The Town’s College and a College for Vermont

“We are a college for our town and the wider worlds our town represents: a college with a civic purpose and a civic responsibility.”

Initiative Four: The Town’s College and a College for Vermont

We are going to:

1. Partner with the town and state to create a local innovation zone to spark the regional economy, advance the entrepreneurial spirit of students, and strengthen ties between innovation initiatives and the College.  The College’s future is inextricably tied to the town of Middlebury and the state of Vermont. Partnering with local and state government and engaging the talents of faculty, students, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders, we will create an innovation zone that will strengthen the local economy and expand opportunity throughout the region.
    
2. Launch a Vermont Policy Solutions Studio in partnership with state and local government to address complex challenges and create clusters of community-engaged courses to enable faculty, students, and staff to work as civic partners on local and regional issues. Policy challenges from housing and economic development to climate resilience and public health require collaboration across all sectors. The nonpartisan Policy Solutions Studio will create co-curricular opportunities for students to research real-world problems and work with faculty, staff, neighbors, public officials, and civic organizations to develop and propose workable policies to solve them. 
    
3. Broaden community access to Middlebury’s libraries, arts spaces, and athletic venues and establish an Arts Engagement Initiative to promote performances, exhibitions, and community arts programming. Expanding public access to Middlebury’s rich cultural resources is part of our commitment to being a good neighbor and to creating opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to build mutually supportive relationships with the broader local community.
    
4. Continue and expand work addressing the urgent need for affordable housing in our town and the surrounding county. Expanding our work with local and state partners to create new housing is essential to the future of the College and our surrounding communities, schools, businesses, and civic organizations. Through a community-based partnership with Stonecrop Meadows, we are adding 240 housing units in the town of Middlebury, and we are considering additional developments on College-owned lands.  
    
5. Explore a loan forgiveness program for graduating seniors who commit to extended public service or innovation initiatives in Vermont. Middlebury produces the kinds of entrepreneurial and civic-minded graduates our state’s future depends on. A loan forgiveness program for recent graduates would help remove financial barriers and encourage these students to start businesses and pursue careers in public service that support our local communities here in Vermont.