Trustees seal deal on MIIS

Author: Jason F. Siegel

Following months of negotiations, members of the Boards of Trustees of Middlebury College and the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) met in Monterey, Calif., on Dec. 2 to sign an agreement to make MIIS an affiliate of Middlebury. The agreement also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Institute.

Under the agreement, Middlebury and MIIS will remain two separate institutions, though Middlebury will have much influence over what will happen in Monterey. The College selects the Board of Trustees and the president, and also has a say in the financial aspects, such as approving the final budget of MIIS

Following authorization from a prudential committee of the Board of Trustees, President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Rick Fritz '68 led the negotiations between the two schools for several months, facing various obstacles. One of the problems, according to Executive Vice-President and Treasurer Bob Huth, concerned the finances of MIIS. Especially problematic was convincing lenders to lower the interest rates on loans to the schools from 7.5 to 5.5 percent, savings of around $400,000 per year, even though Middlebury assumed neither the debts nor the assets of MIIS.

President-Designate of MIIS Clara Yu, set to start her tenure as president on Dec. 31, has set several goals. The highest priority is the maintenance of intellectual capital through "modest salary increases" and possible collaborations with Oxford University. Also important are the maintenance of the community feeling and improvements to physical and technological infrastructure. Both Liebowitz and Yu championed the "innovative and entrepreneurial spirit" of Monterey, something Yu plans to cultivate over the coming months.

Fritz predicted an increase in enrollment and a consequential increase in the budget of Monterey. He also stated, "The options for complementary collaboration and growth are huge, and, frankly one of the challenges for both institutions will be to prioritize the opportunities."

Announced at the same time as the affiliation were the identities of the new trustees of Monterey, approved by the prudential committee on Nov. 18. Those with connections to Middlebury College are: Fritz; James S. Davis '66, chairman and CEO of New Balance Athletic Shoe and Middlebury Trustee; Philip O. Geier, executive director of the Davis United World College Scholars Program; David A. Jones, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Humana, Inc., and husband of longtime Middlebury trustee Betty Jones '86 M.A.; William H. Kieffer III '64, former senior vice president of State Street Corporation and Middlebury Trustee; Catherine Grace Lee '91, consultant to Eukor Car Carriers; Russell J. Leng, Middlebury College James Jermain professor of Political Economy and International Law; Victor P. Micati '61, retired executive of Pfizer; and Marna C. Whittington, chief operating officer of Allianz Dresdner Asset Management and Middlebury Trustee. All but Davis, Micati and Whittington were present for the signing.

In a recent interview with the MIIS' student-run newspaper Foghorn, President Steven J. Baker announced that Monterey had received a $2 million commitment from Middlebury, but Liebowitz stressed that this money came out of $12.1 million in unsolicited pledges for Middlebury's Monterey initiative. "Not a dollar is going to Monterey from Middlebury's operating budget or endowment," said Liebowitz. Huth echoed these sentiments, saying, "We are being careful to keep the two separate."

In the near future, Monterey students can expect to see some immediate changes, but no major new initiatives. One large change will be the presence of the words "an affiliate of Middlebury College" following "MIIS" on its official publications. Most immediate changes, however, will be physical maintenance, whereas academic modifications will come after a 12 to 18-month program assessment. Middlebury's commitment to the environment will be echoed by MIIS, which already confers master's degrees in international environmental management, utilizing foreign language proficiency to tackle transnational problems. "I expect Middlebury's expertise and commitment to environmental education to lead to some innovative developments in Monterey's graduate offerings in international policy studies," said Liebowitz.

Middlebury students will not see major changes at all unless they or the faculty propose new ways to cooperate with Monterey. Though Liebowitz reports that students have suggested a variety of possible programs, he is focusing his energies on graduate programs while encouraging a bottom-up approach for the undergraduate program where students and faculty take the proposals through the proper channels for off-campus study. The infrastructure and nature of the Middlebury Language Schools and Schools Abroad make cooperation with another graduate institute like MIIS easier from a logistical standpoint, and the directors of the Schools Abroad will therefore visit MIIS next week to discuss possible strategic cooperation.

The two schools plan much collaboration over the upcoming months. Yu reported, "The Institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies and Middlebury College will jointly sponsor a summer workshop on the scientific aspects of nonproliferation issues." In addition, Middlebury will hold an Alumni College in Monterey on marine biology with professors from both schools, and Wil Burns, a Monterey professor of international policy studies, will be a presenter at the Environmental Studies Colloquium in March.