Our natural curiosity about the world may fuel some to seek knowledge well beyond graduation, making education a lifelong process.
The University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute strives to meet the educational urge of individuals older than 50 years old.
“From both sides of [teaching and learning] I feel it’s a wonderful experience and there’s nothing like it,” said OLLI-RU Instructor Peter Cancro, a high school teacher for 26 years. “These [students] are so receptive and stimulating, both from a teacher’s point of view and a student’s point of view.”
The institute was founded in cooperation with the University Division of Continuous Education in 1993. Registration for the spring semester will continue through Feb. 28.
The institute now offers fall, spring and winter semesters to about 1,100 students who can choose from about 80 courses ranging from history and current affairs, languages, finance, computer science, opera, literature and classes on theater that include day trips to the George Street Playhouse, said Director Martin Schlaffer, an 1993 OLLI-RU student.
Locations for institute classes include the Reformed Church of Highland Park, the Highland Park Municipal Court and the Western Monmouth Higher Education Center in Freehold, N.J., Schlaffer said. The institute is considering expanding to another location, or even offering online courses, but no definite plans have been made yet.
Each course costs $60, with a $20 membership fee included, Schlaffer said.
The other students in the class may all be seniors, but they are very active and enthusiastic about their learning experience, Cancro said.
The classes have no tests or grades, though sometimes reading is assigned, said OLLI-RU Instructor Donald Ting.
“[OLLI] is a much more relaxed atmosphere [than college] without the worrying about tests and grades,” Ting said.
Ting said his experience with the institute has been gratifying.
“I’ve gotten a lot of new knowledge, experienced new areas I’d never have experienced before and met a lot of new people,” Ting said.
Schlaffer, who has been the director of the program for 11 years, said many of the instructors at the institute were students first and others are active or retired University professors.
Cancro said he has been sharing his love of opera with others for about four years, since OLLI-RU accepted his proposal to teach the class.
“I think I’ve found home, I hope,” Cancro said.
He said he intends to continue teaching opera with the institute. So far, he has taught diverse subjects within the opera field, such as comic, French and Puccini.
“There’s enough diversity and enough subjects within the opera field; they could go on for a long time,” Cancro said.
But without funding, the institute may not be what it is today.
The University Division of Continuous Education’s support has been very generous to OLLI-RU, Schlaffer said.
“For our budget this year, 120,000 dollars alone [was from the Division of Continuous Education],” Schlaffer said.
The support from the University includes office space, personnel and equipment, Schlaffer said. The institute’s budget for this year is about $300,000.
In addition to support from the University, Schlaffer said a few other organizations have contributed to OLLI’s success.
“We’ve received some major endowments from the Bernard Osher Foundation, two $1 million endowments, $250,000 in grants and some very generous contributions from several of our members,” Schlaffer said.
Institute fosters ‘lifelong’ education
Published: Thursday, February 19, 2009
Updated: Thursday, February 19, 2009
1 comments