Volume 40, Number 3                                             Winter 2017/18
AGHE Leadership Announces New Vision & Change Ahead for AGHE
As the new year unfolds, we are pleased to share some exciting developments at the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) that will dramatically enhance our ability to showcase AGHE's activities to the broad community of scholars involved in gerontology nationally and internationally.
 
Background
Over the past two years AGHE has been evaluating the best mechanisms for advancing its mission and strengthening its programs. In 2016, a joint AGHE-GSA Committee explored the Association's overall organizational health and sustainability, including its operating deficits. In 2017, AGHE President Nina M. Silverstein appointed AGHE President-elect Judy L. Howe to chair a Strategic Planning Task Force to develop the next strategic steps the Association should take to ensure its long-term success.
 
Approval for Transformation to AGHE 2.0
We are pleased to announce that the AGHE Executive Committee has endorsed the Task Force recommendations and that the GSA Council has also approved the strategic approach AGHE has proposed.
 
AGHE 2.0 Key Elements
The Strategic Planning Task Force has recommended AGHE take the following strategic steps to strengthen the Association and ensure its long-term viability.
  1. Re-position the organization as the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education and more fully integrate it into The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) where it will serve as the Society's education organization.
  2. Maintain the Institutional Membership option in the newly formed Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.
  3. Enable all GSA members to elect affiliation with AGHE during the normal membership enrollment process.
  4. Align essential AGHE operations (Fellowship, Awards, Committees, Program of Merit) with established GSA processes, timetables and financial management.
  5. Recalibrate and streamline the number of AGHE Committees and focus on high-priority activities.
  6. Adjust AGHE Executive Committee structure to be consistent with other membership groups in the Society.
  7. Integrate the AGHE Annual Meeting & Educational Leadership Conference with the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting.
  8. Maintain AGHE designation of Gerontology & Geriatrics Education (G&GE) as its official journal.
  9. Maintain AGHE Tree of Knowledge Campaign, James McKenney Student Travel Awards, and access to interest earned on endowment funds.
  10. Continue to pursue grant supported project to advance AGHE's mission.
These strategic steps will enable AGHE to pursue its mission while exposing a much larger population of academically-based scholars to the benefits of AGHE membership.

Annual Meeting News
Dear AGHE Community,
 
Registration and Housing are open for AGHE's 44th Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference, March 1-4, 2018, Atlanta, GA. To kick-off our conference theme, The Global Business of Aging, we are thrilled to announce our keynote speaker, Michael Hodin, CEO of the Global Coalition on Aging and look forward to his insights on Transforming the Business of Aging through Training, Education, and Skills Development.   
 
Atlanta WABE radio personality, Lois
Reitzes, will moderate the session and  
help set the tone for a lively and inspiring 
conference.  
 
Our featured speaker for our closing session is Valerie J. Edwards, a health scientist in the Alzheimer's and Healthy Aging Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Following our theme, Dr. Edwards will speak on, The CDC Healthy Aging Program: Resources for Education and Industry.   
 
We are pleased this year to welcome members of the National Association for Professional Gerontologists (NAPG) who have selected several of our conference sessions as especially relevant for their members including: The Evolving Role of Senior Centers in the Era of the Age Friendly Community Movement, Mobile Wireless Technology Usage in Older Adults with Physical and Cognitive Impairments, Clinical Gerontology: Nursing and Medications, and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) Training for Primary Care Providers.
 
In addition to our many award lectures, networking events, Student Organization and Sigma Phi Omega (SPO) sessions and workshops, I also draw your attention to a special plenary session, titled, The Future of AGHE and One GSA that I will moderate featuring a panel of AGHE and GSA current and former Leadership.
 
Our Program Co-Chairs, Kelly Fitzgerald and Kerstin Gerst Emerson along with the full program committee; and the Local Arrangements Committee led by Elisabeth Burgess and Mark Sweatman supported by AGHE and GSA Meetings Staff members, have been working for months to assure the best meeting ever! I thank them and look forward to welcoming you all in Atlanta!
 
Warm regards,
 
 
 
 
Nina M. Silverstein, AGHE President
University of Massachusetts Boston
AGHE Program Committee Highlights
 
Submitted by: Kelly Fitzgerald and Kerstin Gerst Emerson, Program Committee Co-Chairs

AGHE's 44th Annual Meeting and Leadership Conference is on the horizon - March 1-4, 2018 with the Pre-conference Tour on February 28. The meeting program has several exciting sessions and events. New this year, you will notice there is not a downloadable Pre-conference Schedule. Everything can now be found online here. Take special notice of the Schedule of Events that provides the details for all the sessions not to be missed. In addition to the highlights AGHE President Nina Silverstein provided above, we would like to bring your attention to a few additional conference activities that you will want to consider as you plan your conference schedule.
 
