Category Archives: News From the President

Where in the world is?

As many of you know, a series of office moves occurred over the summer, to concentrate the majority of faculty in McCone, the IIRC, and/or Casa Fuente.  

Please see this series of maps for the McCone and IIRC buildings and portions of Casa Fuente and McGowan that show where faculty and staff affected by the move are now located. 

In some cases, entire departments were moved, such as the Intensive & Custom Language Programs (main office now located in Suite 103 of the McGowan Building) and the Advancement Office (now located in Suite 300 of the McGowan Building).

Please note that staff in many other buildings on campus were not affected by the moves and as a result, are not included in the attached document.

Barbara Burke
Executive Assistant to the President
MIIS

Upcoming Spring Commencement/Inauguration

Dear Members of the MIIS Community:

We are now just three weeks from one of the most exciting times of the year –
commencement.  This event represents the culmination of years of work and
study for hundreds of our students, and is a chance for family members and
guests to celebrate with us this momentous time in our students’ lives.

This year’s spring commencement will include all of the customary celebrations
– the garden party reception on Friday, May 15, the commencement ceremony
itself on Saturday, May 16, and the commencement reception afterwards.  In
addition, the commencement ceremony will include my formal inauguration as
president of the Institute.

The decision to join the two events offers a wonderful opportunity to showcase
the amazing work our students and faculty are doing both locally and around
the globe for a wide audience encompassing the campus community, our
Board of Trustees, and our friends and supporters.  The day before
commencement, on May 15 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, we will convene an
inaugural symposium titled “Being The Solution: Building Leadership From
Monterey To Mumbai,” which will feature sessions and stations spotlighting a
variety of student and faculty projects, accomplishments, and disciplines.  In
that way, the symposium will provide rich context for family members and
guests in particular to understand the scope and significance of our graduating
students’ achievements.  All MIIS community members – students, family
members and guests, alumni, faculty and staff — are invited to attend the
symposium.

The schedule of events for May 15-16 is as follows:

Friday, May 15

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm   Inauguration Symposium
Irvine Auditorium
(Agenda: commencement-inauguration-symposium-agenda)

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm   Graduation Garden Party
Holland Center Courtyard
Saturday, May 16

1:00 pm – 3:30 pm   Commencement and Inauguration
Colton Hall Lawn

3:30 pm – 5:30 pm   Commencement Reception
Samson Student Center

I look forward to sharing with you two days of celebration of the Institute, our
important mission, and the students who are our reason for being here.

Best regards,
Sunder

Chair of Fisher International MBA Program

Dear Monterey Institute Faculty, Staff and Students:

I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Bruce Paton will be the Chair of the Fisher Program of International Business (Fisher International MBA). The decision has been made after deliberation and consultation with President Sunder Ramaswamy, Provost Amy Sands, the Fisher Faculty and Staff, and the incoming Program Chairs of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management.

Dr. Bruce Paton is Visiting Associate Professor of Sustainable Business and Strategy at the Monterey Institute. He is Associate Professor at San Francisco State University’s College of Business, where he teaches courses on corporate social responsibility and sustainable business at undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. He was named the Teaching Professor of the Year for the College of Business in 2005. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at Monterey Institute since 2002. Dr. Paton has been actively involved in curriculum reform at SF State. He served on a Dean’s Taskforce on Graduate Programs that led to streamlined MBA program requirements. He also chaired the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee during its preparation for the AACSB’s re-accreditation process. Dr. Paton currently serves as Board Chair for Sustainable Silicon Valley, a collaboration of nearly 100 businesses, cities, and community organizations that works to focus the region’s leaders on its most important environmental challenges and opportunities. He also serves on the International Planning Board for the Greening of Industry Network, and on the editorial board for the Journal, Business Strategy and Environment.

Dr. Paton focuses his research on business strategies and public policies for sustainability, especially the development of methods for designing and evaluating voluntary and collaborative initiatives to address social and environmental issues in management. His research and teaching draw on more than twenty years of decision-making experience in industry, government and higher education, including the District of Columbia government, an environmental policy consulting firm, Hewlett-Packard, and a Silicon Valley startup. He also served for two years as Director of Admissions for the MBA Program at Stanford University. Dr. Paton holds a BA in Environmental Science from Wesleyan University, an MBA from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

– Dr. Yuwei Shi, Dean-Designate of GSIPM

ANNOUNCEMENT OF APPOINTMENT OF THREE NEW DEANS

To All MIIS Students:

I am excited to announce the new academic leadership team that will guide the Institute through the ongoing academic reorganization. In November, I provided the Institute community with job descriptions for these three critical positions within the transformed academic administration, and began the search for strong leaders and managers to fill these posts.

