20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY DECEMBER 11-17, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Middlebury College’s board decided to close the Monterey Institute, but some faculty are hoping to rehome it. By Sara Rubin Big MIIS On Jan. 29, faculty, staff and students at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey gathered for a town hall meeting on campus in downtown Monterey. The focus was on enrollment goals. The graduate school had for years been lagging, and more students (specifically more full-paying students) would be needed to meet financial goals. Five new programs were set to launch, among them translation and interpretation focused on executives and diplomats, which leaders hoped could help boost revenue in the professional graduate school known globally for translation and interpretation, among other things. The proportion of scholarship-funded students in the Chinese translation and interpretation program had increased to 27 percent in 2024, up from 14 percent in 2019. Some presenters came from Middlebury, Vermont, where MIIS’ parent, Middlebury College, is located. Middlebury Provost Michelle McCauley was hopeful about boosting enrollment thanks to a new online degree program. “We are trending in the right direction and we are optimisDANIEL DREIFUSS
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