Midd Briefs

Author: Lindsey Whitton and Sarah Riddleberger

Middlebury Magazine Hires New Editor

This summer Matt Jennings was hired to be the new editor of The Middlebury Magazine. Jennings takes command of the College magazine after a year of award-winning editions, but he is determined to "stay ahead of the curve" and produce an innovative, imaginative and interesting publication.
In 1993 Jennings graduated from Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where his father works as a professor of journalism. Directly after college he worked for a television station and interned in a public relations office. Jennings "really missed the academic community," however, and so he accepted a one-year internship with Dartmouth Athletic Communications in order to gain experience in the field of college communications.
For the past seven years Jennings has been the Publications and Communications Director at The Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. Editing their magazine "was what I enjoyed the most," he noted. Jennings has also been a regular freelance reporter for various college magazines for the past 10 years.
"Coming on to edit an award-winning magazine has tremendous benefits but also some obvious challenges," Jennings said. He is very excited to work with "the fantastic staff" and to build on all of the work Rachel Morton, the former editor, accomplished. He will continue to try to find the most interesting stories, improve the quality of the writing and discover new, creative ways to present the text.

Professors Can Now Picture Classes Online

This year, there has been an ongoing project to attach student photos to class rosters. Dean of Library and Information Services Barbara Doyle-Wilch is in charge of this development.
After arriving at Middlebury last year, she talked to various professors who were looking for a way to get to know their students faster. In the past, some professors have taken pictures of their students on the first day of classes; this new plan would make that unnecessary. Doyle-Wilch pointed out that if professors had a way to quickly get acquainted with the people in their classes, it could lead to better student-teacher relationships. This is the central goal of the project.
Unfortunately, this task has not been trouble-free. Doyle-Wilch noted that, "This project is pretty simple. Programming — that has not been the difficult part. The hard part, so far, has been getting permission from students to release their photos." While first-years were asked to sign a release when they had their MiddCard pictures taken, the rest of the student body was sent an e-mail asking them to go to a Web site where they could check a box to release their photos. Regrettably, at this time Information Technology Services is still waiting on about one third of the students to complete this task. The photos, once released, would not be made available to the general public. "This plan is really a win-win situation," said Doyle-Wilch. "It's a great way for everyone here to get to know each other better."