You will have the opportunity to attend almost two hundred different presentations that cross over several thematic tracks. There is surely enough to keep every attendee busy with lots of opportunity for learning and take-home messages you can share with colleagues and students. When planning your travel, please consider joining us for the Pre-Conference Tour on Wednesday, February 28th, and the Pre-Conference Workshops on Thursday, March 1st. Make sure you stay through Sunday which has some amazing sessions and a very important closing session.

Continue Reading...
Global Business of Aging
Pitch Competition

Global Business of Aging Pitch Competition is Not To Be Missed! 

Janice Wassel
 
Senior Research Scientist & Part-Time Instructor
Western Kentucky University

Director, Center for Gerontology & Professor Family and Consumer Sciences
Western Kentucky University

It's a new year, and you still have time to encourage colleagues to support the Longevity Economy by entering the GLOBAL BUSINESS OF AGING PITCH COMPETITION (closes January 31st).  
 
Positive discussions on population longevity and the benefits of the longevity economy are increasingly common in business. In 2016, Forbes touted the longevity economy's potential as a 'longevity revolution.' Sounding the call of disruption, Forbes noted that aging wasn't a challenge but could very well spark the 'most significant economic opportunity of our lifetime' in economic activity and employment . Each AGHE member can take advantage of these opportunities by encouraging participation in AGHE's GLOBAL BUSINESS OF AGING PITCH COMPETITION.
 
Action Steps:
  1. Visit the website for complete details.
  2. Forward this note to faculty, students and colleagues widely. Participation from innovators in business, technology or applied research is especially encouraged. What a great opportunity to connect with your VP for Research or Staff from the regional business incubator!
  3. Keep in mind that the deadline for the GLOBAL BUSINESS OF AGING PITCH COMPETITION is January 31st!
  4. Bookmark this website to stay up-to-date with the competition and receive updates about additions to the Longevity Economy Tool-Box.
  5. Plan to attend the Final Pitch at the AGHE Annual Meeting on Saturday, March 3, at 3:00 in Atlanta.
Keep reading...

This piece was contributed on behalf of the Business and Aging Committee.  
Age-Friendly University Movement
   
Why are more age-friendly institutions needed? 
  • The nation, and the world, is experiencing unprecedented, historical shifts in our aging population
  • Many communities are striving to be more age-friendly, and many institutions of higher education sit within these communities and can offer opportunities to meet needs
  • Despite widely recognized age shifts, students in higher education are rarely exposed to information about aging or interact with older individuals. Thus, far too many students graduate with little awareness of aging issues and the value of intergenerational relations, entering personal and professional worlds in a state of age-deprivation.
  • The rapidly growing age sector will require not only a general population with more knowledge about aging issues, but also a trained work force to provide services and programs to maintain the health and functioning of older adults.  
  • Institutions also need to respond to the dramatic shift in non-traditional aged adults moving into higher education, including those seeking skills and credentials as they move into the "encore" work-life chapters of their lives. Beyond expanding later life work options, many older adults enroll annually in informal educational programs for personal interest/growth. Thus, higher education is fast becoming a destination for many older adults, for whom colleges and universities need to intentionally and strategically prepare.
  • Institutional research often falls short of giving adequate attention to aging issues in their agendas relative to other issues.
  • Institutional community partnerships with organizations serving older community members are also typically few and far between compared to other service partnerships.
  • It is clear that our aging population is generating new challenges and opportunities, and institutions must be ready to meet these demands with organized guidance. The AFU principles offer a framework within which institutions can shape more age-friendly practices to support the health and well-being of adults of all ages - and for AGHE members to lead the way with this vision!
It would be great to have your institutions endorsement in hand to announce by AGHE representatives at the 2018 Age-Friendly University Conference in Dublin City, Ireland.
 
Some tips for getting started: 
  • Organize a team of colleagues to champion the AFU initiative, including colleagues across departments and programs.
  • Map the Principles - Identify a core of existing age-friendly efforts across campus (including previous and on-going courses, research projects, faculty expertise, service efforts, arts and cultural programs, community partnerships).This is a great way to become more aware of what's happening across your institution and to show that there is work upon which to build. Mapping also helps to identify gaps, which can lead to new opportunities!
  • Consider how AFU support of age-diversity dovetails with your institution's other commitments to diversity.
  • Determine your institution's "ladder" for endorsement and approval. Prepare information about why institutions need to be more age-friendly, how your institution is well-positioned to become more age-friendly drawing on your mapping, and the value for students of all ages, faculty, the institution - and the local community.
  • Recognize how your institutional can be the "first in the state" to be age-friendly - or certainly "on the map" with other AFU pioneering institutions!
  • Institutions often ask if it's "required" that they fulfill all AFU principles. AFU recognizes that each institution is unique and has different strengths and resources - and these should be the building blocks for addressing, implementing, and expanding the AFU principles.
Read more about the Age-Friendly University movement  and how your institution can get involved here.  
 
