Policies
The following requirements apply to all Middlebury locations, with the College and the Institute having separate meetings of their weekly review teams.
Event Protocol Committee (EPC)
Event reservation requests are required to be submitted at least 3 weeks prior to the event date. The three week restriction does not apply to Middlebury’s normal operations such as classes, meetings, athletic practices, rehearsals, etc. Event Management, in consultation with Public Safety and other offices, has the discretion to waive this requirement if circumstances warrant.
Requests for space are reviewed weekly by the Event Protocol Committee (EPC). The EPC ordinarily includes staff representatives from Student Engagement, Event Management, Public Safety, and Communications. It may include staff from other applicable departments as well. The objective of the EPC is not to approve or deny events. Instead, the EPC vets events from a safety perspective.
- All event submissions are reviewed on a daily basis by Event Management. The Department of Event Management will flag lectures or space requests for activities that may be subject to disruption, threats, violence, acts of intimidation, draw unusually large crowds, or otherwise indicate that additional planning is necessary to protect the safety and security of the Middlebury community for review by the EPC.
- The Department of Event Management will hold space for events pending review by the EPC. Event space can be held but not be finally confirmed nor can events be posted to campus calendars until an EPC review is complete and an event is confirmed by the committee. In some situations, additional review by Public Safety, CMT and/or Middlebury’s Threat Assessment and Management (TAM) Team may be required.
- Requests flagged by the EPC may be reviewed by Public Safety for consideration of an Incident Action Plan, additional information gathering, and/or feedback to the weekly review team/Event Protocol Committee.
- If needed, Public Safety may convene the Threat Assessment and Management (TAM) Team to gather more information about the proposed event/activity and conduct a risk assessment. Public Safety and/or the TAM Team will consult with local law enforcement as appropriate, in order to advise the administration, and provide feedback to the Event Protocol Committee.
- Public Safety and/or the TAM Team may require or recommend changes to the location, timing, entry practices, etc., to reduce risks to physical safety as well as to minimize the risk of disruption of essential operations. This review will include consideration of Middlebury’s Emergency Operations Plan. Public Safety and/or the TAM Team may recommend or require the use of additional resources to adequately manage risks of the activity, including activating the Crisis Management Team (CMT) and/or the Emergency Management Team.
- In an exceptional case where the review, after application of risk mitigation strategies, indicates that the activity presents an imminent and credible threat to the physical safety of individuals that cannot be adequately mitigated, the President and/or members of the Senior Leadership Group reserve the right to reschedule or, if necessary, cancel an event.
General Information
The purpose of these policies is to regularize scheduling procedures across campus, making it possible to do the following:
- Facilitate appropriate use of space for events.
- Enable sharing of space to support the needs of the College.
- Permit opportunity to assess events for the feasibility to support all service needs.
- Permit assessment for conflicts of interest with regard to attracting the intended audience.
This policy also considers the following:
- Prioritization for use of specialized venues.
- Prioritization for events based on the core mission of the College.
- Impact events may have on building operations.
Ownership of Space
All space at Middlebury College belongs to Middlebury College. The College will allocate and reassign space to best support and further the College’s academic mission and priorities.
Space allocation will be assigned by the Space Committee and implemented for use for events under this policy.
The Space Committee will approve scheduling policies for all spaces.
Assignment of Space
Although some venues will be designed to support a specific College purpose, that designation does not imply control or ownership of the space. Whenever possible, the space will be made available for appropriate events.
Event Approval
Do not publicize, sign contracts, make airline/hotel reservations, or other commitments until your event date has been approved and a space has been assigned. Your event is confirmed only when you have received an event confirmation with an event reference number from Event Management.
Policy Review
The Space Committee will conduct an annual review of these policies to ensure they meet the current needs of the College.
Event Scheduling
Generally, the Department of Event Management will schedule all events. The exceptions to this practice are as follows:
Hadley House
The assistant to the president will schedule all uses of Hadley House.
Mahaney Arts Center
The MAC operations manager will schedule only those events that are hosted by the departments that reside within the center. All other event requests should be directed to Event Management.
Middlebury Chapel
The Scott Center administrative program coordinator will schedule only those events that are hosted by the Scott Center, weddings held at Middlebury Chapel, and memorial services held at Middlebury Chapel. Memorial services will not be scheduled until first approved by Event Management.
Peterson Family Athletics Complex
The assistant director of athletics for operations and events will schedule only those events that are hosted by the Athletics Department, and the non-College athletic events scheduled on behalf of our community friends and neighbors. All other event requests should be directed to Event Management.
President’s Dining Room
The assistant to the president will schedule all events held in the President’s Dining Room.
The Department of Event Management has the authority to deny an event if the event will create an unreasonable conflict for a previously scheduled event, or if the ability to provide the necessary service support to facilitate successful events will be compromised.
