Leadership council and teams update

Leadership council and teams update

January 9, 2013
Building an Osher Village

By Sarah McMahon, pictured front row, second from right (Photo by Tim Hanger)

“Build it and they will come” and “It takes a village...” Both quotations are well ingrained in our contemporary consciousness. So, you ask yourself, how do these relate to the Osher program and to the present-day UR Osher program in particular? 

To begin at the “building” phase, we go back to University of Richmond in May, 2004, when the UR program started off with its first $100,000 grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation. That period was the founding/launching of the current Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UR. Under the auspices of the School of Continuing Studies (now School of Professional and Continuing Studies or SPCS), led by Dean James Narduzzi, the program grew and blossomed. Fast forward to 2007, when the program got its $1 million endowment, again from the Osher Foundation, which contributed to the Institute’s sustainability and which saw enrollment multiply to 600+ members. Today, in just eight years, the Osher Institute has expanded with a vastly interesting and enticing curriculum—an impressive testimony to the first dictum of “Build it and they will come.” As I have witnessed, come they have!

Marching forward, the various project teams of Osher volunteers and special interest groups which have been formed have attracted, recruited, and engaged the current Osher Village. With the vision and mission to build a like-minded, inquiring and energetic community, the Marketing Team launches the attraction phase; the Membership Team then takes the baton to welcome, encourage and engage new members and to continue to energize and sustain existing enrollees. Combining intellectual stimulation and civic involvement, the Membership Team also focuses on the social and community aspect of the Osher program. Retirees and Baby Boomers are looking for it all... my own personal acronym for Osher “LLI” is “Living Large Indeed”. The UR program is a textbook testimony to the best that an Osher program provides. With people retiring and volunteering their time and ample talents, ongoing learning and cultivation of special interests and dormant proficiencies becomes a primary focal point. The University of Minnesota calls their Osher program “A Health Club for the Mind”—a suitable moniker for the UR program as well.

UR’s Osher Membership Team taps into this unique community atmosphere by hosting an annual Osher Back to School Mixer at the beginning of fall semester. These gatherings provide an introduction to new and prospective members and an opportunity for “old-timers” to mix, mingle and share their Osher adventures and enthusiasm with newcomers and with one another. Each event features a multitude of refreshments provided by the UR Catering staff along with brief speeches by the management team of SPCS and Osher and accompanied by entertainment. Upcoming events, exciting new programs and the introduction of any special new interest groups are also highlighted. Special emphasis is given to membership benefits which are delineated and explained from the regular course schedules to social networking opportunities and the many campus treasures such as the Boatwright Memorial Library, Modlin Center, Technology Learning Center, Wilton Center, Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness and many more. Team members then follow up with phone calls and handwritten notes. Special campus tours are made available to familiarize newcomers to the gorgeous UR campus and its “treasure trove.” 

In addition, Osher sponsors breakfast and dinner get-togethers each semester, again providing a relaxed and social atmosphere for new and veteran members. And beginning in spring 2013 we will hold an open house each semester, for both current Osher members and those who are thinking about joining Osher, to introduce the upcoming programs and course leaders. So, from building to village, UR’s Osher program truly offers an exciting opportunity to “Live Large Indeed.” Membership team members continue to encourage and enable the 50-and-better generation to adhere to the last great Baby Boomer dictum: “Carpe Diem!”