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Age
no limit for Senior University students
Classwork
• Senior University students practice
movements in a Tai Chi Chih class. Yulian
Danusastro / Online Forty-Niner
By
Daniel Linck Savino
Online Forty-Niner
Assistant Opinion Editor
Though
Loyd Wilcox is a dedicated Cal State Long
Beach student, he attends class only once
a week. He pays just $10 in tuition to further
his education. His passion and vivaciousness
are apparent the moment you meet him, but
his youthful nature contrasts sharply with
the salt-and-pepper hair covering his head.
Loyd, a 67-year-old retired math professor,
is a student at CSULB Senior University.
Senior
University is a program for students over
age 50. A center in the College of Health
and Human Service, it has been on campus
for nearly 10 years. From the beginning,
it has had one purpose.
The
center's outreach director, Barbara McClinton,
said Senior University's mission is'"to
provide educational opportunities for older
adults." It is a mission being fulfilled
every day.
Class
offerings include creative writing, Internet
use, criminal justice and painting. Each
class is held weekly, and sessions run for
eight weeks. There are four eight-week sessions
every year.
But
unlike most college students, they aren't
there for a degree.
The
students are there because of a love of
learning. Loyd, retired for two years, already
fills his time by traveling, volunteering
at St. Mary's Hospice and being involved
with Long Beach's International City Theatre.
But he has regularly attended Senior University
since he retired because, as he says, "it
keeps one mentally stimulated and socially
stimulated."
Loyd
has taken quite a few classes at the university.
He has learned about Microsoft Windows,
Microsoft PowerPoint, classical music and
Pacific combat during World War II. This
session he is spending Thursday afternoons
learning Tai Chi Chih. A Westernized version
of Tai Chi, it is one of the more unusual
classes offered.
Al
Talberg, the instructor, comes to class
wearing a sweatsuit and a gold ring with
a yin and yang symbol. His deliberate movements
and mellifluous tenor voice are wonderfully
suited to the subject's meditative.
As
he leads the class of nearly 20 students
through slow, deliberate hand and body movements,
Talberg isn't just introducing his students
to an ancient form of active meditation.
"The
one thing that I guarantee every student
that takes my class is that his balance
will be better," Talberg asserted.
"His physical and his mental balance
will be better when he gets done with the
class." Given the importance both have
for seniors, this is a very worthwhile benefit.
In
the classes, there are no grades or homework
to detract from the pure joy of learning.
The students are here because they want
to be. One such person is John Donohue.
Though his long white hair and beard immediately
set him apart from most people walking the
halls of CSULB, he considers himself a student
the same as any other. Unlike other students,
though, he doesn't worry about grades.
"When
I was going to school, I was always scared,
you know, to offer my opinion," Donohue
said. "Now, I have no fear. I'm not
going to get bad marks, the teacher's not
going to yell at me."
There
are no grades or exams in any of the classes.
Barbara McClinton explained that Senior
University is free of "the hassle of
tests and memorization and homework. It's
basically for the love of learning."
Love
of learning, however, isn't enough to keep
the program running. Most expenses felt
by college departments are also part of
Senior University's budget. The center has
a unique approach to dealing with one particular
cost.
The
instructors and office staff are volunteers.
The only people who are salaried are the
office administrator, Gabriele Anton, and
McClinton.
"We're
self-run," McClinton stated. "We're
a non-profit. Our current instructor pool
is from current faculty, emeriti faculty.
We even have graduate students, other professionals
in the community who want to volunteer their
time."
There
is a revenue stream, though. There is a
$40 one-year membership fee charged to Senior
University students and a $10 tuition for
lecture classes. Computer classes, with
a $35 tuition, are a bit more expensive.
But even combining volunteer faculty and
staff with money from fees, Senior University
falls short of breaking even. Fortunately,
several grants and donations bridged the
gap.
The
center was started by the efforts of President
Robert Maxson, former College of Health
and Human Services (HHS) Dean Don Lauda,
former Gerontology Department Chair Jeanne
Bader and various community members and
volunteers. It was initially funded by a
grant from the Community Hospital of Long
Beach (formerly the Long Beach Community
Medical Center).
HHS
donated office and classroom space in the
Human Services and Design building. The
Archstone Foundation provided a grant allowing
Senior University to purchase computers
for a learning lab. Recently, the Alumni
Association gave $3,000 to replace chairs
and desks in the classrooms. But the most
significant grant came last year from the
Bernard Osher Foundation.
The
Osher Foundation is a San Francisco-based
charity. In the words of founder Bernard
Osher, "with continuing growth in the
population of older Americans, lifelong
learning programs will become ever more
important."
This
has prompted the foundation to recently
offer its support to 48 campuses in California
and around the nation hosting programs similar
to CSULB's Senior University.
This
support, which Senior University first received
a year ago, comes as three renewable one-year
$100,000 grants. After three years, if the
program has demonstrated its commitment
to "lifelong learning," it will
be eligible for a $1 million endowment.
The
program's diverse course offerings and large
number of students are testament to the
appeal of the program. The winter session
class schedule lists 38 classes. Since the
program's inception, the student body has
gone from a few hundred to a recent peak
of nearly 800 students per session.
This
growth is due to the promotion efforts of
the Outreach office, Sen ior University
and the testimony of students. Loyd heard
about it through a friend, which is the
most common way Senior University is publicized.
"We
seem to find that word of mouth is our best
promoter," said McClinton. "People
take the classes, really enjoy them and
tell their friends."
That
is further proof of the quality of the program,
and shows how much the students enjoy their
classes.
Sometimes
students are promoted within Senior University.
Loyd is an example. Last year, a faculty
member approached him and suggested he teach
a class.
This
session he started teaching about mathematics.
His class, which goes beyond standard math
topics, delves into the history and modern
applications of the subject. Because of
the special nature of Senior University,
it is an opportunity he hasn't had before.
The
classroom dynamic at Senior University is
noticeably different from the ones he has
experienced in his three and a half decades
teaching at Goldenwest Community College.
"In
my experience teaching college students,
probably 10 percent of the students ask
questions," Loyd said. ""The
other 90 percent sit on their butts and
wait for somebody else to ask the question.
It's really deadly to take a group of students
who don't ask questions and try to move
them along. You can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make them think. And so if
you get some thinkers in the class, it moves
and everyone is pulled along. At this Senior
University, everybody has something to offer,
either their own life experience or questions.
It makes it a lot of fun."
In
the end, fun is half of what Senior University
is about. The other part is the commitment
to a life of learning. Curiosity knows no
age limits.
An
eternal student, Loyd finds the appeal of
Senior University to be that he can continue
his life's education. ""As I told
my grandson, you gotta learn something new
every day, " he declared. "Here's
a place where we can."
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