It is required that the feasibility of scheduling of space and provision of necessary services be assessed as the first step in event planning.This applies to venues scheduled by others as well as the events scheduled through Event Management. An appropriate, available space will be scheduled based on the feasibility assessment. An empty space is not an available space unless the event itself can be supported appropriately.
Event Management will mediate and seek to resolve potential conflicts.
Approval of funding, mailing of invitations, dissemination of marketing materials, etc., are not driving factors of event scheduling. If the appropriate venue is not available and cannot be made available, the event will be required to be held at an alternative date or time, or not at all.
Spaces will only be scheduled for actual events. Blocking out large periods of time to hold space in an effort to create flexibility for one area is not permitted. Exceptions to this practice in any venue must be approved by Event Management.
Course Scheduling
Course scheduling provides scheduling for academic courses and their needs that fall within their original course time, are related to the course, and the entire regular attendance is included. Course Scheduling will schedule room and time assignments for the following:
- Fall/J-term/spring courses.
- Additional rooms during scheduled class times.
- Final examinations.
- Make-up classes.
- Changes to course lecture/lab/discussion/screening room assignments and meeting times.
Consult the Course Scheduling website for specific guidelines regarding the scheduling of courses.
Event Management will schedule any other ad hoc academic activities or nonacademic events organized by academic departments, such as lectures and guest speakers that are open to the campus or the public, review sessions, tutoring sessions, office hours, weekly and midterm exams, additional film screenings, library and technology course-based workshops, symposia, job talks, and meetings (including department faculty meetings and TA help sessions).
Scheduling Prioritization
- The academic calendar prioritizes the scheduling of all College facilities.
- The initial scheduling of courses in academic venues takes priority over all other scheduling.
- Regular academic year courses will not be scheduled in the public areas or lounges.
- Events will be approved for public areas of buildings based on the impact of the event to the space and the other activities previously scheduled in that building. Events in these areas will be approved by Event Management. When the event may impact building residents, Event Management will consult with the building’s operations manager for input prior to approving use of those venues. Event approval decisions are finalized by Event Management considering feedback received from operations managers.
- Annual events listed as part of the academic calendar have first priority for scheduling of all campus facilities (Clifford Symposium, orientation, campus preview, etc.). Any events not related to the specific programming for these annual events will not be scheduled without the prior approval of Event Management.
- Should service costs result from the need to alter spaces in venues where sharing is necessary as part of key annual events, those costs will be shared equally between those using the space.
Summer Scheduling Policy
Language Schools’ academic and cocurricular scheduling needs are prioritized over all other summer scheduling requests.
- Scheduling of non-Language School events during June, July, and August will proceed only after class space for Language School has been allocated and large Language School co-curricular events have been finalized, typically at the end of May.
- Because Language School is an immersion program, non-Language School events during the summer months are limited to venues where the event will not compromise the Language Pledge.
- Availability for the scheduling of academic events, including conferences, on campus will be determined by the Department of Event Management in conjunction with associated service providers and the Office of the Provost.
- Scheduling of events sponsored by College departments for non-college groups is prioritized after Language School scheduling and after the scheduling of regular meetings and events deemed necessary for College business.
- Non-Language School events scheduled during summer months cannot detract from the ability of campus service providers to support Language Schools’ programming adequately.
Scheduling for All Venues
All courses and events held in academic venues will be reflected in the central scheduling system of the College.
The scheduling policies regarding blackout dates for events apply to all College facilities. See Date Restrictions for more details.
- All venues will be shared for the purpose of supporting the core mission of the College.
- All attempts to locate events in the venue best suited to the event and the expected audience will be required.
- If the arrangement of existing furniture is not conducive to an event, or the venue is not appropriate to the event due to specialized flooring, technology, laboratory use, etc., the event must be scheduled in an alternative and appropriate space.
- If all appropriate venues requiring the least amount of service impact for Facilities Services and Media Services are otherwise unavailable, the event must be scheduled at an alternative time when those venues are readily available.
Scheduling for Academic Venues
Academic venues are those rooms identified as an academic space for the purpose of the routine scheduling of courses.
Priority Guidelines Used by the Course Scheduler
- Courses with special or technical needs, such as lab equipment or computer labs, or videoconferencing, will receive priority for rooms with equipment that meets those needs, and will be scheduled first.
- Number of students enrolled will determine the size of room in which course is scheduled.
- Particular room style needs (seminar, lecture, auditorium) will be considered next.
- Where needs are identical, preference for a particular room or time slot will be given to departments that adhere to the scheduling guidelines stated above.
Coordination of Scheduling Events in Academic Venues
- When Course Scheduling completes the term’s scheduling, a two-week waiting period will be permitted to allow for necessary adjustments to the schedule for that term.
- Following that two-week period, the Department of Event Management will then schedule events in academic venues according to availability.
Scheduling for Specialized Venues
Some campus venues are intended for specific purposes and may not be available for general use. Please see our policy for Specialized Venues for a complete list.