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(10/10/12 9:21pm)
President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz announced in an email last week the formation of the Threat Assessment and Management (TAM) team, a committee of college experts in fields ranging from mental health to technology, assembled to provide a transparent process for compiling and addressing threats to student safety.
Liebowitz acknowledged in his email that the decision to form the TAM team comes in the midst of higher levels of concern for safety on college campuses in the wake of mass shooting incidents in recent years, such as the Viriginia Tech massacre of 2007 and the shootings in Aurora, Colo. in July. Tragic events like these have highlighted the need for an on-campus threat management system.
While the College has had a system in place in the past, these events have encouraged the College to revamp its security efforts.
“Middlebury College had a crisis team in the past, but it did not include as many college departments or areas of expertise,” said Director of Public Safety and Chair of Threat Assessment and Management Lisa Burchard.
“We felt that it was important to engage the broader Middlebury community and develop a more systematic and transparent approach to managing threatening behavior [with a team of] faculty and staff … who have been trained to analyze and respond sensitively to reports of potential violence or other concerning behavior,” wrote Liebowitz of the decision to form the revised team.
Administrators say that community reporting and engagement will be crucial to the success of the TAM program.
“Early intervention is critical. Research has shown that perpetrators of serious campus violence don’t just ‘snap,’” wrote Human Relations Officer Sue Ritter in an email. “Most [perpetrators] — over 75 percent — consider, plan, prepare and discuss their plans with others before they engage in violent behavior … A critical element of the threat assessment process is encouraging the campus community to look for and report warning signs.”
The new approach to threat assessment on campus will include what Ritter described as a “transparent, systematic and widely publicized approach” and administrators hope it will encourage students to feel more comfortable coming forward with their concerns.
The new TAM policy includes a regulation addressing retaliation: “Retaliating directly or indirectly against a person who has in good faith made a report under this policy or who has supported or participated in an investigation is prohibited.” New provisions such as these are intended to protect complainants and encourage student reporting of suspicious behavior.
The TAM team has members with expertise in a wide array of areas. The team is chaired by Burchard, and includes members from the Office of Human Resources, Business Services, Academic Affairs, Communications, Library and Information Services and a representative for the Language Schools, Schools Abroad and the Bread Loaf programs. The responsibilities of each team member will vary depending on their area of expertise. The team has been receiving instruction and training in threat assessment, and will continue to meet regularly on a monthly basis for training purposes. The team also has access to nationally-recognized threat assessment experts who are willing to consult on an as-needed basis, and additionally will be looking to examples at other schools with threat assessment teams.
In threat assessment training sessions, the TAM team is presented with hypothetical scenarios — such as the outbreak of a highly contagious disease or the presence of a shooter on campus — and then seeks to explore potential solutions and formulate responses.
“The exercises alert us to any gaps or inconsistencies in our understanding, planning, communication, and response and allow us to think through and plan for these kinds of problems,” said Executive Director of Health and Counseling Services Gus Jordan, a member of the TAM team.
A challenge facing the TAM and the new policy will be providing a framework for student participation and increasing student awareness of the team’s goals while also educating the student body about the necessity of the team and how they can help.
“I don’t really feel threatened on Middlebury’s campus but I’m glad the administration is thinking proactively about ways to deal with potential dangers to students,” said Sarah O’Brien ’13. “I’ve never seen something that I would consider threatening so it might be helpful if this TAM committee created some suggestions of what to be aware of or what they would consider worth reporting.”
(10/03/12 5:05pm)
Forty-three percent of the class of 2012 found employment by the time of graduation, according to the recently released findings of the Plans at Graduation Survey issued to seniors by the Center for Education in Action (EIA) in May. The 43 percent of students who reported employment at graduation represents a six-year high in the College’s May employment survey.
In addition to those employed, 11 percent reported plans to attend graduate or professional school, 12 percent received a postgraduate internship or fellowship and 10 percent will follow another path, such as volunteer work or travelling. Twenty four percent of seniors who responded to the May survey were still looking for employment at the time of graduation.
