In order to provide the finest physical environment, the College should practice responsible stewardship of our landscape, buildings, and human capital. In all areas of the institution we should promote the principles of environmental sustainability, accessibility, and the efficient and coordinated use of human capital.
Education at Middlebury College takes place both within and beyond the classroom, in an environment that is conducive to learning and that fosters stimulating conversation. Our natural setting in Vermont's Champlain Valley is crucial to our identity, providing refreshment and inspiration as well as a forum for community engagement. Our facilities not only support our academic and extracurricular programs but also impart a sense of permanence, stability, tradition, and stewardship.
Recommendation #63: Revise and expand the campus master plan to reflect the strategic plan.
The growth of Middlebury's physical plant during the past two decades has significantly enhanced the opportunities for learning on campus while also boosting the College's reputation as a leading liberal arts college. At the same time, many respondents to our planning surveys expressed concern that the development of new infrastructure neither compromise the human scale of the campus nor disrupt the open vistas that have long distinguished Middlebury's natural landscape. The Planning Committee believes it is imperative that we preserve the physical beauty of our Vermont campus and that we approach all prospective building projects with a keen awareness of the College's historical commitment to environmental responsibility.
The College is undertaking a new master planning process that will explore and incorporate the facilities implications of the strategic plan to create a framework for development of the campus over the next 5, 10 and 25 years. Of particular importance are the completion of the Commons, as well as plans for transportation (cars, people, service and emergency vehicles), sustainability, accessibility, academic and administrative department distribution, landscape, and utilities. We recommend that the campus master plan encourage human-intensive activities to take place near the central arteries of the campus, while preserving the "open" and "green" character of the core campus.
The Commons System
The Commons system represents a compelling vision for residential life at Middlebury, and we are mindful of the progress that the College has made in developing it since the Board of Trustees endorsed the Enhanced Residential Plan in 1998. In particular, the completion of Ross Commons and Atwater Commons provides models for student residential life. At the same time, the lack of equitable housing across the five Commons, especially the lack of sufficient senior quality housing in Brainerd, Cook, and Wonnacott Commons, has hindered the system's acceptance among students.
With Atwater and Ross Commons now "fully articulated," we face the challenge of eventually finishing the physical infrastructure for the remaining three Commons. This plan recommends that the College focus first on supporting Commons programming and providing more equitable access to existing senior housing. We should then return to the Commons infrastructure, where our first priority is to provide upgraded housing for seniors and the second is to construct additional dining halls. Given other planning priorities and the College's finite resources, we recognize that we are not likely to achieve all of these objectives within the scope of this planning process. We therefore urge that the College press ahead with plans to enhance the programmatic aspects of Commons life and to find ways, apart from building new residence halls, to improve access to good senior housing across the Commons.
Recommendation #64: Complete the Commons physical infrastructure.
We are committed to the eventual completion of Middlebury's residential Commons system. We recommend that the College move ahead with plans to renovate additional senior living quarters in selected residence halls. We further recommend that the College identify ways in which the "public" residential spaces in Brainerd, Cook, and Wonnacott Commons can be enhanced. These enhancements might include refurbished and expanded lounges, additional or improved kitchens, and the more prominent display of student artwork in public spaces.
The completion of the Commons residential spaces will likely mean building three new residence halls to serve Brainerd, Cook, and Wonnacott Commons. A consideration of the College's financial capacity, and of the claims of other significant planning initiatives on our resources, suggests that the timing of these projects needs careful consideration. Therefore, we recommend a plan for the renovation of existing dormitories and the construction of new residence halls that proceeds in phases.
In the short term, Proctor Hall will continue to provide dining for many students, and needed upgrades to its infrastructure cannot wait for the future construction of additional Commons dining. We recommend that the College take needed steps soon to extend the useful life of Proctor Hall by renovating and upgrading the building's mechanical systems, serving area, dining hall, and lounges. The construction of the remaining dining halls for Brainerd, Cook, and Wonnacott should await the completion of Commons housing.
Recommendation #65: Equalize housing opportunities for seniors.
Until attractive senior housing is available in all five Commons, the College should consider revising its room draw procedures, or redistributing housing from Ross and Atwater, so that rising seniors have relatively equal access to high quality housing. We propose that the Dean of the College convene a working group that includes Commons leaders and student representatives to study this issue and develop recommendations for addressing senior housing needs.
