In May 2006, the Middlebury Board of Trustees voted unanimously to endorse a strategic plan, Knowledge Without Boundaries. The plan is available on the Middlebury College Web site. The strategic plan also serves as the foundation for the Middlebury Initiative, a fund-raising campaign that began in October 2007.
This report outlines progress made with the strategic-planning agenda during the period December 2008 through April 2009. For the sake of convenience in reviewing the recommendations, this report identifies items by the number they are identified with in the recommendations section of the strategic plan. Although progress is ongoing in many areas, there were no significant changes to report for those recommendations that are not listed below.
While we continue to reprioritize different aspects of the strategic plan in light of the current financial climate, the implementation of the strategic plan continues. However, the pace of implementation in some cases is directly affected by the availability of resources.
Recommendation #2: Seek more applicants with special academic talents.
Recommendation #4: Identify and recruit more top-rated academic applicants.
This year, as in the past three years, part of admissions’ decision-making process was to identify early possible recipients of an “Early Notification Letter” from us, applicants who are particularly compelling in the overall Regular Decision pool and who receive their offer of admission several weeks earlier than the rest of the admitted group. This year, we identified 122 such applicants, and shortly after receiving their offers of admission, faculty from the departments in which they are most interested began contacting them by e-mail and telephone. Grant-eligible applicants within this group also received an offer of financial assistance for travel to Middlebury to attend one of our Preview Days programs.
Recommendation #5: Move gradually toward a voluntary February admission program.
In our preliminary application, we ask students to indicate their preference for enrollment date: September only, February only, or both. Increasingly, and thanks to the publicity that we have given to the February admission program in our literature and on the admissions Web site, we have received more and more applications from students who are willing to be considered for either enrollment date, which has enabled us to offer February admission to more applicants who have expressed that willingness. This year, approximately 85 percent of the applicants who were offered February admission were open to that possibility. In addition, that was true of all of the applicants who were admitted under the Early Decision program, which accounts for almost half of our targeted February enrollment of 90.
Recommendation #7: Increase the socio-economic diversity of the student body.
Our financial-aid policies, including reducing the loan component of our financial-aid packages from their previous levels, remain competitive with most of our peer institutions. Many of the adjustments that have been made to our need-analysis policies have also remained intact, and we are still committed to meeting the full demonstrated need of any student who is admitted.
However, given the current economic climate and the necessity of staying within the overall grant budget, it is likely that the percentage of first-year students who are eligible for grant assistance will decrease this year. To some extent this will be a result of having admitted a higher percentage of the incoming class in ED, and, this year, we saw a decrease in the percentage of those students who were eligible for grant assistance. If we use the waitlist this year, it is likely that we will have to be need-aware for at least some of those decisions.
Recommendation #8: Enhance recruitment and retention of students of color.
Our efforts to recruit talented U.S. students of color have continued to attract a large and diverse pool of applicants. Despite an overall decline of 12 percent in the total applicant pool, our pool of U.S. students of color declined by only 6 percent, and we were able to admit almost the same number as last year, while maintaining higher admissions standards than we have in the past. We have maintained close connections with many college-access organizations around the country, and that has resulted in many new applicants who might not otherwise have been aware of the educational opportunities at Middlebury. Our summer-visit program with counselors (especially those from urban schools), which we do jointly with Williams, and our October multicultural program for prospective applicants who have been identified by their counselors have continued to be very successful initiatives for us.
Recommendation #9: Maintain our strong international enrollment.
Despite the financial challenges that confront the enrollment of an internationally diverse student body, Middlebury still has very high visibility abroad, and we believe that we will be able to maintain an enrollment of approximately 10 percent international students in the newly admitted incoming class. Our close relationship with the Davis United World Scholarship program continues to be one of our greatest advantages in this effort, and we are hoping to enroll about 30 of those students this year. In addition to focusing our recruiting efforts on those UWC schools around the world, we also travelled to other areas abroad where it is more likely that we will find higher numbers of less financially needy students. Overall, our international applicant pool decreased this year by 9 percent, and we admitted 26 fewer international students than last year.