The EIA has seen a steady annual increase in the postgraduate employment rate since 2009, when students reporting employment reached an all-time low. Post-graduation employment has risen almost 20 percentage points in the last three years, and jumped from 36 percent in 2011 to 43 percent in 2012.
Associate Dean of the College and Director of Center for Education Lisa Gates attributes the increase in immediate postgraduate employment to an earlier start in the job search process.
“More students are engaging with this process earlier in their senior year than they may have been previously,” said Gates. “Students are starting to realize that there are opportunities that they need to engage with during their senior year if they want to have something in place at graduation.”
Taking advantage of the College’s network has also proven to be effective in helping students find work right after college.
“I think students are using the Middlebury network more than ever now,” said Associate Director of Career Services Tim Mosehauer. “We have been really fortunate in engaging Middlebury alumni and parents, and so as a result, there have been more opportunities.”
The EIA also aims to establish contact with students in their first year in the hopes that they will feel more comfortable and prepared for postgraduate plans by senior year. In its efforts to reach out to underclassmen students, the EIA had its first-ever open house for the class of 2016 during orientation.
“One of our roles here at the EIA is to naturalize the job search process,” said Director of Career Services Don Kjelleren. “If you come to the EIA as a first-year student and you start thinking about these issues, by the time you are a senior, you really have a much clearer assessment of what your options are and how to go after them.”
The EIA, however, recognizes that students delve into postgraduate planning according to their own internal clocks.
“There are different time lines for different people, as far as job searches and post-grad plans go,” said Mosehauer. “We are here for information, and we encourage people to tap into it whenever they are ready and at their own pace.”
The results of the Class of 2012 Plans at Graduation Survey broke down the employment numbers into professional fields, revealing that education (22 percent), consulting (15 percent) and finance/banking (12 percent) were the most popular sectors. Other popular fields included science and technology, food and agriculture, healthcare and media and communications.
According to Kjelleren, education has been “the perennial top destination” for Middlebury students seeking employment immediately following graduation.
The EIA has also seen growing interest in business innovation and environmental sectors among students, a trend that is not captured in the survey’s results.
“We are finding that start-ups, entrepreneurial endeavors and environmental areas are really hot, and that is not really reflected in this most recent survey,” said Mosehauer.
Kjelleren admitted that the May survey does not give a complete picture of the distribution of jobs across professional sectors, but anticipates that the six-month survey — to be issued to 2012 graduates in November — will provide a more comprehensive report of students’ career plans.
“The Plans At Graduation Survey is a snapshot of May, and there are certain industries that recruit later in the year, like September and October, which will be reflected in the survey that comes out in November,” said Kjelleren.
The results of this year’s survey also demonstrate the growing appeal of postgraduate internships for Middlebury students.
“Postgraduate internships have more than doubled since we started this survey, and is a trend that will likely continue,” said Kjelleren. “[Internships are] a good short-term work strategy.”
According to Gates, a postgraduate internship can be a useful stepping-stone in students’ early careers. “[Post-graduation internships] often turn into permanent positions at that organization, or networking through other organizations,” she said.
While employment and postgraduate internship rates have increased in recent years, the number of students bound for graduate school has fallen. Gates credits this decrease to the cost of graduate school tuition and a desire among students to join the work force before matriculating in a graduate program.
“Students are increasingly concerned about debt and they want to be absolutely certain that this is a graduate degree they want and is essential to what they want to do,” said Gates. “It does make sense to spend a couple of years working first.”
Kjelleren pointed out that a survey issued one to five years after graduation might yield different results regarding graduate school enrollment than the May survey’s results.
“We have had a difficult time in attracting a lot of students to come to graduate school information sessions,” said Kjelleren. “There may not be the student appetite. A five year survey may say something different and graduate school numbers will probably be very high.”
The EIA May survey serves not only to provide a snapshot of a graduating class’s immediate plans but also to help the EIA shape its strategy.
“For each year’s class, we get a good feeling of what their top 10 industries are,” said Mosehauer. “If there’s a lot of student interest in a certain area, but little or no recruiting going on there, we look to close that gap.”
