Staff Extended Winter Break

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to provide an update about the winter break for staff and faculty.

President Patton and the Senior Leadership Group would like to recognize your extraordinary efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic these many months. Your collective work, dedication, and innovation have enabled us to create a safe and engaging living and learning environment during this time. This has been a truly remarkable effort.

We also want to acknowledge, as Dr. Mark Peluso shared with us on Friday, that COVID-19 fatigue is real, and more than ever it’s important that we take time away from work to maintain a healthy and sustainable work-life balance. With this in mind, we will extend the winter break to include additional days of regular holiday time.

Given differences in academic calendars, the College winter break will be from December 24 through January 10, and the Middlebury Institute for International Studies (MIIS) winter break will begin on December 17 and continue through January 1. This is in addition to the full week off for the Thanksgiving break as announced on October 15. 

We understand that some operations will continue through the winter break. As with all regular holidays, any non-exempt staff member required to work during the holiday period will be eligible for holiday premium pay of 1 1/2 times their standard pay rate. Benefits eligible non-exempt employees are also eligible for holiday pay for any day their standard work schedule overlaps with the holiday period. More information about how non-exempt employees should enter time during a regular holiday can be found here.

We hope this additional opportunity for time away will give you the rest and renewal you need. We thank you again for all you have done and continue to do for Middlebury.

Yours cordially,

Karen

Karen L. Miller

Vice President for Human Resources and Chief Risk Officer