offer them not only valuable learning experiences but also seamless transitions from one stage of professional development to the next as they prepare for careers in the social impact investing field.”

The Center for Social Impact Learning will be supported by a generous grant from the Cordes Foundation. The Cordes Foundation was created in 2006 by Ron and Marty Cordes following the sale of Ron’s company, AssetMark Investment Services. One of the major focuses of the foundation’s philanthropy continues to be supporting social entrepreneurship education. The foundation also funds the Cordes Innovation Awards given each year by Ashoka U; the Monterey Institute’s Frontier Market Scouts program won a Cordes award in 2013, and Middlebury’s MiddCORE program was a winner in 2014.

“We are excited to be a seed funder of this groundbreaking new initiative, which aligns our mission with the commitment of MIIS and Middlebury to equip the next generation of leaders in social entrepreneurship,” said Ron Cordes.

The center will formally launch at MIIS effective July 1, with related academic programming beginning in fall 2014.

MIIS Students Again Dominate International Interpreting Competition

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu Featured, Interpretation, newsroom, T&I
Newcastle International Interpreting Competition

Student competitors: Suwen Feng (MACI ’14, 1st place), Yanbo Wang (MACI ’14, 3rd place), Xinyu (Jennifer) Zhang (MACI ’14, 5th place) with Prof. Wallace Chen (MATI ’95, 2nd from left)

Monterey Institute students participating in the 2nd Televic Simultaneous Interpreting Competition in Newcastle, placed individually in first, third and fifth place. Suwen Feng (MATI ’14) placed first in the competition, Yanbo Wang (MATI ’14) third and their classmate Jennifer Zhang (MATI ’14) also made it to the final round to ultimately place fifth. The students are all graduating this spring from the Chinese Translation and Interpretation program.

The MIIS delegation was led by Professor Wallace Chen and it is the second year in row that a MIIS student won the competition. “Together, the three highly talented contestants made MIIS and Chinese T&I shine once again after our first victory last year,” said Prof. Chen.

City of Monterey Recognizes MIIS Students for Exceptional Contribution to Climate Action Plan

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu careers, Energy and Climate Change, Environment, Featured, IEP, internships, newsroom
Climate Action Plan

Matthew Nichols (MAIEP ’14) and Gabriel Kiritz (MAIEP ’14) with members of the Monterey City Council.

Proving yet again that the Monterey Institute prepares students to take on the most pressing issues of our time and “be the solution” in their chosen field, on May 6 the City of Monterey recognized the outstanding contribution of two graduating MIIS students to their Climate Action Plan.

The students, Gabriel Kiritz (MAIEP ’14) and Matthew Nichols (MAIEP ’14), both of the International Environmental Policy program, were specially recognized for their superb analytic and critical thinking skills by their supervisor, Sustainability Coordinator Ted. J. Terrasas. Mayor Chuck Della Sala thanked them on behalf of the City of Monterey, and also recognized MIIS Career and Academic Advisor Edy Rhodes and Director of Outreach and Employer Relations Dayton Hughes for their role in shaping and promoting the internship.

Matthew describes the eight-month internship with the City of Monterey as a “unique and exciting opportunity” to put theory from his academic program into practice at the local level. By working on the Climate Action Plan, Gabriel adds, not only did they gain “invaluable experience in a specific issue” (climate policy), they also had the opportunity to develop their core competencies of policy and data analysis, technical writing, collaboration, and communication.

Matthew goes on to say that the experience of synthesizing hundreds of pages of data and statutes into a series of appropriate policy recommendations was both a great learning experience and a challenge to think outside the box. Both students are happy to add this internship to their resumes, recognizing the value of gaining real-world job experience as part of their degree program.

Matthew and Gabriel will both be honored as “Graduates with Distinction” at Spring Commencement on May 17.

MIIS Professor and Student Win $50,000 Innovator of the Year Award

Anne-Marie Steiger asteiger@miis.edu Business, careers, Community, Environment, Featured, IEP, MBA, newsroom
Monterey Bay Startup Challenge Winners

Monterey Bay Startup Challenge winners Maeve Murphy (MBA/MAIEP ’15) and Professor Jeff Langholz after the competition.

“A supportive culture of innovation exists at MIIS,” says Professor Jeffrey Langholz of the International Environmental Policy program, who this weekend won the main prize of $50,000 and title of Innovator of the Year at the Monterey Bay Startup Challenge along with graduate student Maeve Murphy (MBA/MAIEP ’15). Their idea is called Water City and it helps make water conservation easy and profitable for the public.

Freshwater issues are a passion for Maeve, who is working on a joint degree in business administration and environmental policy. “This is why I came to MIIS,” she says happily, explaining that she has long been bothered by the inefficiencies in the way we handle freshwater. Professor Langholz is also passionate about water issues, and when his colleague Kent Glenzer founded the recent Monterey Institute Community Innovation Challenge for students with a challenge focused on water issues, Jeff started thinking actively of solutions.

When Maeve made an appointment with Professor Langholz in February to discuss career options, he shared his water ideas and they decided to combine their strengths. For Maeve, the challenge came at a perfect time. “It was a real-world situation in which I could apply my education thus far to an idea that I am passionate about. There were countless times I would be in class and would realize that what we were learning that moment I could apply to the Water City project and would pull open my notes or financial spreadsheet and start adjusting immediately.” Smiling wryly, Langholz says,”MIIS faculty are in the business of making students’ dreams come true.”

When MIIS faculty and students put their heads together, the rest of the world benefits. But these two do not want to take all the credit for their success so far. “This may have looked like a single student and a single professor,” says Langholz, ”but more than 40 people on campus supported the effort – that’s how it works at MIIS!”