Recommendation #10: Create an admissions advisory committee.
The Admissions Advisory Committee has continued to meet monthly during the past academic year, and we have been focusing on Early Decision policies, the use of the SAT/ACT in our decision-making process, athletics, and the accuracy of various predictors for academic success at Middlebury. This group will continue to meet as a standing committee at least quarterly in the future and make recommendations on these and other topics.
Recommendation #13: Establish a systematic procedure for consultation between coaches and other faculty members about the balance of athletics and educational mission.
The Athletic Policy Committee reports that most teams have strong faculty liaisons.
Recommendation #14: Cultivate leadership qualities that address societal needs.
Each fall semester, the Center for Campus Activities and Leadership (CCAL) coordinates trainings for Middlebury College Activities Board, the Student Government Association (beginning in fall 2009), and the Inter Commons Council. Training topics focus on team building, goal setting, motivation, group dynamics, time management, general leadership styles, program planning, and meeting facilitation.
The Emerging Leader Program (ELP) is an eight-part, noncredit course designed to help students develop their leadership skills by identifying their personal leadership style, working with others in a group, and developing a greater understanding of leadership concepts. ELP ran in 2007 with 10 participants and in 2009 with 15 participants.
CCAL offers regular workshops designed to strengthen the development of organizations and their members. Available workshop topics include assertiveness, team building, goal setting, motivation, group process, listening, time management, conflict management, leadership theory, program planning, diversity, self-esteem, meeting facilitation, and stress management. CCAL offers a biweekly series conducted by members of the CCAL team, student affairs staff, and Middlebury College faculty.
CCAL also offers seminars for students to explore and further develop their skills in outdoor leadership through Middlebury Outdoor Programs. Seminar topics include the philosophical foundations of leadership, facilitation skills, motivation techniques, and outdoor skills.
Recommendation #15: Clarify and enhance the status of the Commons heads.
The changes that were implemented in 2007–08 are working well. Heads, deans, the associate dean of the College, and the dean of the College held two joint meetings in the 2008–09 academic year. The Commons heads now oversee all Commons budgets.
Commons heads have taken on additional responsibility and visibility as a result of the Sophomore Experience. Additionally, they have assumed the role formerly played by the dean of advising and will play a critical role in advising students whose regular nonmajor advisers are on leave.
Recommendation #16: Further integrate the Commons system and the curriculum.
Broadly defined, the integration of the Commons and the curriculum continues to flourish. The Sophomore Experience connects professors in a range of disciplines with sophomores through programming known as “Commons Conversations.”
Connections are being encouraged between first-year Common Reading, first-year seminars, and other courses offered to first-year students.
Additional programming (campus-wide, through all Commons) that ties back to the Common Reading was offered this year in the form of the performance of Howard Barker’s Plevna.
Orientation is being reconceived as an integral piece of the First-Year Experience, which encompasses the first-year seminar program; advising; optional programming in Commons that connects students with Alliance for Civic Engagement, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research; and the Career Services Office, etc
Recommendation #18: Initiate a weekly College-wide convocation.
The convocation series continued this year with a talk by John Francis.
Recommendation #23: Encourage staff participation in the intellectual community.
Departments in Dean of the College division are actively encouraging their staff to pursue the intellectual life of the College through participation in courses, book groups, attendance at lectures and presentations, and are participating in the Commons as Commons affiliates in a variety of ways
Recommendation #28: Increase recognition of employees’ accomplishments.
Faculty and staff accomplishments are listed in MiddPoints, and MiddPoints features stories on employees, such as: Coast Guard reservist Lisa Hoff (HR); ACE staff, Special Olympian Tammie Mashteare (Dining); and EMTs Howie McCausland (LIS) and Ed Sullivan (Business Services).
Web stories recognizing faculty and staff are also published, for example: Tom McGinn (the biomass opening), Ashley Calkins (MLK Day of Service), Dave West (Perkins Award), and Jeremy Ward (NSF grant).