Is your institution already an Age-Friendly University?  
Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, the official journal of the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), is seeking proposals for papers on the Age-friendly University (AFU) initiative and how members of the global network of age-friendly institutions of higher education are striving to support aging education and lifelong learning. Manuscript proposals, not to exceed 300 words, are due March 23. Find more information here.   
In Memorium
The University of North Carolina Charlotte tragically lost a wonderful and dedicated colleague, teacher, mentor, and friend on September 1, 2017. Dr. Jeannine Skinner, age 35, joined us in 2016 as an Assistant Professor of Gerontology and Psychology. In such a very short time, she embraced her relationships and work with faculty, students, and community partners in a way that typically takes one years to do. Her departmental chair, Dr. Eric Heggestad, stated "she was everything you want in a new faculty member. A fantastic teacher who had such strong connections with her students. A rising star as a scholar. She had such detailed plans about the work that she was going to do. And such a warm, friendly and supportive colleague. The beautiful smile you see in her pictures seems to capture who she was so well."
 
Ms. Myra Green, of the Shamrock Senior Center in Charlotte noted "Dr. Skinner was an inspiration to us. Her walking research program gave us the tools to exercise at our own pace and understand the importance of good nutrition. Dr. Skinner always brightened up my day and everyone around her. Her impact in our community was great helping senior citizens understand how to improve their quality of life just by making small changes. Thank you Dr. Skinner, your legacy to us was profound."
 
Additionally, Chancellor Phil DuBois remarked that Dr. Skinner " was known as a well-regarded and dedicated teacher and mentor who fostered an inclusive and open classroom learning environment. She was an active and caring scholar whose research focused on physical, psychological, social, and environmental predictors of cognitive aging, particularly in minority geriatric populations."
 
Following her death, her family and those who knew her best had the opportunity to gather on campus to remember and share stories and thoughts. This gave the UNC Charlotte community an opportunity to share what a treasure Jeannine was to us while her family was able to share the foundational stories that made her the lovely and tenacious person she grew to be.
 
Dr. Skinner hailed from Pinellas County, FL and her obituary can be found here. The UNC Charlotte Gerontology Chapter of Sigma Phi Omega walked in her honor at the local Alzheimer's Memory Walk.
 
According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Dr. Skinner's death was a homicide, in a probable case of acquaintance violence. We continue to hold her family and friends in our hearts as we grieve her very untimely passing.

This piece was contributed by Cynthia Hancock of the University of North Carolina Charlotte. 
Kudos
AGHE Fellow Receives Honor

Robert Maiden, a professor of psychology and director of the gerontology program at Alfred University (NY) and AGHE Fellow was recently honored as "Professional of the Year" by the Mental Health Association of Allegany County.

Maiden has been a member of the Alfred University faculty since 1982 and maintains a part-time practice as a licensed clinical  psychologist dealing with marriage, family and child issues, alcohol and substance abuse, and geriatric issues.

In the year 2000, the Allegany County Mental Heath Association established this award to recognize those professionals who exceed expectations for caring and dedication to those who suffer from mental illness. These men and women are chosen by mental health care recipients and co-workers who believe in and have experienced their exceptional abilities to help and lead themselves unselfishly.

This tribute stands to recognize and honor those who chose this field with their hearts and understand the message of the Mental Health Bell that bears the inscription: "Cast from the shackles which bound them, this bell shall ring out hope for mentally ill and victory over mental illness."
Teaching & Learning Resources
Advancing your Confidence 
as an Educator (ACE) in Gerontology and Geriatrics: 
A Webinar Series
 
In this informal series, we will explore academic jobs and teaching skills. What do you need to know? Why do professors love what they do? We'll meet on the web on the 1st Thursday of each month at 1pm EST. Resources are geared towards geriatrics and gerontology trainees, but much of the information is relevant to a wider audience. We offer 1 CE credit per session for psychologists, physicians, nurses, OT/PT, and LICSW. 
 
Schedule:
2/1 How to Evaluate My Students
3/1 Career Academics Panel: Why I love teaching
4/5 Interdisciplinary Teaching
5/3 Teaching to Other Settings (clinical/medical, community)
 
Attend just 1 session, or all of them! For more information or to register, please contact Jessica.Strong2@va.gov 
ALL HEALTH PROFESSIONS PROGRAMS: 
LOOK at THIS OPPORTUNITY! 
 
