Greetings Members and Friends,
It's been a year since we transitioned
AGHExchange to an electronic-only platform. The electronic newsletter has drastically reduced the costs associated with a printed newsletter and we hope you find the content interesting and informative. A special "Thank-You" to our Editor, Elizabeth Bergman for serving in this important role.
AGHE Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference, March 9-12, 2017, Miami, FL
Planning for the 2017 meeting in Miami is gaining traction under the guidance of a tremendous planning team led by Program Chairs, Kelly Fitzgerald and Lydia Manning. AGHE President, Nina Silverstein, has made it her priority to invite GSA members and others to "Try AGHE" in 2017. We are excited about meeting in Miami and are planning new activities that are sure to engage and delight attendees. Follow us on twitter at
@AGHEducates, on
Facebook, and of course visit our website often for updates.
IAGG2017, July 23-27, 2017 San Francisco, CA
AGHE has signed on to co-host the IAGG International Congress. This is an important opportunity for AGHE to share our expertise on the world stage. AGHE has had a global presence for many years and created a Global Aging Committee (formerly a task force) back in the '90s, so our commitment to global issues in aging education is longstanding. In fact, our tagline is "Global Leaders on Education in Aging". We hope you are planning to attend IAGG2017, the AGHE Symposium, and other education-related sessions.
AGHE Resources
It's always important to remind members and friends about the unique resources we offer:
Contact our offices for more information:
The AGHE staff want to thank our volunteer leaders and the GSA staff who assist and support us year round - we couldn't do it without you!!
M. Angela Baker
AGHE Director
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AGHE Endorses Age-Friendly Universities Initiative
The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) has endorsed the 10 principles of the Age-Friendly University Initiative, an international effort intended to highlight the role higher education can play in responding to the challenges and opportunities associated with an aging population.
The principles provide a valuable guiding framework for distinguishing and evaluating age-friendly programs and policies, as well as identifying institutional gaps and opportunities for growth.
"With the endorsement of the 10 principles of Age-Friendly Universities, AGHE encourages all universities and community colleges to build the vision of age-friendly campuses into their strategic plans," says AGHE President, Nina M. Silverstein, Ph.D.
The 10 principles are as follows:
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To encourage the participation of older adults in
all the
core activities
of the university, including educational and research programs.
- To promote personal and career development in the second half of life and to support those who wish to pursue second careers.
- To recognize the range of educational needs of older adults (from those who were early school-leavers through to those who wish to pursue master's or PhD qualifications).
- To promote intergenerational learning to facilitate the reciprocal sharing of expertise between learners of all ages.
- To widen access to online educational opportunities for older adults to ensure a diversity of routes to participation.
- To ensure that the university's research agenda is informed by the needs of an aging society and to promote public discourse on how higher education can better respond to the varied interests and needs of older adults.
- To increase the understanding of students of the longevity dividend and the increasing complexity and richness that aging brings to our society.
- To enhance access for older adults to the university's range of health and wellness programs and its arts and cultural activities.
- To engage actively with the university's own retired community.
- To ensure regular dialogue with organizations representing the interests of the aging population.
According to Joann M. Montepare, Ph.D., AGHE's Academic Program Development Committee Co-Chair, "Communities nationwide are responding to the call for more age-friendly living environments that address the needs of our aging population. With the age-friendly principles in hand, our institutions of higher education now have the opportunity to be part of these efforts and to build educational environments that address the needs of more age-diverse campuses."
The Age-Friendly University Initiative was launched in 2012 by Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Dublin City University (DCU) President Brian MacCraith, Ph.D. DCU leads the effort with partner institutions in the U.S., U.K.,Canada, and Ireland. Learn more here.
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Congratulations to the winners of the 2016 Book Award for Best Children's Literature on Aging! This award recognizes positive portrayals of older adults in children's literature. Members of the K-12 Committee have written reviews of the winning books:
Primary Reader
Papa Chagall, Tell Us a Story
by Laurence Anholt 
Review by:
Elizabeth J. Bergman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Ithaca College Gerontology Institute
Papa Chagall, Tell Us a Story is a children's book full of whimsical and colorful illustrations and reproductions of famed artist Marc Chagall's paintings. In this captivating book, Marc Chagall (1887-1985) tells his twin grandchildren a series of stories about his life - his childhood, falling in love, escaping Nazi persecution, and ultimately creating a new life and finding happiness once more in a new country.