Recommendation #29: Expand the ways we engage alumni in the life of the College.
The launch of a new, robust online community for alumni, parents, friends, students, faculty, and staff is scheduled for May 2009. The activity generated from the community will be complemented by the redesign of the Middlebury.edu Web site, scheduled for January 2010. A complete analysis of our alumni constituency, sponsored by the Board of Trustees, will help inform future decisions regarding program emphasis and communications.
Recommendation #30: Re-examine and strengthen our communications both within and beyond our campuses.
The Communications Office developed “markers” to guide story selection and the messages within the stories and other coverage. Markers can also be used for measurement purposes. The markers are used for recruiting students, fund-raising, supporting faculty efforts, strengthening community, and reputation management. The concept of Middlebury as the Global Liberal Arts College of the 21st Century pervades the College’s communications channels, e.g., admissions publications, the Initiative Web site, MiddTube, press releases, and Web news stories.
Recommendation #31: Expand and support diversity in the staff and faculty.
Regarding faculty diversity, we just concluded a hiring season in which we recruited a director for the new Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity. During this recruiting season, we approved additional interviews for departments who were able to identify diverse candidates for faculty positions.
Recommendation #33: Increase faculty resources and enhance student-faculty interaction.
Middlebury will be receiving $4,000 from the Mellon 23 Assembly to foster faculty-student collaboration.
The dean of faculty and the Educational Affairs Committee (EAC) continue to examine ways to implement the senior work requirement, even with the slowed pace in the expansion of the faculty. Departments and programs held retreats during the winter to formulate their plans for implementing the senior-work requirement.
Recommendation #35: Institute a laboratory science requirement within the new distribution requirements.
The recommendation for a lab-science requirement is on hold until we implement the new teaching-load guidelines (currently planned for fall of 2010), as these will impact the teaching resources available in the sciences. The Educational Affairs Committee and Curriculum Committee will take this issue up in 2009–10 to see whether such a requirement would be both desirable and feasible with current resources.
Recommendation #36: Enhance academic advising.
This year we have focused on advising, and it was the topic for the small-group discussions at the Bread Loaf faculty meeting. Minutes of those discussions were distributed to all faculty members, and the Academic Council (a group of academic deans and student-life staff) has continued these conversations. As a result of these discussions, we have developed and clarified advising resources in the Commons, and we will be enhancing the advising resources available online.
Recommendation #38: Streamline departmental major requirements.
Last year’s EAC worked with departments to encourage reassessment of major requirements, and a number of departments and programs reduced and reconfigured their requirements in anticipation of implementing the new senior-work requirement and new teaching-load guidelines. As we move toward that implementation, it is likely that some additional departments and programs will do so as well.
Recommendation #39a: Highlight the strength of the sciences at Middlebury.
The DCUR and science chairs, along with Franci Farnsworth and Alison Darrow from Sponsored Research, met in March to discuss federal programs to strengthen education and training in science and engineering (STEM) disciplines. The funding for some of these programs has been expanded through the stimulus package. Several opportunities of interest were identified, and we are working with specific chairs to set an agenda for proposal writing.
Recommendation #39b: Highlight the strength of the arts at Middlebury.
The College moved forward in the fall of 2008 to establish a new venue at the Old Stone Mill to house projects that are related to the Project on Creativity and Innovation in the Liberal Arts—these projects will be programmatically tied to 51 Main Street. The Old Stone Mill is a place where student projects are developed and created, and 51 Main serves as a venue for student performances, exhibits, and presentations. These two venues have been generally successful this year. Given the economic situation, we will be taking steps this summer to clarify staffing responsibilities across the arts.
Recommendation #40: Strengthen winter term.
At the M2 meeting that took place in April at MIIS, a winter term task force was established. Rich Wolfson hopes to teach a course at MIIS (logistical details are being worked out), and we are identifying MIIS faculty to offer courses in Vermont.
Recommendation #41: Reinforce the first-year-seminar program.