Marilyn R. Gugliucci, PhD, Shannon Mathews, PhD, and Pamela Elfenbein, PhD, have been awarded a Retirement Research Foundation (RRF) grant through the Association for Gerontology/Geriatrics in Higher Education (AGHE) to support health professions programs at US colleges or universities to advance competencies in geriatrics/gerontology in their curriculum and be recognized globally.
 
Until recently the AGHE Program of Merit (POM) only reviewed and awarded Program of Merit (POM) status to gerontology programs. Through the efforts of an interprofessional team chaired by Dr. Gugliucci, the AGHE Program of Merit status can now be conferred to health professions programs that meet the competencies as stated in the AGHE Standards and Guidelines Document (specifically Chapter 12).  POM is a recognition similar to accreditation as there is no established accreditation for geriatrics/gerontology in health professions programs.   
 
As part of the Retirement Research Foundation grant, funding can be provided to programs for consultation to prepare the POM application as well as for the POM application process. It is planned that 10 health professions programs will apply for Program of Merit status by 2019. Programs will be selected on a first-come first-serve basis. For each program attaining POM status, their graduates will each receive a personalized certificate stating they graduated from a health professions program that awarded Program of Merit status in gerontology/ geriatrics.
 
For more information email Marilyn Gugliucci. Use the Subject Line: POM HP Status.
OMEGA Summit Attracts High Schoolers from Across New England

The third annual OMEGA Summit, held on October 21, 2017 at the MIT AgeLab in Cambridge, drew a record number of students from across the region. Nearly 50 high school students from Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire participated.
 
The goal of the Summit was to assist students in developing and supporting intergenerational connections in their communities. Students heard an overview of the importance of intergenerational work, then organized into small groups to brainstorm ideas, which they first presented to a panel of experts for feedback and finally to the entire group.
 
Some of the ideas students generated during the Summit included:
  • Connecting high school seniors with older adult mentors to teach students "adulting" skills, like budgeting and cooking, before they head off to college.
  • Organizing an intergenerational band to perform in the community, at local schools, local senior centers, etc.
  • Creating intergenerational interest groups that meet weekly on different topics.
  • Connecting high school students with an older adult in a buddy system, and attend larger group events in older adult/student pairs.

Expert guidance was provided to students by members of the MIT AgeLab's Lifestyle Leaders panel, Kate White of Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly (JCHE), Debra Berlyn, executive director of Project GOAL; and UzoAmaka Mogor, a longtime senior care professional.
Students, Lifestyle Leaders, and professionals left the Summit with "next steps" on how they can move forward in implementing and strengthening intergenerational programs in their communities.
 
Students also learned more about the OMEGA scholarship. The MIT AgeLab and AARP are now accepting applications from high school juniors and seniors in New England for the 2017-2018 OMEGA scholarship. Three OMEGA college scholarships are available to recognize and reward the efforts of students to create multigenerational connections in their communities. Each OMEGA scholarship will award a $1000 college scholarship to the winning student and $1000 to the winning student's high school organization to support its activities to build relationships between teens and older adults.
 
Apply here today! Completed applications are due March 31, 2018. Questions? Send an email to
omegamit@mit.edu or call 617-253-1894.  
Donate to the Tree of Knowledge!
The AGHE  "Grow the Tree Campaign" supports our Tree of Knowledge fund that helps to sustain our current programs and promote AGHE's growth as we continue to develop high-quality resources to a broad national and international membership.
 
Due to the generosity of AGHE members, we met our campaign goal for 2017 and have received over $10,000.00 . With the addition of our Challenge Grant of $5,000.00 offered by the Retirement Research Foundation Fund (for a total over $15,000), we have surpassed last year's total donation of $14,734, which had exceeded the donation from the prior year. We now commence with our 2018 campaign for the Tree of Knowledge!  
 
Please do not miss this exciting opportunity to support AGHE!
 
There are two ways to donate:                              
 
1. Donate Online: If you are a member, please login before donating. Enter donation amount in the "AGHE Tree of Knowledge" box. If you like, you can indicate if the donation is anonymous by clicking the checkbox.
 
2. Mail in the  AGHE Donation Form: Checks can be made out to AGHE. In the Memo area, please write "TOK Grow the Tree Donation."
In This Issue
Quick Links
 
 
 
 

AGHE Congratulates New 2018 Elected Officers

Lisa Hollis-Sawyer
Northeastern Illinois University
Treasurer-Elect 

Carrie Andreoletti
Central Connecticut State University
Secretary 

Karen Kopera-Frye
New Mexico State University
Member-at-Large 

Thomas Teasdale
University of Oklahoma
Member-at-Large 

Loriena Yancura
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Member-at-Large 
Support AGHE
AGHE needs your financial support! Find out how you can contribute here!
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