Oberlin Likely to Host Renowned Language Program this Summer

Although negotiations are still underway, Oberlin College will likely become the second current location to host the prestigious MiddleburyÐMonterey Language Academy summer program. A partnership between Middlebury College and the Monterey Institute of International Study, MMLA is an intensive foreign language education program renowned for the full immersion experience it creates for its students.

Before pursuing a contract with Oberlin College, MMLA considered many other locations for its program. Roberto d’Erizans, the director of MMLA, said, “Oberlin was well-suited as a site; Oberlin has the facilities, the interest and the enthusiasm of administrators.”

According to Ellen Sayles, associate dean and director of international studies, Oberlin has been talking with MMLA for some time.

“This kind of summer program is the type of summer program we have been interested in attracting for a while as part of our broad effort to internationalize the campus,” Sayles said. “We came to know that MMLA was looking for another site, so we started conversations with them a year ago.”

Although the final contract will likely be signed in the next two weeks, according to d’Erizans, the College and MMLA still need to work out some details. Ann Deppman, acting assistant director of programs for international study, wrote in an e-mail that “there are some logistical questions with regard to use of space and the hours related to meal times and that sort of thing.” Overall, however, “larger details have been agreed upon,” she said.

The MMLA website lists Oberlin as a program site but says the tuition for it is “to be determined.”

Deppman initiated Oberlin’s conversations with MMLA. “When I became aware of the MMLA being developed several years ago, it was my thought that it would be a great fit for Oberlin College,” Deppman said. After talking to several people locally and receiving a positive response on campus, Deppman contacted the director of MMLA.

Although confidentiality prevented him from disclosing an exact number of campuses that were not chosen to host MMLA, d’Erizans said that the program has “over the years amassed a number of sites that could potentially work for our program.” Specifically, he said these sites were located in Philadelphia, New York and California.

Historically, MMLA has had a positive effect on communities located near sites of the program. According to Ann Taylor, marketing director for MMLA, one such location is Green Mountain College in Poultney, VT, the program’s other current site, which is about an hour’s drive from Middlebury College.

“Local businesses were very excited to have a new group of students come in from places that might not necessarily be exposed to Poultney,” Taylor said. She also said that, in a larger sense, new students have a “different perspective” that can “liven up a campus” and “expand people’s views for a little while.”

This program will benefit Oberlin College as well. According to d’Erizans, the marketing for the program “helps to spread the name of the college across the country and the world” and “draws more students interested in the languages” to host campuses. “I think it also provides employment in the summer for students, faculty and other staff interested in languages,” d’Erizans said.

The MMLA program will cost the College nothing, nor will it create increases in Oberlin student tuitions, since all summer programs are run separately through conference services. “The College is not paying for the program to be on campus,” Sayles said.

Vice President for the Office of Finance Ron Watts wrote in an e-mail that, although he’s not directly involved in the arrangement with MMLA, he “believe[s] the program is projected to be a break-even proposal.”

The contract currently being worked on will only put MMLA in Oberlin for the upcoming summer. According to d’Erizans, however, “We always do yearly contracts for the first year and then after that we look for longer commitments.”

Other colleges that have hosted MMLA in the past did not get their contracts renewed after their first year hosting the program. For example, St. Michael’s College in Colchester, VT “was a much bigger school than we were hoping to be at and logistically didn’t work so great for us,” Taylor said.

However, d’Erizans was optimistic about the future of the Oberlin partnership. “We like to establish ourselves in campuses where we want to be for a long period of time and where we can grow,” he said.