For the first time this fall, we affiliated every first-year seminar (FYS) with a Commons. This move, which means that all first-year seminars will be housed by Commons (that is, seminar participants will live together in the same residence hall), will augment the learning experience for first-years and enhance the advising they receive.
The strategic plan recommends a comprehensive review of the FYS program to insure consistency of advising and writing across the program. We have had discussions this year about the academic advising system, which is closely tied to our FYS program. We believe these conversations and the enhanced advising resources that will result from it will help to accomplish the goal of more consistent advising in FYS and beyond.
Regarding the writing component of FYS, Kathy Skubikowski is leading a Teagle-funded, portfolio-based assessment of student learning that begins with the FYS experience and tracks student progress forward. This research is particularly focused on student writing and will allow us to assess the effectiveness of the writing instruction that students receive in their FYS.
Recommendation #42: Explore possibilities for Commons-based courses.
All first-year seminars are now Commons-based. Occasional J-term courses are offered in a particular Commons, with an affiliation modeled on that of the first-year seminar program. It is difficult to limit these offerings to just the students of one Commons, both in terms of ensuring enrollment and because it conflicts with the equal-access model we currently have in place for J-term courses.
This year, Associate Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott worked with the Commons heads to establish a “Sophomore Experience” that includes a range of programs to help expand students’ understanding of the curriculum—so they can make more meaningful decisions about what to study—and strengthen links between the academic program and the “real world.” These efforts will continue in the 2009–10 academic year.
Recommendation #43: Require senior work in all majors.
The faculty voted to approve a new senior-work requirement, which is currently planned to begin with the graduating Class of 2013. The EAC has worked with departments and programs this year to develop specific plans for senior work within their curricula, through questions posed to faculty about the role of senior work in their curricula and through various presentations and workshops. A general outline of the requirement for each department and program will be included in the 2010–11 catalog, and more specific requirements will be in place by the following year.
Recommendation #45: Increase funding for student internships.
Efforts to coordinate internship opportunities across campus will help inform fund-raising focus and future direction.
Recommendation #47: Make better use of current teaching resources with a goal of achieving a more competitive teaching load for faculty.
Last year’s EAC developed guidelines for a reallocation of teaching load as recommended by the strategic plan. These guidelines were accepted by the administration. Implementation of these new teaching loads is dependent in part on the addition of new faculty positions (as recommended in the strategic plan). Given the current economic climate, the EAC is working to determine whether it is possible to adopt the new teaching loads with fewer than the recommended 25 new faculty positions. The committee will present a report summarizing its conclusions to the administration by the end of the academic year.
Recommendation #49: Provide more centralized staff support to reduce administrative burdens on faculty.
This recommendation has not been addressed yet, as the economic situation has limited hiring options. However, Faculty Council is currently reviewing plans to lighten the workloads of department chairs.
Recommendation #50: Increase collaboration across Middlebury programs.
With Mellon 23 Assembly funding, a retreat was held for members of interdisciplinary programs early in 2009; each program has also been given Mellon money for collaborative programming.
We have moved into the second phase of an Alfred P. Sloan Award for Faculty Career Flexibility application. (Six $200,000 grants will be awarded.) As part of our application, we will note the unique nature of Middlebury’s many academic operations—e.g. “One Middlebury”—and our desire to offer more movement of faculty across those operations.
Rich Wolfson hopes to teach a course at MIIS (logistical details are being worked out), and we are identifying MIIS faculty to offer courses in Vermont.
Recommendation #51: Establish a Board of Trustees subcommittee devoted to the summer program, schools abroad, and affiliates.
An ad-hoc Trustee Committee on Graduate and Special Programs was formed in October 2007. The committee includes the vice president for the Language Schools, schools abroad, and graduate programs. The committee is reviewing the mission, program policies, market, etc. of the College’s various graduate and affiliate programs. The committee will make recommendations regarding the role, value, and potential of these programs.
Recommendation #53: Ensure that the needs of the College’s summer and auxiliary programs are represented in committee and administrative structures that are responsible for operational planning.
