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Orientation

Five students walking together on campus.

Orientation is the official start of your program and an important opportunity to meet and network with your classmates.

Orientation is made up of three components:

  1. Getting Started at MIIS virtual course:
    • Mandatory with some optional content; every student will have required assignments in this course that must be completed by the first day of Welcome Week.
  2. Welcome Week:
    • Live virtual activities, sessions, and asynchronous work
  3. Continued, optional cohort-based activities

All incoming students are encouraged to attend as many parts of orientation as possible; Getting Started at MIIS and Welcome Week each have mandatory content and sessions. For questions about late arrivals, please review the late arrival policy at the bottom of this page.

During Welcome Week, you will participate in a number of worthwhile sessions, many of which focus on career readiness and how you can maximize your time at the Institute to achieve your professional goals. Orientation is the perfect time to begin building relationships with what is likely to be your lifelong personal and professional network. For students with a language component to their degree, language placement information will be made available to you after you take your placement tests. Your language placement results will be made available to you prior to the opening of class registration.

During the three-part-orientation, we will guide and support you in the following:

  • Increasing your career-readiness focus

  • Setting expectations for the community and work culture

  • Helping you to map out your registration plans

  • Fostering engagement across the community

Late arrival policy

The Institute expects students enrolled in on-campus programs to be present and attending classes from the first day of the semester. Students who must arrive later than the first day of the semester should notify the Enrollment department (miis@middlebury.edu) and the Associate Dean of Academic Operations (tmthomas@middlebury.edu). In exceptional circumstances, late arrivals may be considered. In general, the last day to arrive for in-person classes is the first day of the second week of the semester.

Visit the Academic Calendar for specific term dates and information.