While the strategic framework defines general directions for our journey into the future, and articulates principles that constitute rules of the road, the transformational goals describe our destination. Through pursuit of these goals, Middlebury will become:

• A CENTER FOR PERSUASIVE AND INCLUSIVE DIALOGUE: Helping to realize our vision of “…a robust and inclusive public sphere,” Middlebury will become a recognized leader in educating students to create inclusive community through thoughtful listening, respectful deliberation, and compelling communication in both face-to face and digital contexts. We will give a central place to appreciation of and respect for differences (diverse identities, ideologies, values, experiences) as sources of valuable learning and meaningful challenge. We will expand and enhance opportunities for students to learn to communicate their own ideas effectively, evaluate and synthesize the ideas of others, and discern and articulate that which they strongly believe.

• A LABORATORY FOR CURRICULAR INNOVATION AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: Building on our mission to “prepare students to lead engaged, consequential, and creative lives, [and] contribute to their communities,” Middlebury will excel in creating an innovative curriculum incorporating structural flexibility, pedagogical innovation in reimagined physical and digital spaces, and increased opportunities for experiential learning, in order to deepen understanding, develop a sense of agency and purpose, and create space and time for students, faculty, staff, and alumni to expand the impact of their work and contribute to the common good in new and creative ways.

• A GLOBALLY NETWORKED CHANGEMAKER: In ways that are unique among institutions of higher education, Middlebury has the expertise and capacity to prepare students to “address the world’s most challenging problems…., [and] work across intellectual geographical, and cultural borders.” Leveraging its leadership in the teaching of language and cultures, Middlebury will increase opportunities for students to navigate, both physically and digitally, a globally networked curriculum, engaging with vibrant communities and programs around the world, and developing the expertise to understand and address current and future urgent global challenges (e.g., nonproliferation, environmental sustainability, poverty, inequality, intolerance).

The strategic framework guides the institution in creating a dynamic global Middlebury that achieves our vision for the future: a world with a robust and inclusive public sphere where ethical citizens work across intellectual, geographical, and cultural borders. These transformational goals emerge from our mission and vision, leverage our distinctions, and follow our six strategic directions, mindful of our principles.

Small working groups, each led by a Board member of the Strategy Committee and a member of the Senior Leadership Group, will work throughout the spring to unpack each transformational goal and identify specific objectives that will constitute our “first moves” toward its achievement. These groups will also be engaging the community about their work during the term.