University for the young at heart

By Patricia Oropeza, On-line Forty-Niner

May 27-29,1998

Imagine taking a class where no tests are given, no homework is assigned and no grade is given at the end of the semester.

 

While many Cal State Long Beach students would only dream of such a thing, it is a happy reality for pupils enrolled in Senior University.

 

The university, which holds its classes in CSULB's Technology Education 2 building, started about two years ago as a way for retirees to keep busy.

 

"These are people who are coming to learn because they want to and because it's more fun than sitting home and watching television," said Shirley Collins, president of the university's governing council.

 

The university offers a wide variety of courses ranging from an introduction to opera to a memoir writing class.

 

Instructors, called class leaders, are not paid and include CSULB faculty members and those who simply have an area of expertise they are willing to share with students.

 

According to Collins, the university is very popular. Currently, there are 400 members in the university. Of those 400, 350 are currently enrolled.

 

Collins attributes the popularity of the university to several factors.

 

"Our fees are very low. We have an annual fee of $25 and students pay $10 per class," she said.

 

"We also have no entrance or graduation requirements."

 

The university is so popular, in fact, that it recently obtained a grant from the Archstone Foundation to establish a computer lab.

 

"We hope to have it up and running by October," Collins said.

 

"Our members do not have to go to work. They're retirees," she said.

 

Gini Conner, a student and chairwoman of the university's curriculum committee, has been taking classes since Senior University's inception.

 

"This is important for me because as a single mother working for many years with two children to support, I found I never had the time to go to college," Conner said. "It is a great opportunity for me to be exposed to the whole learning experience."

 

Conner said the first class she ever took, a medical ethics class, lured her into taking other courses.

 

"I loved the idea of the [university] and that's what got me hooked," she said. "Besides, these classes are on a much higher level than others. It makes me feel good to be in this environment."

 

Conner also loves the fact that there is no homework or grades, nor any tests involved.

 

"It's a fun thing and you don't have to do anything except be here and learn," she said. "It gives me an opportunity to be in an environment I should have been in 40 years ago."

 

It's a fun thing and you don't have to do anything except be here and learn."

­ Ginni Conner,

curriculum chairwoman