| |
By: Leonie Gordon
Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement
The operative word in this workshop’s title is “Transforming.”
If we Lifelong Learning Institutes have anything in common—and we
surely do—it is our dependence on the work of volunteers to promote
our shared mission of advancing learning and enhancing lives.
I know of no LLI that can boast of adequate staff and so the role of
the volunteer is critical if the organization is to run smoothly. The
volunteer corps can transform itself through careful and guided member
selection, and it can be harnessed to transform the functioning of the
institute. Transformation begins with the appointment of the right volunteer
to the right situation, beginning at the most general levels of committee
service and working onwards to more specific levels.
At HILR we have four areas for new members to begin their commitment
to the organization.
1. Serving on the Front Desk
2. Working in the Common Room
3. Partnering with foreign students in the IEL
program
4. Monitoring the Dunlop Library
Each of these volunteer roles helps members meet other members, the staff,
or students in the ESL program. Each provides a valuable mechanism for
getting to know how the institute runs. Service on these essential committees
provides a base from which a member can work toward being identified for
work on one of the committees that will utilize their particular skills
and experience.
As a new member getting to know the culture, people can pour coffee,
monitor the library, answer member inquiries at the front desk, and meet
with foreign students for an hour a week for conversational partnerships.
At the next level, they can volunteer for the Art and Exhibitions Committee,
to serve on the Technology Committee, to help identify speakers for the
Distinguished Lecture Series, or to work for the literary magazine. And
at the level of Standing Committees, they can serve on the Curriculum,
Teaching and Learning, Admissions and Nominations Committees, all of which
work best with members who possess dedicated skills such as a background
in education for Curriculum, or in human resources or psychology in the
corporate world for Admissions.
When we interview candidates for admission we place unusual emphasis
on their history of volunteerism, the better to sense how they might contribute
to the organization of HILR as they develop and integrate into the membership.
The four Standing Committees begin with trained, energetic and engaged
volunteers who have been identified for their skills set. After service
on standing committees members are better equipped to run for election
to Council, and in an atmosphere of mutuality, the Council president reinforces
the work of the standing committees in bearing responsibility for appointing
appropriately skilled committee chairs. The HILR council relies on the
work of the committees but also enjoys a close relationship with the Director
of the HILR and with the Dean of the Division of Continuing Education,
to whom the Director reports.
The HILR is privileged to have dedicated facilities in a desirable location
on the University campus and to receive the benefits of membership in
the Harvard community, including the valuable access to the library and
museum system. For the HILR to sustain its position, it is axiomatic that
relations between the Dean, the Director, and Council are mutually supportive,
both philosophically and tangibly.
Since curriculum is the heart of any LLI program, an LLI is only as good
as its study group leaders, and the development of strong leaders is the
central task of the Teaching and Learning Committee. The Curriculum Committee
develops, screens, and selects future courses through the process of reviewing
course proposals. The Teaching and Learning Committee then works with
the cadre of new leaders, sometimes untrained in the art of effective
discussion, and leads training workshops based on different pedagogical
styles and skills.
With these fundamental and primary components in place, the ILR looks
to the future and the necessity to prepare itself for the coming demographic
changes. How will we meet the hopes, expectations and needs of a population,
highly educated, newly retired, and accustomed to high levels of mobility
and flexibility in life style and attitude, and with higher technological
skills than their predecessors?
This leads me to the issue of Strategic Planning. The HILR has begun
the important and necessary process of a long-term plan and mission statement
to articulate its continued academic, financial, programmatic and administrative
vitality. Some primary goals are:
1. We must carry the message of elder learning to a wider community beyond
our own walls.That means:
2. promoting a wider involvement and greater visibility within the university;
3. creating an improved governance structure;
4. making greater efforts towards diversity, in order to enrich social
relationships, and to reflect the demographic
balance of the larger society.
5. It means enhanced academic programs through the use of technology;
6. Also financial stabilization through fundraising.
7. Above all, it means maintaining an open dialogue between the membership,
the Dean, the Director, and the governing Council.
|
|
August 29, 2008
Bookmark
this site
|