Academic Buildings
We are fortunate with the recent addition of two state-of-the-art facilities that support the academic program: McCardell Bicentennial Hall (in 2000) and the new Library (in 2004). The 2008 opening of the Axinn Center at Starr Library, which will house a center for literary and cultural studies as well as the history department, will provide many needed faculty offices and teaching spaces. Nevertheless, there are some pressing facilities needs in the academic program, which will necessitate shifts in several academic departments over the next five years. The Bread Loaf campus has its own facilities needs; we have placed our recommendations for Bread Loaf in Chapter Four.
Recommendation #66: Improve space for departments and programs.
We recognize a need to provide space for additional faculty, and for departmental consolidation in the context of the master planning effort. When the Axinn Center opens, several departments will vacate space in Munroe, Adirondack, and Wright Theater, and this change will provide the opportunity to consolidate other departments currently located in more than one building. The campus Master Plan will provide additional information in a more comprehensive view of the College's facility needs.
Recommendation #67: Create more space for the arts.
We recognize a need to make more space available for studio art classes and students. It is increasingly difficult to accommodate the studio art program in safe and suitable spaces in Johnson, and other campus spaces are being used for student work in an ad hoc manner. A recent external review of the studio art program noted the lack of appropriate space for thesis students' work and even for some classroom work. As the forthcoming master planning process considers reallocation of academic program space it should consider these needs.
We recommend that Commons buildings include spaces for music and dance practices, informal performance, and student art exhibitions. Providing such spaces will help diminish the current division between artistic activity that is based in the academic programs, and student-initiated performance groups or projects that often compete for space with "official" events. The College will consider these needs as it completes the remaining infrastructure for the Commons.
Though the arts are vibrant and thriving on the Middlebury campus, artistic activity is often concentrated in a few dedicated spaces, such as in the Center for the Arts, rather than being visible in many places across campus. We should seek to integrate art with other forms of campus life, and to make artistic production, practice, and performance something that happens all around us. Better mechanisms and support for mounting displays of faculty and student artwork throughout the campus would strengthen the community's appreciation for creative work.
Guidelines for Future Growth
The Middlebury College environment extends beyond particular buildings and infrastructure to embrace not only the Town of Middlebury and other surrounding communities but also the natural landscape of the Champlain Valley. As the College improves its physical plant through new construction and renovation, we should bear in mind this sense of connectedness and responsibility.
Recommendation #68: Strengthen our environmental leadership and reputation.
Middlebury College's tradition of environmental awareness formally began in 1965 by establishing the first undergraduate environmental studies program in the country. More recently, the College's environmental achievements and sustainable endeavors have received high visibility in the local and national media and at many national and global conferences, in addition to recognition through numerous awards. We believe that Middlebury can further strengthen its position as an environmental leader by continuing to provide an exemplary education that incorporates scholarship, research, and applied experience spanning from local to global, and preparing our students for a world in which environmental issues are embedded in every decision.
Recommendation #69: Pursue alternative environmentally-friendly energy sources.
Middlebury has a demonstrated commitment to research, test, and utilize alternative energy sources and building methods that are more environmentally-friendly than traditional practices—for example solar panels on a campus building, a wind generator, or College vehicles fueled by bio-diesel fuel or electricity. Of particular note is the biomass plant that is under development at the central heating plant; it offers the potential to pay for itself in a few years, to realize significant cost savings for the College in the long run, and to reduce our dependence on petroleum-based energy sources. We should enhance our effort to purchase clean, renewable energy; implement additional alternative energy systems; and maintain our momentum towards the timely fulfillment of our carbon reduction commitment. These steps will aid the College in achieving the student-initiated goal endorsed in a 2004 vote of the Board of Trustees for reducing the College's greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Recommendation #70: Design energy efficient buildings and operations.
Future campus renovation and new construction should incorporate sustainable design and construction as well as highly energy-efficient systems. In addition, our daily campus operations should feature sustainable practices and energy efficiency; therefore, we should enhance our program to encourage resource conservation by all members of the campus community.
Recommendation #71: Consider the various impacts of development on the College campus and the natural environment.
With the development of a new facilities Master Plan during 2006 and early 2007, the College is adopting a strategy of comprehensive campus planning that addresses both the built and the natural environment. A trustee resolution led to the creation of "Designing the Future: A Framework for Sustainable Design and Environmental Construction at Middlebury College", which should be incorporated into the College's Building Design Guidelines as well as inform the new Master Plan process. In carrying out renovation or new construction, attention should be given to the siting of buildings, view corridors, relationship to the natural environment, lighting, landscaping, and circulation, as well as land-use policies that incorporate best stewardship practices, restoration, and creative options for land use.