Painting until he was 97, Chagall's work and his life demonstrate that productivity, creativity, and passion are not bound by age. This book captures Chagall's love for stories, imagination, and lightness of spirit and the transmission of these qualities to future generations in the context of warm and nurturing relationships with his grandchildren.
Through beautiful illustrations and the story of Chagall's life, Laurence Anholt reminds us that we can all fly, just as high as our imaginations will take us!
Primary Reader Honorable Mention
Nana in the City
by Lauren Castillo
Review by:
Colleen R. Bennett, M.S., M.A.
Doctoral Candidate, Gerontology
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Lauren Castillo's
Nana in the City is both Caldecott Honor Book and a 2016 Best Children's Literature on Aging Award winner. The first-person tale is told through the eyes of a little boy visiting his Nana in New York City, paralleled by vibrant watercolor illustrations. The boy finds the city busy, loud, and filled with scary things; he concludes it is no place for his Nana to live. Overnight, Nana knits the boy a "fancy red cape" to wear on their walk through the city, where Nana shows the boy how "bustling, booming, and extraordinary" city life is. The boy learns to embrace the busyness, the loud noises of street musicians, and is no longer scared by dog walkers, panhandlers, or large crowds of theatre patrons. The boy concludes that the city is the perfect place for his Nana to live, and the perfect place for him to visit, too!
Elementary Reader
The Turtle of Oman
by Naomi Shihab Nye
Review by:
Mary C. Neuman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Missouri State University
Aref's life is about to change dramatically, and he is not happy about it. Aref doesn't like change. He likes his room and his house, his cat Mish-Mish, his neighborhood, his school, his best friends Diram and Sulima, and the turquoise Arabian Sea. His love for all sorts of rocks grows with his collection, and anything about turtles entertains him endlessly. Aref was a very happy boy. Now his parents, both college professors, plan to take him away from all that is familiar and important to him for three long years, while they study at a great American university. None of Aref's rocks, journal notes and drawings of turtles, nor his books will make the journey to America. Worst of all, his beloved Sidi, his grandfather, will remain in Oman. Aref's heart is breaking.
This charming book focuses on a treasured relationship between a boy and his grandfather. The two spend as much time together as possible, walking the nearby beach, searching for rocks and turtles, exploring every inch of the town, sharing what they see and learn. They dream dreams about future adventures together. Sidi teaches Aref about history, the world, and about life. Every day is a new adventure, a new learning opportunity.
Shortly before Aref's departure for his new home in Michigan, Sidi took him to the Night of a Thousand Stars Camp in the desert. They saw camels crossing the hills in the distance, birds they had never seen before. They encountered a man who was there to train his hawk. What a thrill when the enormous bird landed on Aref's arm! On the way home, they visited a beach where turtle eggs hatch each year, and the babies make their way to the sea. Unfortunately, this wasn't the season for hatchlings. Sidi promised they would visit again when Aref returned from America.
After their adventures in the desert, Sidi invited Aref to sleep under the stars on his roof. During one of Aref's last days in Oman, Sidi arranged for them to ride in a fishing boat. Catching a fish delighted Aref; then he let it go free, not wanting it to die.
Aref grumbled each day that week about having to move to Michigan, but he treasured every moment with his Sidi. In his wisdom, Aref's grandfather slowly but surely helped him to accept the change he was about to experience in America, promising that everything would be waiting for Aref upon his return.
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Submitted by:
Kelly Fitzgerald, PhD, Program Committee Chair
Lydia Manning, PhD, Program Committee Co-chair
The 2017 conference will be held in Miami, Florida, March 9-12, 2017 at the Marriott Miami Dadeland. The conference hotel is located close to shops, restaurants and a train station that can whisk you away to many of Miami's cultural hot spots. This year we plan to offer many of the activities and session formats attendees previously enjoyed while offering a few exciting changes. We are pleased to announce that Josefina Carbonell, VP of Independent Living Systems, LLC and former
Assistant Secretary for Aging at the
Administration on Aging
within the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will be the keynote speaker for the Opening session. We plan to offer a new format for the Network Luncheon and a Sunrise Stretch on the pool deck with additional yoga/movement opportunities throughout the conference. Beach Campfire Resource Exchanges will be lively and informative. Students will enjoy a new student lounge useful for meeting other students or taking a break from the conference. International attendees are invited to the International Pre-Conference Tour where participants will visit and meet with local aging service providers and experts. Everyone is welcome to join in for a Saturday evening in AGHEritaville, where tropical attire and flip flops helps transform the evening into a laid back event filled with trop rock music to sing and dance to while enjoying a tropical themed buffet and drinks. You will feel like you have entered an island oasis away from the busy hustle of the conference. After a long winter, the conference will be a nice escape away to catch a little sunshine and warmth while sharing and learning from fellow aging colleagues.
