Middlebury to conclude graduate programs in Monterey, California

Middlebury President Ian B. Baucom sent a video address and the following message to the Middlebury community on Thursday, August 28.

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students, 

I write today with difficult news. As you will have seen from my video address, the Board of Trustees on Wednesday, August 27, convened a special meeting and approved my recommendation that we conclude residential graduate programs and the online degree programs described below at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). We will complete these programs and operations based in Monterey over the next two years.

I met with the MIIS community this afternoon to share this decision, and members of Middlebury’s Student Life, Student Financial Services, and Human Resources teams also are in Monterey to support our colleagues.

First and foremost, we are committed to supporting our currently enrolled students, including those starting this fall, so that they may successfully complete their degrees by June 2027, with a full array of on-campus resources, including career services. We also are working to support faculty and staff to provide the smoothest possible transition over the next two years.

The board also voted to affirm the following recommendations:  

• We will maintain all centers that are self-sustaining. Middlebury’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), which is based in Monterey but is not included among the Institute’s academic degree programs, will continue to operate under the greater Middlebury umbrella in multiple locations including Monterey; Washington, D.C.; Middlebury, Vermont; and Vienna, Austria.
• Summer programs currently held in Monterey—including School of the Environment, Bread Loaf School of English’s short program, and the English Language School, will continue to be housed at the Monterey campus at least for 2026. In the coming year, we will determine the best locations for those programs and will share information as it becomes available.
• The online master’s degree programs in International Education Management and TESOL will be discontinued on the same timeline as the residential degree programs in Monterey. The other online degree programs (Cybersecurity, Localization Project Management, MPA in Sustainability, and Organizational Leadership) are not affected by the board’s decision.
• We will pause consideration of any repurposing, lease, or sale of property until the completion of programs in June 2027. 

I recognize the gravity of this moment. I and my senior leadership team made this recommendation after careful deliberation, and the board did not come to this decision lightly. After consideration of multiple options, we concluded that to continue operations in their current state—as in-person graduate programs—is no longer feasible. To be clear, this was a financial decision and not a reflection on the quality of our programs or our outstanding Monterey colleagues, whose work is far reaching and significant. We are incredibly grateful to all of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni who continue to exemplify the mission of MIIS.  

Continued Challenges

During the past several years, following 15 years of fluctuating enrollments and applications, we made significant commitments to establish new and innovative programs and launched a major marketing effort to support MIIS’s academic programs. Despite these measures, MIIS experienced a steep decline in enrollments and applications following the pandemic. Unfortunately, this is consistent with national trends for residential graduate programs. This has left MIIS’s programs operating with significant deficits for the last several years.  

It’s important to note that Middlebury maintains its commitment to global education, not only in undergraduate education but also in graduate programs through the Middlebury Language Schools and at the 37 sites of the Middlebury Schools Abroad. MIIS has enhanced Middlebury’s international presence, and in turn our alumni are making a difference in the world—as diplomats, entrepreneurs, interpreters, NGO heads, policy experts, sustainability officers, trade negotiators, localization managers, nonproliferation leaders, international educators, and much more. Our alumni will always be part of the powerful network that comprises Middlebury. As I shared in my video message, “Whatever our decision on MIIS, we must and will continue to be a Middlebury for the world: a Middlebury for students, faculty, languages, and ideas from around the globe. That commitment has long defined us. In a time when many nations—ours included—are turning inward, that resolute openness to the world must and will remain defining of who we are and what we are for.” 

The Decision Process 

Discussions regarding financial sustainability have been ongoing throughout Middlebury’s relationship with MIIS, since it began in 2005 and was formalized in 2010 through a merger. The Board of Trustees and the Middlebury leadership have considered the future of MIIS’s academic programs many times and did so again last year, when they approved a four-year business plan to address the financial challenges, dependent on realizing key annual benchmarks, which have not been realized. 

Ultimately, the decision to discontinue enrollment and end MIIS’s programs and operations over the next two years was the only financially viable option.  

Since my appointment in January, I have worked with senior members of the administration—through the spring and summer—to evaluate MIIS’s programs, enrollments, finances, contracts, and long-term financial viability. 

Provost Michelle McCauley and I visited the Institute on August 18 to discuss future plans with MIIS leaders. During the visit, we outlined several possible paths for the Board of Trustees to consider on August 27.  

The first option was to continue to execute the four-year business plan, which is in its second year, with a focus on boosting enrollment through new programs, creating a vibrant campus experience, concluding programs with weak enrollments, and addressing financial challenges. After evaluating the results of the first year of the plan, it became clear that this option was not viable.  

The second option we evaluated was to continue operations of the Institute’s financially sustainable research centers, while relocating or merging viable degree-granting academic programs with other Middlebury units including the Language Schools and our Schools Abroad, as appropriate. We determined that this path was neither academically nor financially feasible.  

The third option, and the one we are now pursuing, was to conclude on-the-ground academic programs and certain online programs and operations at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey as of June 2027 with a focus on supporting our currently enrolled students. We also will work to ensure essential faculty and staff continue to run these programs until their completion. We will do so with a commitment to continuing to provide high-quality education, experiential learning, and superb career support. 

Next Steps 

Jeff Dayton-Johnson, vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the Institute, will meet with program chairs and faculty to develop plans for the upcoming term and beyond. This process will be an evolving one, and we will share more information as it becomes available.

In the coming days, MIIS supervisors will meet with staff to discuss their respective roles and how we will move forward in a phased process. Staff will be informed on a semester-by-semester basis of how long their positions will continue. This means that staff whose positions are being eliminated will have no less than four months’ notice. 

Starting tomorrow and running through the coming weeks, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Derek Doucet and Vice President for Student Financial Services and Enrollment Kim Downs-Burns will hold in-person and Zoom informational sessions for students. Students will receive a follow-up email with details about these sessions and a list of important dates.  

Your Questions 

We anticipate many questions as we move through this process, and we want you to know we are working to address all of them in a timely manner. Our efforts will be focused on ensuring our current MIIS students are able to successfully complete their degrees, and we will work closely with faculty and staff to ensure the smoothest transition over the next two years. 

We have developed a series of Frequently Asked Questions, included at the end of this message and online, to answer some immediate concerns, and we will continue to provide information as it becomes available.  

With Gratitude 

We know that all of this is difficult news to hear, and that it will take some time to process these changes in our community. It bears repeating that this was absolutely a financial decision and not a reflection on the quality of our programs or our exceptional faculty and staff. It also should not be left unsaid that MIIS’s work to educate students who go on to work in diplomacy, interpretation, arms negotiations, and other forms of service to humanity has mattered. MIIS will continue to make a difference in the world through our current students and perhaps most importantly through our strong network of alumni.  

We will provide further updates throughout the semester and throughout this process.  

Sincerely, 

Ian B. Baucom
President  

With:  

Michelle McCauley 
Executive Vice President and Provost 

David Provost 
Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration