The Strategic Planning Committee presented its Report to the 5CLIR Council on June 12, 2003. The report is available to read in its original form in the 5CLIR office. All the content, except for the Appendices, is reproduced here.
Completing The Circle
The Report of the Five College Learning in Retirement Strategic Planning Committee, 2003
I. Introduction
II. Brief History of 5CLIR
III. Recommendations & Actions
Part I – Introduction
Five College Learning in Retirement (5CLIR) is about to finish its fifteenth year. Several months ago, we decided to embark upon a strategic review. In spite of a few growing pains, we thought the organization was in good shape and that this would be a good time to examine, improve and recommit. The Strategic Planning Committee offers here our observations on what we have discover about our organization, what we think might change, and we make some suggestions for the future.
The Learning in Retirement movement began some thirty five years ago at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Now generally called “Life-Long Learning Institutes” or LLIs, such organizations are blossoming around the country. “Older adults care about education… they are intense, self-motivated learners, and they define their own educational experiences and enthusiasms”, according to the Elderhostel Institute Network, a national support group. 5CLIR is now one of the more established of the many LLIs around the country and one of the more autonomous.
We have taken the position from the beginning that our target audience is “active retirees”, i.e., those who want to continue learning as participants. Our core commitment remains to the “peer-designed and peer-led seminar”, where a member or two will identify an area of study, design an appropriate approach to that topic, and then “moderate” the unfolding of that study through the work of each of the 15 participants in a ten week seminar. Topics range from “Understanding Slavery” to “Who Wants to be an Actor” and are limited only to subjects of academic or creative interest to our members. Although member presentations are the key in our seminars, discussion is of crucial importance. Recently we added “workshops”, where the traditional academic work may be less, but the involvement of the membership is equally required. And almost from the beginning we have sponsored additional events such as trips, museum visits, guest lecturers and a variety of social events.
Serious discussion ensues in the seminar, “ Mexico – Our Distant Neighbor”.
All 5CLIR seminars are moderated by members. This one was planned and led by Jono Hanke and Ted Belsky.
Of great importance to 5CLIR has been our relationship with Five Colleges, Inc., and the Valley’s five excellent institutions of higher education: Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Five Colleges Inc., has given us administrative support (our Program Coordinator, while supervised by our elected Council, is technically a Five Colleges, Inc., employee), guidance when necessary, and a venue for our meetings. The colleges and the university have given us space for our seminars, resources for research, a home base for our office, and larger spaces as needed for the various other programs we have offered, often to the wider community. Though we are an autonomous organization, raising our own funds and determining our own policies, we greatly value the connection with Five Colleges, Inc., and hope to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship for years to come. In return, what do we offer the five colleges?
We believe we are an asset that should not be under-estimated. Educational institutions of necessity must tend to their own flock first, but all are part of the community. The senior population, and especially that part of the senior population that considers itself still active intellectually, culturally, and politically, is an important part of that community. As activists and politically aware citizens, as consumers of culture as well as goods and services, as examples and models for the younger generation more directly served by the colleges and, often, as retirees from and relatives of active employees of the colleges we represent a vital part of the broader community. Modeling a mature commitment to learning and active involvement, mitigating the age segregation of the typical college, and enriching the campuses with our backgrounds and experiences are benefits to the institutions. And we remain open to new ideas of inter-generational cooperation.
All the past presidents and vice-presidents of 5CLIR were invited to a brainstorming session on strategic planning
at Five Colleges, Inc., in June of 2002.
Part II – A Brief History of the Five College Learning in Retirement Program
In March, 1988, at the suggestion of Carl Swanson, retired professor from the University of Massachusetts , Conn Nugent, the Five College Inc. Coordinator, called together a group to discuss “a possible education program for retirees and semi-retirees in the Five College Community”. Included were representatives from Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, the University of Massachusetts and the Town of Amherst ‘s Council on Aging. In May, the Five College Presidents approved the pilot program described in the group’s request for… an educational opportunity designed and offered by retirees for and to themselves… a program of senior study groups modeled on the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement… that will draw on the richly endowed intellectual resources of the Valley’s retired community and that will enable its participants to study together. Our membership will include those individuals who feel intellectually restless and who are now free to: 1) pursue new fields of study, 2) ponder again old neglected ones, and/or 3) share, and thus reshape, familiar ideas with peers of diverse backgrounds and experiences who also remain intellectually independent and alert… Peer learning and participation by members will not only be the intertwined concepts on which this proposed program will rise, but they will also remain integral to it at every stage…
The Division of Continuing Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, was initially assigned as the administrative agency to help with the beginnings of the program. In October, 1988, a letter signed by all five presidents of the colleges and the university was widely distributed together with a survey to local retirees inviting their participation in the program.
The spring of 1989 saw five seminars with some forty retirees actively engaged in learning. In August of 1990 the program moved from the Division of Continuing Education to a direct and more autonomous relation with Five Colleges Inc., whose Executive Director, Lorna Peterson, and Treasurer, Jean Stabell, have offered valued continuing support. Our office moved into the Field House at Smith College and in 1993 Karen Tatro was employed as our Program Coordinator. She still serves as our very capable Coordinator, a resource for all our needs, and “doer of most everything that happens”.
Gradually our number of seminars grew to over 20 each term and we began to add other types of programs. For example, The Foreign Policy Association’s “Great Decisions” program has been offered each spring for up to 100 members and guests, and January intersession and summer vacation now see a variety of 5CLIR activities. Finally, Conver-sations over Coffee, potluck meals and meet-the-moderator sessions were added to share talk on important and timely issues, to keep members informed of our programs, and to enjoy each other socially. Occasional unique programs, such as the seven week pilot workshop taught by Molly Fitz-gerald-Hayes of the University’s Department of Bio-chemistry and Molecular Biology to over 60 members in the fall of 2001 on “You and Your Genome” at Hampshire College, have added to the interest in 5CLIR as well as to the knowledge of our members.
Yet the core of the Five College Learning in Retirement program remains the challenging ten week seminars and study groups in which all members participate. Currently there are some 240 full time members and 25 associate members.
Five College Learning in Retirement’s growth seems assured and steady (see data and graph, Appendix F). Our problems are no longer establishment and survival but managing our growth sensibly as the increasingly larger retired population in this community continues to look for relevant educational experiences.
Part III – Strategic Planning Committee Actions and Recommendations
In our 1994-95 Long Range Plan President Eleanor Reid said, “Because our LIR is almost unique, self-governing and not related to a parent Continuing Education Department, we have much more responsibility for our survival than do our sister organizations. An important part of that responsibility is to look ahead and plan, in a systematic way, for the future. The critical questions are not only ‘Where have we been?’ and ‘Who are we?’ but also ‘What do we want to be?’ and ‘What should we be?’ ”
A. The Mission
In response to that challenge the Strategic Planning Committee set out to write 5CLIR’s first “Mission Statement.” After much discussion and input from members, including a questionnaire and two open forums we adopted this mission: “To enrich our lives by providing forums for sharing the pleasures of active learning.” (See below for full statement.) Several issues were debated and decided in the course of creating this statement and the accompanying “implementation” points. They included: that our core commitment is to the peer-learning model but that we encourage innovation in the definition of “peer-learning” and offer other programs for members and the community.
Prof. Michael Gorra, Smith College English Department, speaks to over 75 members on “Confessions of a Book Reviewer”
at the Smith Field House. This was one of four January Programs, a supplement to our seminars.
B. Governance
We looked at many issues in the way we are governed including:
(a) ways of electing Council members,
(b) a review of various by-laws issues, and
(c) how we can better catalogue decisions with our ever changing officers and Council.
The following decisions were made:
(1) We strongly endorse the fact that we are a self-governing organization, accepting the responsibility for our continuing health.
(2) We should make an effort to strengthen our connections with the five colleges and with Five Colleges, Inc.
(3) We will develop a “Policies and Procedure” manual.
(4) We have added the position of assistant treasurer to our officers and Council and redefined the composition of the Finance Committee to tighten our financial controls and improve continuity in our financial management.
(5) We have clarified voting on the Council and the status and tenure of committee chairs.
(6) We have added the Office Volunteer Committee to our Standing Committees to assist our Program Coordinator in handling the increased workload of our growing organization.
(7) We recommended to Council the requirement of Annual Reports, written by all officers and committee heads and the creation of an “Archivist” for our organization.
John Olson, 5CLIR member, leads a discussion with 15 fellow members in the seminar “Human Origins”.
Seminars are on literature, science, history, arts, religion or almost any topic of interest to members.
FIVE COLLEGE LEARNING IN RETIREMENT MISSION STATEMENT (Adopted by Council, November 14, 2002):
To enrich our lives by providing forums for sharing the pleasures of active learning. To implement this mission we:
1. offer educational programs whose core is peer-led seminars in which each member is an active participant. These seminars are ordinarily held in any of the five colleges in the Pioneer Valley (Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke andSmith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst);
2. expect members to:
(a) accept our core commitment to active participation,
(b) pay dues and
(c) be willing to share in the responsibilities of the organization, all with an awareness of and support for the physical and financial aspects of aging;
3. manage the organization through our elected Council representatives and officers with the guidance and assistance of Five Colleges, Inc.;
4. acknowledge that, although our primary purpose is intellectual pursuit, we recognize and encourage the social rewards of shared learning;
5. offer a variety of programs with a “participatory component” both for ourselves and the larger community in a social setting that sustains and nurtures friendships, old and new.
Dr. Sanya Osha, U. of Ibadan, speaks on “The U.S. and Nigeria: Thinking Beyond Oil” at 5CLIR’s Great Decisions, 2003. Dr. Osha, Five Colleges African Scholar, was at Smith for Spring, 2003.
Other series’ topics included “Saudi Arabia: Beyond Oil”, “Multi-lateralism vs. Unilateralism,” “Europe: State of the Union,” and “Global Struggle for Womens’ Rights.”
C. Membership
We debated several issues relating to our membership. These included the consequences of the increasing size of our organization, recruitment policies, diversity and camaraderie enhancement. We have recommended the following:
(1) In response to some members’ call for limitations on growth we recommended that no membership cap be established. We felt that it was unwise for several reasons:
(a) growth is necessary for “new blood,” especially new moderators for seminars;
(b) a cap would contribute to the “aging” of the organization;
(c) a larger organization would be financially healthier and
(d) we noted possible legal and other problems in attempting to define the criteria for exclusion.
(2) Council should make regular efforts to be sure 5CLIR is known to five college retirees and consider other specific efforts in “outreach” from time-to-time.
(3) Council should study the matter of diversity in 5CLIR by the appointment of a task force.
(4) 5CLIR needs to collect more information on members and needs to create a database as a resource to keep track of changes in our membership and to help us better plan our activities.
(5) 5CLIR members, while committed to our intellectual programs, also value their social contacts in 5CLIR and these needs and interests should be accommodated.
D. Finance
We noted that steps had been taken over the last two years to create a budgeting process for 5CLIR and to bring our financial controls and reporting up to professional standards. We commended the Treasurer and his predecessors for these efforts. We made several general recommendations to the Finance Committee and Council:
(1) The target for our Reserve Fund should be a sum “equal to at least half of our annual expenditure budget (including amounts for all programs)”. This gives us some financial security and a small reserve for unusual opportunities;
(2) 5CLIR should attempt to keep dues as low as possible, supplemented by voluntary contributions including active solicitation if necessary. We already attempt, through our Donors’ Fund, to provide for members who cannot meet our established dues.
(3) The Finance Committee was encouraged to look into new equipment for our office, i.e., a copier and/or new computer.
(4) The Finance Committee should develop a capital budget and/or capital reserve fund for office and instructional equipment.
E. Curriculum
As the most important activity in 5CLIR, our seminar curriculum is already the most professionally developed part of our organization. In fourteen years our curricular offerings have grown to 25 seminars per term. We asked the Curriculum Committee to review certain aspects of our program. These included:
(a) How they view our core commitment to “peer-learning,” i.e., what is it and how exclusive is our commitment?
(b) Are there better ways to measure and enhance the quality of all we do?
(c) Are there additional steps that can be taken to encourage new moderators? The Curriculum Committee responded by promoting discussions and interactions that contributed to the clarification of our Mission, as stated above. We commended their professionalism and hard work.
A Sampling of the 30 moderators, Fall 2002. All 5CLIR seminars are moderated by our own members.
F. Space Needs
Nothing is more important for our growing organization than having appropriate spaces in which to hold our seminars and other programs. We greatly value our relationship with the five colleges that have supported our programs for fourteen years. We especially value the office space provided by Smith College and the meeting spaces for our Council and committees that Five Colleges, Inc., has provided and, of course, the many seminar spaces provided over the years by the colleges and the university. Without them we could not function or we would not be a part of the academic communities which we greatly treasure. While at times it has been necessary to move off the campuses, we reaffirmed that our highest priority is keeping our activities on the five campuses. It is this connection that gives our program its special value as part of life-long learning in an academic atmosphere that cannot be duplicated in a bank building, restaurant or church, as valuable as they have been.
Specific recommendations are:
(1) The vast majority of our programs should continue to be held on the five campuses.
(2) Many life-long learning programs have their own facilities which include adjacent office and classroom spaces and a meeting room or lounge. While we are not seeking such a space we welcome discussions with any of the colleges about eventually having a home that meets these requirements.
(3) Members who are prospective moderators need to be flexible in their location, space and timing requests and members need to recognize the parking problems on all the campuses and make maximum use of busses, car pools, and handicapped spots.
G. The Program Coordinator
Crucial to our success has been Karen Tatro, the Program Coordinator for ten years. Her primary responsibilities include:
(a) being our public face to newcomers inquiring about our activities;
(b) being our contact with Five Colleges, Inc., and with the five colleges and university, especially in continually working on our space needs,
(c) serving our members and committees in many tasks, and
(d) managing our office and administrative needs and working with volunteers from the organization.
We recommend:
(1) The Program Coordinator continue to locate adequate space in the first instance on the five campuses.
(2) The office work load needs to be regularly monitored by the President in consultation with the Program Coordinator and Council to make sure that as we grow the demands on the office are reasonable and affordable.
(3) At such time as the Program Coordinator retires or resigns, 5CLIR should establish a committee that should include past presidents of the organization and a representative of Five Colleges, Inc. to review the job description of the Program Director to determine its appropriateness for the size and demands of the organization.
H. Technology
We have found that our members have considerable interest in the use of computers, that some have significant knowledge and background, and that some are gifted in sharing their knowledge with others. Roughly two-thirds of 5CLIR members are regular computer users and we have increasingly sponsored computer classes, workshops and support groups. We have developed an impressive website for our organization (www.5clir.org/), with a variety of user friendly features and depositories for seminar products and photographs of our activities. In addition we have found that our seminar experiences can be enhanced with the use of audio-visual technology, including advanced computer projection technology. Recently we purchased an LCD projector as well as an overhead projector and speakers and microphones to support our use of these devices when they can’t be obtained from the colleges. They have already improved our seminar experiences.
We have recommended:
(1) Computer seminars, both basic and advanced, and support efforts should continue to be offered.
(2) The continued development and maintenance of the 5CLIR website and its interactive features and encouragement of our members to become more inter-active via the Bulletin Board.
(3) We encourage our members to make use of audio visual equipment to enhance their presentations and the overall experience in our seminars.
(4) We will broaden our data base to improve our program and activities planning.
Molly Fitzgerald-Hayes of U Mass assists a 5CLIR member in collecting his DNA at the special seven week program on
“You and Your DNA,” Fall, 2001.
This Report was created by the Strategic Planning Committee (Chuck Gillies, Bob Grose and Nick Leras, Co-chairs, and Connie Anderson, Peg Bedell, Ed Buck, Eleanor Shattuck and Naomi Yanis) and was submitted to the 5CLIR Council on June 12, 2003.
Five College Learning in Retirement
Smith College, Mason Hall
Northampton, MA 01063
(413) 585-3756
5clir@email.smith.edu www.5clir.org
President, 2002-03: Charles K. Gillies
Program Coordinator: Karen Tatro