Recommendation #72: Support sustainable agricultural practices.
The College is a strong supporter of local farmers and local producers. Approximately 20 percent of the College's food purchases come from local farms or producers. A greenhouse where students conduct research provides greens and herbs for campus food operations, and a student-run organic garden not only provides produce but cultivates an appreciation of local agrarian concerns. Our use of local sustainable wood in campus construction and furnishings has been a catalyst for a new sustainable wood industry in Vermont. The College should continue and expand practices that have a positive environmental influence on Vermont and the region, as well as enhance sustainability principles at Middlebury's programs across the United States and abroad.
Recommendation #73: Continue to manage College lands responsibly.
The College should continue to manage its open lands carefully, especially with regard to sustainable development, mixed use areas, and landscape-level issues in the region (agriculture, forestry, wetlands, restoration, and pathways). We should also continue to use these resources for educational purposes and for student research projects. College lands are overseen by the Board through an ad hoc subcommittee on lands, and the proceeds resulting from their careful development should support the educational mission of the College.
Recommendation #74: Continue making alterations to facilities that improve their accessibility for those with disabilities, and work toward universal access.
The College has made good progress in enhancing the accessibility of its physical plant, both with new buildings and with renovated spaces. Nonetheless, our location on a hillside, winter climate, and many older buildings mean that universal accessibility remains a significant challenge. Renovation projects each year afford opportunities to incorporate principles of universal access. We urge the College to include a full access survey, estimate, and implementation plan as part of the Master Plan. The goal should be to implement universal access over some defined number of years, at the same time that funding for this effort is balanced with the other fiscal needs of the College.
Recommendation #75: Better utilize existing facilities through efficient scheduling and management.
The recommendation in this plan for improving the student-faculty ratio and for a reduction in the number of courses that enroll over 50 students means that even with a student body fixed at 2,350 students, more small and mid-sized classrooms may be needed. Instead of constructing yet additional classrooms after the completion of the Starr-Axinn project, the College should seek to use buildings and existing classrooms for longer periods during the day, especially at lower-use hours, and to maximize our use of the physical plant and the energy necessary to operate it. A space management system should also address competing demands for building use by the academic program and other College offices, as well as work space assignments for College employees.
A Pedestrian-Friendly Campus
A pedestrian-friendly campus is one in which the physical and cultural environment of the campus is strongly conducive to the use of non-motorized and public modes of transportation. The College community has discussed various suggestions for becoming a more pedestrian-friendly campus over the past 15 years, and the present strategic planning progress provides an opportunity for us to take the next steps.
Success in moving ahead with the pedestrian-friendly campus will depend in part on our addressing transportation needs in the College community. A comprehensive transportation study as part of the campus Master Plan will carefully examine how we move people and vehicles (service, passenger, emergency) through the campus, with a goal of making it more pedestrian-friendly. The next four recommendations identify goals and strategies that should be a part of a transportation plan emerging from this study.
Recommendation #76: Increase availability of alternate forms of transportation.
To promote non-motorized transportation on campus, we need to provide safe and universally accessible travel paths that accommodate both pedestrians and bicyclists. Although winter conditions make maintenance of pathways a challenge, we should seek to improve their utility and make them look less like roads designed for vehicular traffic. Our successful "yellow bike" program serves as an example of what we can do to reduce our dependence on motor vehicles on campus.
Changes in car usage should be augmented by more frequent campus shuttles (fueled by green technology) to transport students, faculty, and staff around campus, especially in winter. We recommend a further expansion of the Addison County Transit Resources' shuttle service to help address transportation needs on campus as well as those between the College and transportation centers in nearby cities. We note the recent discontinuation by Vermont Transit of bus service between Middlebury and Burlington and Rutland; this change creates a need for additional shuttle services to nearby cities where connections are available to major population centers. The College fleet and campus vehicles should continue to be converted to alternatively fueled vehicles following the example of the electric golf carts, Honda hybrid sedan, bio-diesel Gators, and Gem electric truck.
Recommendation #77: Search for creative ways to reduce reliance on private vehicles.