The Master Plan Committee has been formed with the charge of ensuring that future construction, renovation, and landscape projects comply with the principles of the 2008 Campus Master Plan. One of the 10 goals of the plan is to “foster the 12-month campus.”
Recommendation #54: Strengthen financial aid for the Language Schools.
The Davis Fellowships for Peace program has been funded at $1 million per year through FY13. Additionally, we have dedicated more existing resources to the assessment and cultivation of our Language Schools constituents. Conversations with individuals about the need for financial aid are ongoing, and annual giving efforts largely focused on the need for financial aid will be directed specifically toward each of the Language Schools in FY09.
Recommendation #55: Expand the scope of the Language Schools curriculum by integrating broader cultural content in Language Schools courses.
The MA in Mediterranean studies, to be introduced at the Language Schools in 2009, will enable students to develop insight into the history and culture that have shaped a vital region, helping them to interpret and address the complex issues of today’s world in the age of globalization. This innovative MA program requiring master’s-level competency in two languages (French, Italian, or Spanish) is designed for students seeking a career in international affairs, economic development, diplomacy, politics, economics, journalism, or education.
A new course in Mediterranean Culture and Civilization is to be developed by faculty in the French School; also a new course is planned on Politics in a Unified Europe.
Recommendation #56: Add summer graduate programs in languages that are currently taught only at the undergraduate level.
Middlebury’s affiliation with the Monterey Institute of International Studies has provided an option for students pursuing the Chinese MA degree. Candidates spend an academic year on the Monterey campus between their initial and final summers at Middlebury, thus completing the degree in a little over two years. Thus, in addition to the immersion experience at Middlebury, students can take advantage of the Institute’s expertise in second-language acquisition, pedagogy, and applied linguistics.
Middlebury’s first MA in Chinese was awarded in August 2008.
Recommendation #57: Offer new languages and explore possibilities for new sites abroad that support the undergraduate curriculum.
Last year, Middlebury College and Brandeis University announced the establishment of the Brandeis University-Middlebury School of Hebrew, which was launched in the summer of 2008. As Middlebury’s 10th Language School, it is the newest summer program since the Portuguese School was inaugurated in 2003, with 27 students enrolled.
The curriculum of the seven-week session focused on Modern Hebrew, with optional course work for qualified students interested in developing their linguistic skills in Classical Hebrew also available.
Middlebury College established the C.V. Starr-Middlebury School Abroad in the Middle East, the first of the Middlebury Schools Abroad in this region. Located in Alexandria, Egypt, and affiliated with Alexandria University, the school began offering classes in the fall of 2007, with 12 students enrolled in the first year, and with 36 students going this fall.
In conjunction with CET Academic Programs, Middlebury College has been operating the C.V. Starr-Middlebury School in China, since 2004, at Hangzhou.
Two new sites in China, Beijing and Kunming, will be online in 2009–10. In Beijing, Middlebury will be at Capital Normal University, and in Kunming, at Yunnan University.
In Japan, students have been attending the Associated Kyoto Programs. Planning is now underway for development of Middlebury’s own program in Japan, and several potential sites in Japan were visited in the fall of 2008.
A Korean language program is in the early stages of consideration.
n.b. In response to increasing demand for admission, a Language Schools second site, at Mills College in Oakland, California, is to open in June 2009. Middlebury at Mills provides a unique opportunity for students from the West Coast to experience the Language Schools closer to home, and for students from the East Coast to explore the cultural diversity of the Bay Area. As of 2009, all students admitted to the Arabic School will study at Mills. Students in French, Italian, and Spanish may choose either the Middlebury or Mills campus.
Recommendation #58: Integrate the Bread Loaf School of English into the College’s international focus by considering further expansion beyond the U.S. borders.
Discussions about a possible program in Africa started, with a target date of 2012 under consideration. A number of students from Africa (Kenya and Tanzania in particular) have attended the Bread Loaf School of English, and two graduated last summer, with several still in the program.
Recommendation #59: Upgrade facilities at the Bread Loaf campus to ensure longevity of its historic buildings and allow for support of new teaching technologies.
