In May 2006, the Middlebury Board of Trustees voted unanimously to endorse a strategic plan, Knowledge Without Boundaries, that reflected the participation and the collective vision of hundreds of members of the Middlebury community — both on and off campus. The plan is available at the Middlebury College web site and hard copies are available on campus in Old Chapel and at the College Library.
For the past nine months, President Ronald D. Liebowitz and members of his senior staff have collaborated with others on campus in implementing recommendations from the plan. The Implementation Table (page 75 of the plan) serves as a guide for this work. Each of the 82 recommendations is assigned to the portfolio of one member of the president’s staff. That person works with managers, offices, and committees to carry out the recommendations.
Two recommendations were completed by early summer 2006 — the adoption by the Board of Trustees of a new mission statement, and the development of an academic rating system by the Middlebury Admissions Office. Forty recommendations were tackled in the summer and fall of 2006, and I report on several of these below. In January, President Liebowitz and his staff identified 44 recommendations, including 34 which we had started to tackle last year, for new or continued emphasis during spring 2007. Of course, many of the strategic recommendations will take more than a semester or a year to implement, and some will go on indefinitely.
The plan emphasizes that we will implement the more costly items by carefully matching implementation steps with available resources. In particular, the successes of fundraising efforts in support of the plan’s objectives will, in part, guide the rate at which we move forward with some items. Examples include the recommended strengthening of our financial aid programs and the expansion of the Middlebury faculty.
Let me turn to several planning recommendations for which good progress has already been made.
#2, #4: Applicants with special talents and exceptional academic credentials
The Admissions staff has implemented an academic rating system, and it identifies and contacts a group of top applicants each March. This year Admissions will bring these students to campus for a special program in early April. Each student will spend time meeting with faculty and current undergraduates who are doing independent work in fields of interest to the newly-admitted student.
#6: Increase the grant component of our aid packages
The College began packaging financial aid with reduced loan expectations for applicants accepted as Early Decision students in December; this packaging will continue for the rest of the Class of 2011. We expect that the new policy will help improve our yield on admitted students for whom high college costs are a deterrent.
#7: Increase the socio-economic diversity of the student body
Beginning with the upcoming spring break, the College will cover travel expenses for five to 10 current undergraduates to travel to their hometowns and visit high schools there to help with recruiting efforts, especially in urban areas where there are more students from underrepresented backgrounds.
#18: Establish a College-wide convocation series
Dean of the College Tim Spears is working with a committee of faculty and staff members to initiate this proposal. The committee is bringing Paul Rusesabagina to campus on Saturday, March 3, for our first College-wide Convocation. Rusesabagina played a dramatic humanitarian role in the genocidal battles in Rwanda in the 1990s. He served as the inspiration for the primary character in the film, Hotel Rwanda. A Middlebury student, Kasima Brown ’09, assisted in bringing Rusesabagina to Middlebury to speak in Mead Chapel. She has done much advance planning, including giving a screening of Hotel Rwanda — thus providing an excellent model for student initiative.
#27: Cultivate and support creativity and innovation
An important part of this focus is on student innovation. Using resources provided by a generous donor who wants to promote entrepreneurship among students, President Liebowitz has appointed Elizabeth Robinson, Middlebury Class of '84, as the director of a program that encourages innovation by students. The program focuses on providing opportunities for students to hone their creative skills and to try their hand at problem-solving outside of a strictly academic, graded environment. One initiative will probably introduce a series of campus-wide competitions for self-assembled teams of students to solve specific challenges.
#31: Expand and support diversity in our community
Shirley Ramirez began her work as dean of institutional diversity in early January, and her impact is already being felt. Dean Ramirez has worked with the president’s staff to review the Palana Center in Carr Hall, and to move ahead with some changes. In September, the residential component of Carr may move to a student academic interest house, a house that will have close ties with the curriculum and the faculty. Carr may then become a faculty office building, bringing together colleagues from areas of the curriculum that address issues of diversity and multiculturalism. It would also continue as a center for academic programming around these issues at the College.
Dean Ramirez is engaging the community on how best to move forward with the Human Relations Committee recommendations submitted last year. She has met with the HRC to report on prioritizing and implementing some of their recommendations. The president's staff has also engaged this report to determine how various departments can help carry out aspects of this report.
#32: Recognize 'Community Partners'
Middlebury was selected by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to be recognized under both the "Curricular Engagement" and "Outreach and Partnerships" categories of the new Community Engagement Classification. Middlebury was one of just four colleges in our 21-college comparison group that achieved this distinction in fall 2006. This national recognition acknowledges Middlebury’s collaboration with the surrounding community both in its academic programs and its service in the area.
#44: Promote student research through a day-long research symposium
Vice President for Academic Affairs Alison Byerly is working with Geology Professor Pat Manley, dean of undergraduate research, on this new initiative. Dean Manley is working with Associate Dean of Students Karen Guttentag and other staff members in organizing the College’s first Student Research Symposium, on Friday, April 13. Student proposals for this event have just now come in.
#56: Add summer graduate programs in languages currently taught to undergraduates
The Chinese graduate program will begin this summer. One option will be a joint program with the Monterey Institute of International Studies, a collaboration that also responds to recommendation #61 on developing opportunities for collaboration with Monterey. A graduate program in Arabic is being explored.
#57: Add new sites abroad in the Language Schools
Middlebury’s new Language School in Arabic will open this September in Alexandria, Egypt. New programs in Bordeaux (France) and Cordoba (Spain) opened in 2006.
#68: Strengthen Middlebury’s environmental leadership and reputation
Nan Jenks-Jay was recently given expanded responsibilities as the dean of environmental affairs. In February 2007, a group of students presented their proposal for carbon-neutrality at the College, and President Liebowitz and the Middlebury Board of Trustees are now examining the proposal.
#76: Increase the availability of alternate forms of transportation
The College has recently provided support to assist in establishing a new regular bus route by Addison County Transit Resources (ACTR) between Middlebury and the Rutland and Brandon areas. The Student Government Association and the Community Council both supported this initiative, and they encouraged the College to assist in it. The bus service enables a number of College staff members to leave their cars at home.
The academic administration and members of the faculty are addressing many other proposals, with energetic activity focused on curricular proposals and rethinking the uses of the faculty’s time.
The examples outlined in this report illustrate the many efforts under way in the community to act upon the recommendations in the strategic plan. The College community is indebted to these individuals for their good work and leadership in advancing the College’s ambitious agendas.
John Emerson
Dean of Planning
March 2, 2007