Having founded one Institute for Learning in Retirement, Marge wanted to duplicate her effort at Cedar Crest. “There are 350 institutes throughout the United States,” she says. “They are all affiliated with Elderhostel, but until now they were also all connected to colleges and universities. So I spoke at length with a woman I know at Elderhostel to see if there was any chance we could have one here at Cedar Crest.”
Although Elderhostel has preferred affiliations with colleges to ensure that collegelevel courses will be offered, Marge assured her contact that the courses at Cedar Crest would be topnotch. Happily, Elderhostel agreed to make Cedar Crest the nation’s first retirement community to have an Institute for Learning in Retirement.
Tuition-Free
Once the Institute was approved for Cedar Crest, Marge assembled a planning committee of residents who’ve been guiding its formation.Unlike the college affiliates that typically charge modest course fees, the committee agreed that courses at Cedar Crest should be offered with no charge for tuition.
To ensure this, Cedar Crest is providing office space and equipment, and the committee is lining up volunteer instructors.
“There’s a lot of talent here among the residents,” says Marge. “One resident has said he’d like to teach American history. And there are people on Cedar Crest’s management staff that are very interested in teaching. I also expect to go outside of Cedar Crest. Because of my contacts at Bergen Community College, I know a lot of places where you can get free speakers.”
A Huge Response
Marge says she expects the first semester to start by mid-September and run for about ten weeks. To give the Cedar Crest community an idea of the kind of learning experiences that will be offered, the planning committee held a demonstration last June, with two lectures.
Marge gave a presentation on “Women Who Ran for U.S. President” and Monsignor Vincent Puma, also a Cedar Crest resident, gave a presentation on the facts and fictions surrounding the Da Vinci Code. He also had a member of Opus Dei there. “About 110 people came to my presentation and at least 150 people went to Monsignor Puma’s,” says Marge. “There seems to be a great deal of interest in this program.”
Looking Ahead
As of this writing, the fall semester’s course offerings are still being planned. Marge expects to teach a class on the European Union, which she previously taught at Bergen Community College. In the near future, if not this fall, there should be a series on “Great Moments in History”, “Timely Topics”, and a course in American History.
Whatever is offered, the program is certain to grow with the community and be stimulating to all who take advantage of it. “These are college level courses,” says Marge. “I expect people to have their brains excited.”