Tom Dooley has discovered that aging and learning can go well together. And his peers at Roosevelt University’s Institute for Continued Learning in Schaumburg likely would agree.
“The ideal of pursuing education when one is of advanced age is a good one,” said Dooley, 70, a semiretired real estate consultant who lives in Arlington Heights. “Learning is a lifelong adventure, and the older you get, you realize how much more there is to know.”
Dooley is one of hundreds of people who have discovered the Institutes for Learning in Retirement at Chicago-area universities and community colleges.
The institutes are sprouting up all over the nation too. In the last 15 years, more than 300 have been established in urban and rural settings in almost every state, according to the Elderhostel Institute Network of Boston, the umbrella organization that works with academic institutions involved in Lifelong Learning Institutes. There are 17 in Illinois.
These institutes for older adults are increasing as colleges recognize the unique educational needs of this age group.
“They initially come for intellectual stimulation, but they’re lifelong learners in the perfect sense,” said Barbara Reinish, administrative director for Northwestern University’s Institute for Learning in Retirement, created in 1986.
“I think this movement is going to become more and more important and popular. From the people I talk to on the verge of retirement, they have a tremendous interest in intellectual pursuits. The old model of retirement is not attractive to Baby Boomers–sitting in the sun in a warm climate, playing cards and hanging out by the pool. This kind of program will only be more in demand.”
Learning from one another
The programs cater to older adults who are retired or semiretired and seek peer learning.
Unlike continuing-education programs that charge a discounted tuition to participate in credit, degree-earning courses led by faculty in large lecture halls, most of the Institutes for Learning in Retirement rely on their volunteer membership to lead small group discussions in non-credit, non-degree programs.
Although there are no prerequisites, some programs, including Roosevelt’s, require that participants be at least 50.
Student members can choose from a variety of two-hour study groups offered three times a week for 15-week semesters in which the focus is on peer learning–no professors, homework, tests or grades. Classes are made up of 20 to 25 students, and annual fees range from $100 (at Roosevelt) to $360 (at Northwestern).
Both programs were modeled after The New School in New York City, which developed peer-learning programs for older adults more than 40 years ago.
“We developed a concept that retirees’ own experiences and own skills would generate a program,” said Michael Markowitz, director of the Retired Professionals Institute at The New School. “Students are encouraged to work in groups to develop study programs that meet college liberal-arts standards.”
Enjoying give-and-take
Universities and colleges using such a program create an advisory board that sets policy and academic standards, and ensures that peer learning in study groups is maintained.
Volunteer instructors from the senior student population lead study groups on subjects of interest to them or in which they have expertise.
The focus is not on teaching, but rather on learning through give-and-take discussions.
“The older mind learns in a different way than the younger mind,” Markowitz said. “The older mind can’t memorize. The older person wants to relate and correlate.”
Therefore, the curriculum features study-group discussions on such subjects as classic literature, history, the Depression, the Holocaust, World Wars, old-time radio, as well as traditional liberal-arts subjects such as science, philosophy, writing, film, music and art.
These programs usually are not how-to workshops but rather discussions about the subjects.
Going back to school
Students–about 60 percent of whom are women and whose average age is 65–often are retired professionals, many with advanced degrees in business, law and medicine. Others are simply interested in the pursuit of learning and filling the void of the workplace or empty nest.
“An institute provides a respite where they can challenge their mind, but [it] also provides a great social network,” Markowitz said. “In fact, we encourage it.”
As do the local institutes, which offer field trips to museums, Shakespeare festivals and nights out to dinner or the movies.
“Not only is it an intellectual challenge, but they make friends,” NU’s Reinish said.
“A lot of them are shocked–their social lives are enriched by the program. There’s a support group that’s created.”
Nancy Katz can attest to that. A Wilmette resident who retired at 62, Katz wanted to stay busy and liked the idea of returning to NU, her alma mater.
“Not only is it the most wonderful thing for my head, but the people I have met–it’s like starting kindergarten and meeting new friends at our age,” Katz said.
As a retired bookstore saleswoman and avid reader, she said “this was a natural for me. It appeals to people who like to read, do research and learn without exams and don’t like to sit in lecture halls. There is such a wealth of information we get from our peers.”