As an environmental leader, Middlebury should address the growing and multidimensional problem of cars on campus. This step would elevate the profile of Middlebury's commitment to the environment, social equity, institutional health, and relations with the surrounding town and communities. Over many years, representative groups on campus, including Faculty Council, Staff Council, Student Government Association, Environmental Council, and the Carbon Reduction Initiative Working Group, have sought solutions to this complex challenge. We recommend that the College implement a comprehensive plan to reduce the reliance on motor vehicles both on and around campus. Among the steps that should be considered are the following: providing incentives for faculty, staff, and students not to bring cars to campus; restricting student cars; providing premium parking spots for those who carpool; and requiring that student cars be parked in assigned lots at the periphery of the campus. Our strategy should also include ongoing community education about newly introduced policies and their environmental, social, and community benefits. We recommend that the President appoint a committee to assist the College in moving toward implementation of these proposals.
Recommendation #78: Convert Old Chapel Road into a pedestrian-friendly campus artery.
A reconfiguration of Old Chapel Road is an important and symbolic step toward the realization of a pedestrian campus. Making Old Chapel Road more pedestrian-friendly may lead to a loss of parking spaces; the changes would necessitate the creation of additional parking for College employees. With any plan that emerges, limited parking needs to remain on Old Chapel Road for those with disabilities who need access to the central campus, and we must also provide for access by emergency and service vehicles.
Recommendation #79: Explore ways to support development of a Cornwall Path.
Conversations have begun with the Town of Cornwall and the Addison County Planning Commission about the possibility of developing a trail through College lands from the McCardell Bicentennial Hall parking lot to James Road. We envision a dirt trail similar to the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM). Such a trail would offer an opportunity for recreation and relaxation to members of the larger community and also provide more convenient access to the knoll where the College's organic garden has been established. Questions remain about the most appropriate way to develop such a path. But we believe that, in some form, it could be extremely valuable both in itself as well as a way to bring into focus the many resources for environmental education clustered on that side of the campus. Among these are the garden, the recycling center, the windmill, and a field in which students and a local farm have begun discussing the possibility for an organic dairy operation.
Town-Gown Cooperation
The College's location on a ridge, which looks toward the Town of Middlebury and the Green Mountains to the east and toward rolling farmland and the Adirondack Mountains to the west, contributes immeasurably to what makes Middlebury College uniquely attractive to prospective students from around the world. We believe that few colleges and their towns have experienced more mutual benefits from their cooperation over the years than have Middlebury College and the Town of Middlebury. As the "Town's College" we should continue to identify new opportunities for cooperation and collaboration with the Town of Middlebury.
Recommendation #80: Cultivate open dialogue with the Town.
We urge the President and the Treasurer to continue to maintain and cultivate an open dialogue between the College and the Town as partners sharing a location, land, infrastructure, and resources. Regular meetings with town officials contribute more generally to positive relations in the community. We believe that the College has done this well, and we urge that it continue.
We cite the College's recent financial commitments to the Town of Middlebury, Porter Hospital, the Middlebury Area Land Trust, the United Way, and other area organizations as positive examples of such cooperation. The College should continue working with the Middlebury Area Land Trust on trails, parks, and agricultural and viewshed easements, because these are initiatives from which both Town and College can benefit.
To foster additional town-gown connections, we suggest that the College and the Town consider the possibility of sharing spaces where appropriate. Places and facilities that serve the public as well as the College create points of interface and help build community. The Town Hall Theater is a good example of a place whose vitality would be enhanced through joint development and shared use.
Recommendation #81: Limit the use of community housing by students.
The College should reduce its pressures on the community's residential housing stock by continuing to limit the number of seniors who are permitted to live off campus. We believe that having 60 seniors in off-campus housing is about right, and that it is unwise to allow this number to rise to 100 or more as it did a few years ago. We note that with a gradual and modest growth in the size of the faculty, it is more desirable to have newer faculty members living in the town community not far from campus both from the College and Town's perspectives.
Recommendation #82: Address traffic and commuting concerns.
The College should cooperate with town officials as they explore ways to address the gradually worsening local traffic situation. The Board of Selectmen has recommended a second bridge; if the project moves ahead, it could help reduce potential risks for the College in having a single relatively narrow bridge that fire-fighting equipment needs to cross in the event of a fire on campus or in the adjacent community. The College should also consider strategies that could enable more College employees to live closer to campus. For example a few small houses now used by students might gradually be converted to housing for new faculty and staff. Among the several benefits would be a reduced amount of commuting in Addison County.