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Media's Role in Geriatric Education
Submitted by:
Elaine T. Jurkowski, SW, PhD
Professor
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Media plays a central role in providing information to end users, today more so than any other time period in history. "Millennials", characterized as being born between 1981 and 1997 are a cohort that many educators see today within the classroom (face to face or virtually). The Pew Commission Report (2015) characterizes this group as the offspring of baby boomers, and guided by demographics in their decision making. This group, along with "Generation Z'ers" (born from 2001 - 2020) has been socialized into the use of technology for information gathering and sharing. Since Generation Z'ers are the most adept at the use of technology from infancy, educators teaching about gerontology will need to be savvy to the use of media and social media when teaching gerontology. This short article will give us some ideas on integrating media of various sorts into geriatric education.
Although media has traditionally spanned the use of journalistic approaches to communication to include newspaper, radio and television, social media has broadened this media definition to include communication through electronic formats. These social media sources include social networking sites (Facebook and LinkedIn), social blogging and social news (news online) and media sharing (Twitter and YouTube). Thus, when teaching and considering activities for students, all are fair game as we move into the use of media in teaching gerontology. What types of learning activities can be considered when working with each of these various media-oriented sites when teaching gerontology?
Keep reading...
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Marilyn Gugliucci, PhD, Program Committee Chair
Cynthia Hancock, PhD, Program Committee Co-chair
The AGHE Awards Committee has been exercising our innovation muscles the last few months. Our goal is to have a transparent nominating process that will then encourage collaborative nominations of many worthy individuals. Innovative changes include:
1. Defined Award vs Honor - As a result, we have clarified which recognitions are awards (adjudicated) and which are honors (non-adjudicated).
2. Streamlined the application process for honor nominations - Now there is one easy-to-use form for nominations regardless of category
3. Created a collaborative nomination process - All nominators are enthusiastically encouraged to work closely with their nominee to ensure the nomination materials fully and accurately reflect the excellent work of the nominee.
The deadline for nominations this year is August 15. How many times have you been at an AGHE meeting or worked with a colleague on a project and you felt sure this special and talented person is deserving of an AGHE award or honor? Which of your peers deserves recognition for their outstanding work in one of the following areas: As a gerontologist in higher education, an administrator, mentor, adjunct faculty, full-time faculty, early-career faculty, student leader, or retiree? We have recognitions for each of these. Please check the
AGHE website for updated details and information.
The AGHE Awards Committee includes: Katarina Friberg Felsted, Student Rep; Elizabeth Bergman, K-12 Rep; Mary Carter, Faculty Development Rep; Cynthia Hancock, Co-Chair and Marilyn R. Gugliucci, Chair. We are eager to hear your comments about our innovations and we are happy to answer your
questions.
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Teaching & Learning Resources
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Is your institution represented in the AGHE Online Directory of Educational Programs in Gerontology and Geriatrics? No? Click here to submit your listing. Yes? Click here to make sure your listing is up to date.
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2017 AGHE Fellows Applications Now Available
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Fellow status is an honor conferred by AGHE to recognize outstanding leadership in gerontological/geriatric education by established scholars and educators at AGHE member institutions. Completed applications are due November 11, 2016.
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AGHE Welcomes Officer Nominations
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Do you know of a colleague who would be suited for a leadership position in AGHE? Or are you interested in serving as a leader within AGHE? If so, AGHE's Nomination Committee would like to hear from you. Nominations due by September 15th.
Click here for more info...
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AGHE needs your financial support! Find out how you can contribute
here!
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Add Your Colleagues to this List
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Do you have colleagues, administrators, or students who should know about AGHE & issues related to gerontological & geriatric education? Simply email your request to aghe@aghe.org.
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