All the students benefit…
Mature students learn from younger students as well. NU and Roosevelt allow institute members to audit undergraduate courses.
Dooley has taken five full-time courses free of charge at Roosevelt–and has made new friends.
“It’s very interesting to hear the outlooks of younger people and to reflect that many of those outlooks are not that different from mine when I was that age,” he said.
Because the average age of Roosevelt students is 29 and many are working adults, older students don’t necessarily feel out of place in the regular classes.
“The basic enrichment of the whole university experience benefits both types of students,” said Lisa Encarnacion, director of external relations at Roosevelt University in Schaumburg.
“They offer perspective to each other. The Institute for Continued Learning member brings a lot to the classroom and offers perspective that enriches the lives of everyone in the class.”
“Roosevelt’s mission is to provide opportunities to a diverse and aging population, and the fastest-growing segment is the mature adult,” said Diane Vetrovec, director of Alumni Relations and the Institute for Continued Learning.
So when the idea of introducing an institute program came about five years ago, it was a natural extension of the university’s mission.
…and the schools do too
“Universities and colleges gain many benefits from having such institutes,” said Nancy Merz Nordstrom, program director of the Elderhostel Institute Network. “[Institute members] are wonderful role models, they volunteer in the college community for fundraising and capital improvements, participate in intergenerational classes, host international students, work with undergraduates and they have grandchildren, which could be a tangible benefit to the university.”
Often, institute members will assist doctoral students in critiques of their work or even present themselves as subjects in gerontology for medical school students, Merz Nordstrom said.
She receives more than half a dozen phone calls each week from community colleges and universities wishing to start programs. She refers these institutions to the Elderhostel Web site (www.elderhostel.org/ein/intro.asp) and other operating institutes in their area.
“Given the size of the Baby Boom population and the fact that lifelong education has been a normal, ongoing thing for them, the movement will only continue to grow,” she said, noting the network has been adding more than 10 new institutes a year since 1988.
“In the next 5 to 10 years, our projections are there will be 500 to 600 new institutes that will belong to the Elderhostel Institute Network. It will continue to be an incredibly valuable opportunity for older adults.”
Options abound for learning later in life
Following are some of the peer learning programs that may be of interest to older students in the Chicago area:
Academy of Seniors
Address: Illinois State University, Conferencing Unit, Campus Box 8650, Normal, IL 61790-8650
Phone: 309-438-2818
Web site: www.exu.ilstu.edu/cu/seniors
The Adult Learning Exchange
Address: Governors State University & Anita M. Stone JCC, 3400 W. 196th St., Box 133, Flossmoor, IL 60422
Phone: 708-799-7650
Institute for Continued Learning
Address: Roosevelt University, Albert A. Robin Campus, 1400 N. Roosevelt Blvd., Schaumburg, IL 60173-4348
Phone: 847-619-8283
Institute for Learning in Retirement
Address: Waubonsee Community College, Illinois Highway 47 at Waubonsee Drive, Sugar Grove, IL 60554-9454
Phone: 630-466-2360
Web site: www.waubonsee.edu/community/ilr.php
Institute of Learning in Retirement
Address: Prairie State College, 202 S. Halsted St., Chicago Heights, IL 60411
Phone: 708-709-3953
Web site: www.prairie.cc.il.us/bus/bus-oldr.html
NIU Institute for Learning in Retirement
Address: Northern Illinois University, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, DeKalb, IL 60115
Phone: 815-753-5200
Web site: www.niu.edu/ilr
Northwestern University
Institute for Learning in Retirement
Address: Northwestern University, Annenberg Hall, Suite 162, 2115 N. Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208-2650
Phone: 847-491-7724
Web site: www.scs.northwestern.edu/nuilr
Renaissance Academy
Address: St. Xavier University, 3700 W. 103rd St., Chicago, IL 60655
Phone: 773-298-3149
Retired Adult Program
Address: McHenry County College, Continuing & Professional Education, 8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake, IL 60012-2761
Phone: 815-479-7605
Web site: www.mchenry.edu/schedules/coned/RAP.asp
–Elizabeth Owens-Schiele