After an extensive and thorough review of the candidates with Provost Amy Sands and the Faculty Senate, we reached unanimous agreement on the following appointments:

Dean of Advising, Career, and Student Services

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Tate Miller as the Dean of Advising, Career, and Student Services, effective April 1, 2009. Tate brings to this position a range of experience and expertise that will be crucial to the success of this newly created post. Not only does he have direct experience with the Institute from the perspective of a former student, having received his MA from the Commercial Diplomacy program, but for several years he also taught in the Monterey Institute Trade Policy Program and served as an assistant dean in GSIPS, providing career and academic advice to students. Tate also has taught at Shandong University and lectured at Beijing University in China. While in China he engaged in numerous programs to train Chinese officials in Western business practices and in WTO dispute settlement procedures.

Tate, in collaboration with senior staff and the two other deans, will seek to deliver advising support to the entire student body as seamlessly and efficiently as possible, building upon the existing culture of service among staff and faculty so that students experience this new structure as a step toward fulfilling the Institute’s commitment to academic excellence.

Dean of the Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Renee Jourdenais as the dean of the new Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education (GSTILE) effective June 1, 2009. Renee’s administrative experience, educational expertise, and professional work make her an excellent candidate to lead what will be the only school in the country with sizable and strong programs in both T&I and language education.

Since receiving her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and joining the faculty of the Institute’s TESOL/TFL program, Renee has broadened her academic reach so that she now can teach almost any class within the TESOL program, has strong credentials as a manager of academic programs, and has collaborated with T&I colleagues to develop testing and evaluation tools.

Renee will be able quickly to initiate efforts to enhance the new school’s theoretical expertise and research, professional education and training, and innovative approaches to learning a second language, teaching a second language, and becoming an effective translator and interpreter. Equally important, she has the leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills required to work with her faculty colleagues, fellow senior administrators, and other deans to attain the Institute’s goals.

Dean of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Yuwei Shi as the dean of the new Graduate School of International Policy and Management (GSIPM) effective June 1, 2009. Before coming to the Monterey Institute, Yuwei taught at the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where he was the deputy director of the MBA Management of Technology program and founding director of the Nanyang Executive Program.  He also taught MBA and doctoral courses and seminars in major universities in the U.S., China, and Singapore.

Yuwei specializes in corporate- and business-level strategic planning, organizational diagnosis and design, and strategic planning leveraging emerging business technologies. His consulting and executive management training clients range from high-tech startups to global Fortune 200 companies and governments in North America, Europe, and Asia. Yuwei’s strong commitment to academic excellence is reflected in his receiving the 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award and his substantial work on the Academic Excellence Task Force, the Institute’s Innovation Committee, and Scholar Ship pizza group. He also is now at the center of many of the Business School’s innovative activities and courses, working with its student task force to ensure a smooth transition to the new school structure. His compassion, creativity, and directness are characteristics of the strong leadership style that will support his ability to turn his vision into specific, effective, and relevant programs and courses.
Finally, I would like to thank our current deans — Chuanyun Bao, Renee Jourdenais, Ed Laurance, and Ernie Scalberg — for their hard work and enthusiastic efforts during the last few years. Their leadership has been crucial to the success of our strategic planning and academic excellence initiatives as they brought stability and experience to a very dynamic and innovative environment. Given the strong commitment of Ed, Ernie, and Chuanyun to the Monterey Institute and its future success, I am confident that they will provide the mentoring and insights to ensure a smooth transition as we move a new team of deans into place.

I look forward to working with Amy Sands and this dynamic team of deans to help guide MIIS through the exciting times ahead as the Institute continues its pursuit of academic excellence and formally integrates with Middlebury. The next step will be to fill in the structures below the deans. I expect to provide additional information about this sub-structure before the retreats on February 20th and 27th. I have also engaged the Student Council on how best to use student input as we move forward with the academic reorganization. I look forward to the active participation of MIIS students in the months to come as we begin to shape the future curriculum at the heart of the MIIS experience.

 

Open Study Rooms

Please note this message from the President’s Office regarding open study rooms:

Monterey Institute Students:

In an effort to provide additional student studying space during the evening
hours, the following rooms in the Morse Building will be available from 6PM –
11PM Sunday through Thursday for open studying:

A200, A201, A202, A203, A204, A205

In addition, A202 will be available for open study during the lunch hour from
11AM – 2PM Monday –  Friday, to free up tables in the Samson Center for dining. 
Please note that beginning later this week, the two rows of tables in the
Samson Dining Room will be reserved for diners-only during these hours. 

Barbara Burke
Executive Assistant to the President
MIIS

New And Improved Samson Center Dining Room!

Announcing Your New and Improved Samson Center Dining Room!Over the semester break, the Samson Center Dining Room has undergone renovations designed to provide students with a more comfortable and efficient environment for both dining and study. The newly revamped Dining Room will re-open on February 2nd, with expanded seating and an exciting new food service vendor, “The World Cafe”.