The foundation study was completed in 2005. Building conditions assessment was completed in 2006 (which was a study on the architectural, structural, mechanical, and electrical needs of the buildings)
An implementation plan, building on these studies, for the long-term phased rehabilitation of the Bread Loaf campus and infrastructure was completed in the fall of 2008. This plan compiled studies of the foundations, building conditions, ADA needs, and site and infrastructure needs. The implementation plan provides scenarios for the rehabilitation of the campus over a minimum period of 12 years. Two new buildings are proposed in the plan to allow rehabilitation of the Inn and the Barn. These buildings would be a new maintenance facility and a new residence hall that would also house the bookstore in summer months and the Rikert Ski Touring Center in winter months.
A brief summary of this planning work was presented to President’s Staff on September 30, 2008, and again to the Building and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees on October 17, 2008.
Recommendation #60: Develop stronger ties between the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and our academic year programs.
This year we initiated a search for a “Frost Fellow,” who will teach during the undergraduate year and summer; the search is ongoing. The Department of English and American Literatures is now considering a slate of final candidates for the position.
Recommendation #61: Collaboration with the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Program collaboration between Middlebury College and the Monterey Institute include: faculty exchanges (one with the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies), Middlebury undergraduates at MIIS for J-term, Middlebury and Monterey Institute students in joint field-study programs, Monterey Institute graduate students attending the summer Language Schools, and a joint Chinese MA program. A major collaborative project was the organization and successful convening of 400 participants at the Connect·ED Conference 2008 (held at the Monterey Conference Center).
The Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy (MMLA) was inaugurated in 2008, as an initiative to teach languages to middle and high school students. The program took place on Vermont and California campuses and was overseen by MMLA staff and the Middlebury College summer Language Schools. Another program, which was operated jointly by the Monterey Institute and the Middlebury summer Language Schools, offered an immersion program in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) to English teachers from Spain, summer 2008. The program was paid for by the Council of Madrid, conducted in Monterey and in Burlington, Vermont, and overseen by Middlebury’s study abroad program director in Madrid. The agreement was finalized during a site visit by the Council of Madrid representative at the Connect·ED Conference. A new initiative involves collaboration with the Monterey Institute’s linguistics program in consideration of an undergraduate minor in linguistics at Middlebury.
Recommendation #62: Establish a liaison group to explore programmatic connections between the Monterey Institute of International Studies and Middlebury programs.
Two liaison groups have been established to look at the ways that Middlebury and Monterey can work together. Specific to recommendation #62, a program integration task force is looking at curricular collaboration and academic program development. Middlebury and MIIS Program Committees met in Monterey, in April 2009, to review program and degree integration in policy studies, applied linguistics, international education management, environmental studies, individualized courses, and faculty/student exchanges. The Middlebury and MIIS committees, composed of faculty representatives, meet regularly. There is also a finance, operations, communications integration group that focuses on how to facilitate collaboration between the two institutions, how to support the program collaboration, and how to integrate operations when that makes sense, due to efficiencies and capacity. An “M2 lecture series” is to be established starting in the fall of 2009.
Recommendation #67: Create more space for the arts.
The College recently completed a significant renovation to the McCullough Social Space that offers additional as well as greatly improved existing space for the arts. Notable features of the renovated space include a new accessible (via elevator) green room, new stage wings for performers, improved projection, an upgraded sound system, improved performance and house lighting, and additional capacity for audiences in the form of telescopic seating. Additionally, an adjacent student art gallery has received new furnishings and finish upgrades.
The renovated Proctor Hall includes gallery space for student artwork on the corridor walls of the first floor.
Recommendation #68: Strengthen our environmental leadership and reputation.
The Carbon Neutrality by 2016 Implementation Plan has been adopted and is being used as a model by Duke Endowment schools and Northeastern University.
The Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest received the top award in the Efficiency Vermont Better Building by Design competition.
The biomass project is now online and has raised Middlebury’s profile in the national media (New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, and many others).
Middlebury received the top prize in the National Wildlife Federation’s national Chill Out awards for campus climate action.
