Reply to Middlebury Suffering with larger class sizes and enrollment

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sounds about right. They need the money, bad.[/quote]

Ah, the Middlebury troll is back.

Middlebury has zero financial problems, has never had any and likely never will. They are in the top 50 or so schools in the country in terms of endowment (larger than U Miami for example) with more resources per student than schools such as Cornell, Brown, Northwestern, Chicago.

Middlebury has had a small nagging deficit for awhile because Laurie Patton preferred to just ignore it. Baucomb quickly made the right decision on MIIS and I suspect that it will quickly disappear. Even if it didn't the actual budget effect is small kind of like their $1.6B endowment functioning more like a $1.4B endowment. Middlebury also draws conservatively from their endowment, taking a full point less  (4.5-5.0%) than peer schools like Colby for example.[/quote]
It factually has a deficit that president baucom is working to fix. As an alum, it’s tiring seeing threads delude themselves that there’s anything but a deficit.[/quote]
+1, I love midd. I donate to Midd as a proud parent, but the institution missed out on a decade and a half of financial glory that peer lacs have reached (Swat, Pomona, Williams, and Amherst all passing the three billion dollar endowment mark). It has also made poor enrollment decisions that have helped erode campus culture. I have a DS at Midd and a DD at Williams, and a nephew at Pomona-the differences in resources between midd and the latter two are night and day. It’s a wonderful school but you have to face reality [/quote]

You had me until this: "the differences in resources between midd and the latter two are night and day."[/quote] What differences are night and day?
[/quote]
Sure, 1) conference and research funding is more abundant. Williams particularly has nearly non-exhaustive research funding and apparently Pomona's student government recently voted to potentially reduce the amount per student, because they've never run out of the fund. 2) Both schools deal less with faculty retention issues than Middlebury and they attract more faculty 3) less staff cuts/issues than Middlebury. 4) International experiences and connections with Oxbridge, which Middlebury lacks. You can check the Humanities program but [quote]Middlebury-CMRS students are Associate Members of Keble College, but are not enrolled at the University of Oxford, and neither Keble College nor the University of Oxford have any responsibility for academic, pastoral, accommodation or disciplinary matters relating to M-CMRS. Students on the program are housed in St Michael’s Hall, in Oxford city center.[/quote] and the college doesn't have the fellowship funding for oxbridge study like Williams and Pomona 5) More campus events from more notable scholars including Bill Nye for Parents weekend,  Oren Case, Ruha Benjamin, Carl Phillips, Kwame Appiah, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Lonnie G. Bunch III, Sal Khan, and other big speakers all have passed by, while Midd tends to have more academics. 6) Midd is currently having a class size issue, while Williams can maintain a massive tutorials program 7) Both Williams and Pomona have Nobel prize alum. Midd doesn't 8) these exceptional faculty resources lead to better outcomes for graduate school and professional school. [/quote]

Both Williams and Middlebury have issues with faculty recruitment and retention, due primarily to their rural locations and lack of affordable housing and childcare services. Lack of spousal job opportunities also impacts both colleges. With its suburban location, Pomona deals less with these issues, although a high cost of living is in play.

Williams also isn't immune to budget cuts. Just two years ago, they asked all department heads to identify 15% budget cuts from their FY24 budgets due to a poor endowment performance the prior year.

Middlebury is unmatched in its global presence, with 75 programs in 40 countries. You mention Middlebury's affiliation with Keble College at Oxford, but didn't mention the Lincoln College Visiting Student Program. Students at the Williams-Exeter Program are similarly visiting, non-matriculated Oxford students, although they are fully integrated into Exeter's social and academic circles. And around 25 students participate per year. More than 50 Middlebury students study at Oxford every year. To my knowledge, Pomona doesn't have any affiliation with Oxford. They do have the Program at Jesus College, Cambridge, which students from any of the Claremont Colleges can join.

You mention more campus events from more notable scholars--this is entirely subjective. The names you mention are not necessarily well known outside academic circles. And if you want to consider Bill Nye the Science Guy as a real catch, good for you. Middlebury attracts plenty of accomplished guest speakers.

Williams maintains a massive tutorial program? As I understand it, the college offers 65ish tutorials per year, each with two students. So a total of ~130 students take a tutorial every year. The college says that just over half of Williams students take a tutorial during their time at the college. If "night and day" hinges on your opportunity to take one class while you're in college (and half don't even take advantage of it), so be it.

How does having a Nobel Prize-winning alum impact the current student experience? Bragging rights, okay. But what's the impact on everyday life?

Middlebury does just fine with grad school placement compared to peers.

Listen--Williams and Pomona are wealthier schools--no doubt about that. But saying this added wealth makes a "night and day" difference concerning the overall academic experience is ludicrous and shows bias on your part.

There's a poster on this site who scours news outlets, Middlebury's website, and the college paper for any negative stories and creates threads about them. I'm not certain what their motivation is, but I don't see them doing the same for other SLACs. 
[/quote]
Just wanted to add that previous poster said Oxbridge, not Oxford, and that the Claremont colleges is another benefit of itself. Also tutorial is a serious advantage and you failed to mention that most of the students who do tutorial do more than one, so it clearly is a transformative experience. About 1/2 of students study abroad at each of these schools- you wouldn’t call study abroad a useless resource just because not everyone uses it and the same is true of tutorials.[/quote]

PP mentions both Oxford and Cambridge in their response. [/quote]
Hey can you actually read? Oxbridge is both. They made the point that Pomona doesn’t have an Oxford study abroad but that was never pp point (nor is it true, but that’s another discussion).[/quote]

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