“The World Cafe” will initially be open Monday – Friday from 7:30AM to 7:00PM, serving a variety of menu options, including breakfast cereals, grilled items, roasted chicken, fish, vegetarian options, and Mexican and Asian cuisine, among others. “The World Cafe” will also feature cappuccinos and espressos. Stop by and try them out soon and keep your eye out for additional postings of their menu and other features.

***Please note that the two rows of tables closest to the food service area will be reserved for “dining only” from 11AM – 2PM Monday through Friday.***

New renovations in the Dining Room include:

• Three newly installed countertop workstations and accompanied new seating, with additional electrical outlets for laptops.
• Four new cafe-style tables and new seating.
• New, comfortable four-inch seat cushions on all chairs in the Dining Room.

More Space to “Plug In” and Get Straight to Work
(without taking up tables!)

Renovations of Apartment Building Complete

Renovations of Apartment Building at Corner of Van Buren and Franklin Completed

Renovations have been completed on the Monterey Institute apartment building located at the corner of Van Buren and Franklin Streets. This project, headed by Controller Steve Marino, has resulted in a completely remodeled building that will provide market-rate housing for Institute faculty and staff and a guesthouse unit for VIPs and other Institute visitors. The apartment’s landscaping was designed and completed by Classroom and Grounds Supervisor Marty Goss and Classroom and Grounds Assistant Kirk Eckhardt and incorporates drought-resistant plants and drip irrigation.

This building has incorporated the following green improvements in order to comply with new Monterey Green Building Codes, emphasize our commitment to sustainability, and provide a comfortable, healthy environment for those occupying the house.

• Plumbing: Installation of high-performance, low-flow showerheads, low-flow faucets, insulated plumbing and pipes (to keep heat from escaping), and low-flow toilets.

• Energy: The building will have 95% efficient furnaces, a high-efficiency water heater, and a vent kitchen range hood to the outside (in order to keep pollutions and odors from contaminating the house).
• Flooring: 
–  Recycled-content tile and low volatile organic compound (VOC), water-based wood finishes.
 – Recycled-content, non-toxic, tack-down carpet, padding and underlayment (Recycled content: PET plastic bottles, recycled wool, nylon, or recycled cotton. Tack-down installation is easier to remove than glue-down, eliminates toxic glue chemicals, and allows the carpeting to be partially recycled at the “end” of its life.).

• Paint: The paint used in this building is low VOC.
• Reuse/Recycling: Construction and deconstruction waste was reused and job site waste was recycled to the extent possible.

 

MIIS Reorganization Planning Meetings

To: MIIS Faculty, Staff, and Students
Fr: Office of the President
Re: MIIS Reorganization Planning MeetingsMonterey Institute faculty, staff, and students are all invited to join President Designate Sunder Ramaswamy for an initial discussion about the MIIS reorganization planning process on Thursday, November 13, 2008.

The agenda of the meeting will be to share guiding principles, expected outcomes, and indicative timeline with the MIIS community, including how the community will be able to participate in and contribute to the reorganization efforts going forward. In addition, there will be a brief update provided on the current integration progress with Middlebury.

To enable more interactive, focused discussions, Dr. Ramaswamy will hold four one-hour meetings with faculty, staff, and students, one for each school. Administrative staff may join any of the four meetings of their choosing. If faculty, staff, and students cannot attend their school’s session for any reason, they are welcome to attend another school’s session. Please find the meeting schedule below:

Meeting Schedule – Thursday, November 13

12:00PM GSTI Irvine Auditorium

1:00PM FGSIB Irvine Auditorium

2:00PM GSIPS Irvine Auditorium

4:00PM GSLEL Irvine Auditorium

We look forward to your attendance and contributions as we begin this exciting process in achieving an even stronger, better institution for our future global leaders.

President Yu’s Office Hours

Faculty, Staff, and Students of the Monterey Institute:Just a reminder that President Clara Yu will hold another set of open office hours next Tuesday, November 4 from 12:00PM – 2:00PM here in the President’s Office of the Segal Building. In order to maximize the allotted time, individual meetings will be scheduled with her for every 15 minutes on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have a desire to meet with Clara, please e-mail me, with the time that might work best for you during the two-hour period. I will then respond confirming your scheduled time.

Thanks!
Barbara Burke
Executive Assistant to the President
MIIS

Suggestion Boxes Now on Campus

Dear Monterey Institute Community:There are now two suggestion boxes located on campus, available for anyone to add their comments, suggestions, recommendations, etc. One box is located across from the main desk in the library (just inside the front door, to the right). The other is on the wall near the elevator/stairs in Casa Fuente leading down to Pacific Street. The President’s Office will empty the boxes every two weeks and route to the appropriate department to handle. If you have any questions, just let me know.

Barbara Burke
Executive Assistant to the President
MIIS