“So many of our members who leave us do so because maybe they aren’t able to drive anymore,” says Nikolai, noting that the online offerings allow them to stay. The latter courses may be from volunteer instructors at University of Arizona and University of Richmond, or other OLLI programs. Some classes are available in person, others have an option between in person and online, and still others are online only. “It’s been really exciting to see what other OLLIs are doing.”Īs people return to in-person classes, OLLI is developing hybrid programming. “We could have been doing it pre-COVID, but none of us were comfortable with the technology. An online platform meant that members could connect across the country and didn’t have to be confined to local offerings. While the transition to online programming was sometimes clunky, it provided an opening that OLLI programs hadn’t considered before. Photo by Chico State campus photographer Jason Halley. Roger and Carol are well known for their books on Bidwell Park birds, trees, and flowers. Retired Chico State Professor Roger Lederer, PhD, in the class on local wildflowers that he led recently with his wife, retired Chico State administrator and faculty member Dr. This was challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, when many, especially older people, stayed home. At the time it followed a model of traditional in-person learning. “I keep them very, very current and I update all the time.”Ĭhico State has offered a lifelong learning program since 1988 but received its first OLLI grant from the Osher Foundation in 2007. “I choose very current topics – global warming, gardeningĪnd how to do things to take care of our biggest natural resource, which is water,” she says. Learners pay a membership fee for either a school year or two semesters plus summer instruction.Ĭole’s courses are available online to Chico members, and address topics such as Becoming Inclusionary, Intro to Cultural Geography, and Intro to Physical Geography. Some are still teaching, such as Lori Murphy Cole, a part-time instructor at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore. Ann Nikolai, Program Director at OOLI ChicoĬourses are set up on a semester system and are offered by volunteer instructors, many of whom have held teaching positions at Chico State and beyond.
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