Lifelong Learning Pre-conference Thursday, December 6
Who should attend:
LLI members, leaders and administrators interested in establishing, operating or growing a Lifelong Learning Institute will benefit from this pre-conference. New, well-established and mature institutes will find something of interest. Sessions focus on the most common concerns of Institutes who endeavor to serve their intended communities.
Benefits:
Too often, Lifelong Learning Institutes operate in relative isolation from one another. This can promote the belief that our concerns and challenges are unique and that we have few, if any, avenues for discussing our issues. The primary benefit of attending this pre-conference will be the broadening of perspective we achieve when we have the chance to meet, talk and learn with and from our LLI colleagues. They might offer a different perspective on the same situation or even have found an interesting way to resolve some of our all-too-common challenges. And the pre-conference is a great opportunity to share our successes with others who truly understand how great those moments are!
9:00 – 10:30 Bait Your Reality Hook:Recruitment and Marketing for your Lifelong Learning Institute
Description: Today’s 50+ adults are very busy and have a myriad of choices for how they will spend their discretionary time and money. How will we make our program stand out among the many choices available? We are challenged to develop a nimble and varied approach to marketing while finding a way to let the public know what our LLIs have to offer them, our “Reality Hook.” During this interactive session we will discuss how to “pull apart” our programs and find distinguishing factors to highlight in our marketing plans. Let us not forget how valuable our members, participants, leaders and instructors are. How we can utilize them, and their experience, as we formulate our plans? From our members to our community, how can we work together to build a strong membership to sustain the valuable work that we do? We will draw upon the collective knowledge and experience of the participants in this session to identify new strategies…serious approaches to recruitment and marketing, and a few light-hearted imaginative ideas that will make our programs stand out.
Presenters
Jane Dowrick directs the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. Jane received her B.A. in English and her M.Ed. in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Carol Jonson has served on the Advisory Board for the Frances Pew Hayes Center for Lifelong Learning at Hodges University, in Naples FL, since its inception and has been an instructor with The Center since 1996, teaching such classes as Greek mythology, humanities and art history. Carol earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Literature from Wayne State University in Detroit and did post-graduate work in Medieval and Renaissance English at the University of Detroit. Carol currently is a consultant and freelance writer, working in the areas of health care and higher education.
Christine Wheeler serves as the Director for the Frances Pew Hayes Center for Lifelong Learning at Hodges University in Naples, FL. Christine holds a bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies from Hodges University and is currently pursuing a master's in Management.
10:30-11:00: Break
11:00 am – 12:30: Recruiting and Developing Volunteers
Description: Active, engaged volunteers form the core of most every successful lifelong learning institute. Going far beyond the normal “busywork,” volunteers provide essential services, leadership, and direction. Finding, recruiting, developing and encouraging volunteers to move into leadership in your institute will be the focus of this session. We’ll examine these issues from “both sides now:” a volunteer-leader and an LLI administrator will each provide their own well-considered perspective on these most central of concerns.
Presenters
Tricia Inlow-Hatcher is director of the Encore Center for Lifelong Enrichment, a 1000-member LLI at North Carolina State University. She has 23 years of experience teaching for and administering experiential learning and higher education programs.
Aelwyn Thomas has a long history in recruiting, organizing, and retaining volunteers. That is one of her current responsibilities at the 1000+ member OLLI at University of Alabama-Huntsville. She is involved in recruitment and retention of volunteers there, as she did prior to her retirement from the airline industry.
12:30 – 2:00: Lunch
2:00 – 3:30: Steal This Idea! Courses We’d All Love To Take
Description: We are all, always, on the lookout for something new and different that we can offer. In this session, participants get to be the experts: join in a facilitated discussion of what ideas for new classes and new faculty you are most proud of. Maybe they stretched your program into new subject areas, or uncovered a superstar to teach for your LLI. What is your “stealable idea” and how did you develop it? Bring copies of your program materials to share and be prepared to discuss your wildest, craziest – and successful – recent idea for a course.
Discussion Leaders
Barbara Reinish: Peer Learning Consultant and Former Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Northwestern University
Kali Lightfoot: Executive Director, National Resource Center for Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes, and Coordinator of the Maine Senior College Network
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