(09/19/12 11:40pm)
The Alumni Factor, a new college ranking publication, unveiled its first college and university ranking earlier this month, slotting Middlebury College in 7th place. Unlike other ranking lists, the Alumni Factor uses quantifiable financial data gleaned from alumni surveys. By using alternative criteria, the ranking has aimed to arm prospective students and their parents with a new way to evaluate schools during the college search.
The Alumni Factor's list of top schools stands apart from other "Top 10" lists because it features colleges and universities that rarely appear in the upper echelon of more traditional college ranking publications.
Middlebury College, which shares 4th place with Pomona College in the most recent U.S. News National Liberal Arts College Ranking and 42nd in Forbes' list, holds the 7th spot in The Alumni Factor's debut list "just ahead of the United States Naval Academy and behind the University of Notre Dame."
After receiving alumni reviews from former students at over 450 colleges and universities, the Alumni Factor whittled down the results to compile a list of the top 177 Top Colleges and Universities.
While U.S. News and World Report separates liberal arts colleges and universities into two lists, the Alumni Factor groups schools into one all-inclusive ranking. Alternatively, the Princeton Review puts forward no composite ranking, but offers 62 top 20 lists on institution's specific traits, such as quality of life, social scene and region.
Opinions are mixed on the most appropriate methodology for college and university rankings.
"I prefer the approach of Princeton Review and U.S. News in this case where they rank the schools within categories," said Becky Castle '91, who served as the president of the College Alumni Association from 2000-2002.
"I'm not really sure that comparing a small liberal college to a state university with 40,000 students makes a lot of sense."
Chelsea Guster '11, a more recently graduated Middlebury alumna, believes that each ranking methodology fits into its own niche within the college shopping market.
"I think for those who are set on a particular region, size or aesthetic of school, the Princeton Review and U.S. News approach of dividing rankings by traits is very effective," said Guster. "However, for those who may be asking, 'Isn't Pomona just like a NESCAC, but stuck out West?' the Alumni Factor's approach seems to be more useful."
Another point of contention with respect to college ranking platforms is the source of the data. The U.S. News ranking uses surveys completed by administrators at peer institutions and high school counselors at select public and private schools in appraising a college or university. Princeton Review, in contrast, relies heavily on student surveys. As the Alumni Factor's name indicates, alumni surveys form the basis of the new list's rankings.
Unlike Princeton Review and U.S. News, The Alumni Factor operates independently of college and university bureaucracies, surveying alumni without the help of administrative contacts. Alumni respondents are asked to answer 30 different questions concerning their college experience and respond to 20 statements about relevant political and social issues.
Their answers, in combination with their financial information, create the institution's "score" in 15 diverse categories, such as average income of graduate households, preparation for career success and overall happiness of graduates.
"Graduates can offer a valuable perspective on the college experience, because they assuredly had one at that school," said Guster. "However, as each person inevitably evaluates his or her experience differently, it would be slightly more difficult to know what type of information I was receiving from a ranking platform that worked solely from alumni feedback."
By drawing attention to the financial status of college graduates, The Alumni Factor aims to provide a quantifiable perspective on the financial return on a college education. In a time of economic recession, this perspective has proved appealing to some parents and students.
"As much as I value learning for the sake of learning and the liberal arts approach, financial standing of graduates is a real consideration given the cost of higher education and the debt burden that people take on," said Castle.
Current student Elizabeth Fouhey '14 however, takes an alternate stance on the issue.
"It is hard to place judgment on a school based on how much money someone makes after college," said Fouhey. "There are very financially successful people who have gone to low-ranked schools, and there are also people who go to places like Middlebury whose financial situation after college is not as good."
The different reviews weigh certain attributes differently while ranking schools. U.S. News weights its factors according to their view of what is most important in selecting a college; for instance, it devotes 22.5 percent of a college's composite score to academic reputation. Princeton Review in contrast, breaks down each category into its own self-contained list.
The Alumni Factor uses a different methodology still, weighing its 15 attributes equally. However, the new ranking site uniquely offers a special feature aimed at accommodating the personal tastes of its readers. "Match Me To U" gives users the ability to weigh factors that they deem to be the most relevant. The feature's final product is a custom-made list of top colleges and universities.
"The validity of each approach is really subjective depending on the user's interests and priorities," said Castle.