One hundred and ninety-four Middlebury students were present at Powershift 2009 in Washington, D.C. It was the largest per capita presence of any school in the nation.
Three implementation teams for carbon neutrality have been appointed and are working on implementation.
Sustainability orientations and grants for abroad students have been established and implemented.
The greening of athletics projects is underway, with panel discussions and the use of vegetable oil to fuel the nordic ski team’s vehicle.
Recommendation #69: Pursue alternative environmentally friendly energy sources.
The new biomass energy plant became operational in January 2009 and is now in a commissioning phase. The first three months of operation have been successful, and we are currently working on a scheduled shutdown for maintenance, inspection, and servicing, which will provide information that will be used to optimize the operation of the system.
Recommendation #70: Design energy-efficient buildings and operations.
The thermostat set points are now at 68 degrees for all buildings, and a pyranometer was installed on Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest for solar–photovoltaic efficiency research.
Middlebury’s recently completed biomass heating plant will effectively reduce the College’s carbon emissions by approximately 40 percent. The plant began operation in late January 2009, and its efficiency has been improving steadily since that date.
The College has recently installed two solar-thermal hot-water heating systems at 107 Shannon Street. Installation of these systems includes a monitoring system that will allow evaluation and comparison of each system’s performance to support future solar-thermal hot-water installations.
Recommendation #71: Consider the various impacts of development on the College campus and the natural environment.
New sustainable design guidelines have been adopted.
The recently formed Master Plan Committee will review all potential projects for compliance with master plan and sustainable design guidelines principles.
Recommendation #72: Support sustainable agricultural practices.
The College has assisted in the construction of a cheese house to aid the farmer who leases College agricultural lands and buildings. This move could improve the farmer’s income through added value by including an organic cheese line to his organic dairy operation. We will continue to work with the farmer to provide a balance between the organic garden and organic dairy operations.
Recommendation #73: Continue to manage College lands responsibly.
A Lands Advisory Committee to the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the trustees has been formed.
Recommendation #74: Continue making alterations to facilities that improve their accessibility for those with disabilities and work toward universal access.
Since May 2008, an ADA Planning Committee has been engaged in developing a comprehensive ADA plan for the College’s facilities and programs. Much work has been completed on accessibility improvements over time, and this planning effort will ensure that these upgrades continue. Examples of current improvement projects include the installation of automatic door openers at some key public building entrances, as well as work to improve residence-hall accessibility.
Recommendation #75: Better utilize existing facilities through efficient scheduling and management.
As mentioned previously, in order to consolidate and streamline the scheduling of campus events, the Provost’s Office now oversees the Scheduling Office. New scheduling protocols will be in place by September 2009.
Recommendation #77: Search for creative ways to reduce reliance on private vehicles.
A new student-parking-fee policy will go into effect during the 2009–10 academic year. Students will pay a $50 per semester fee to keep their cars on campus. Language School students will be charged $25 for the summer. Funds accrued will help to support carbon neutrality and offsets, as well as more options for public transportation, including the expansion of the College’s shuttle-bus service and our fleet of ZipCars.
Recommendation #80: Cultivate open dialogue with the town.
The College has been working closely with the town in refining details of the Cross Street bridge project, including traffic circulation and utilities. This collaboration will continue through the duration of the project.
Resources Supporting the Strategic Plan.
Fund-raising has been impacted negatively by the unprecedented economic conditions; however, we continue to make progress and believe that continuing conversations with alumni, parents, and friends of the College must continue in order for us to emerge stronger when the economy turns around. Additionally, our ability to meet our ambitious Annual Fund goals is more important than ever. College Advancement is working closely with Communications to create innovative communications vehicles and relevant messages to share with constituents. Staffing levels have been impacted by budget cuts, and the need to review existing and new programmatic initiatives continues.
The examples outlined in this report represent the progress we have made on the recommendations in the strategic plan. The College community is indebted to many individuals for their good work and leadership in advancing the College’s ambitious agendas.
—David D. Donahue
Special Assistant to the President
May 1, 2009