Dear Members and Friends,

Our virtual fall term is underway and despite a few technical hiccups, classes are well attended, varied and interesting. Thank you to everyone - especially our instructors - for braving this new world and persevering to keep our treasured classes going. Believe it or not, we are already busy planning for winter term!

As the weather gets cooler, we hope you will join us for upcoming Food for Thought presentations and other online events. Please continue to send ideas for topics you want to learn about - thanks to those who have already done so.

Lastly, now is the time to get your flu shot, and make sure you vote.

Please stay well and enjoy these last warm days and fall colors!

Janice Kenyon, ASC Administrator

Thomas Judge, the Executive Director of LifeFlight of Maine, will discuss LifeFlight’s mission: providing critical care and transport to patients across the state when they need it most. Working with local EMS and hospitals, LifeFlight clinical teams transport more than 2,200 patients each year with helicopters, an airplane, and dedicated ground ambulances. More than 28,000 patients and families have been served since LifeFlight began in 1998, including more than 800 people from Mount Desert Island.

Click for more information and to register.

Everyone who registers will receive the Zoom link a day or two before the presentation.

While the Acadia Senior College website still looks similar, we have reorganized some of the pages and added a new resource page dedicated to posting videos and PDFs of interest.

For example, check out the video recording of Becky Marvil's "Birds of Mount Desert Island", plus all the resources from our spring offerings.

Other improvements to the website include better instructions for how to become a member and how to enroll in classes, plus an updated Course Proposal form. We've also simplified the process of retrieving your username or password should you forget them, so hopefully that will be less frustrating for all.

The website is a great resource and we hope you refer to it often.

You are not alone in yearning for the return of in-person courses and events. Perhaps your membership has lapsed as a result. Even if online is not for you, please keep your membership current so we can continue to offer online courses, our Food for Thought and Coffee Clash series, and special events. Most importantly we want to be there for you in the future. And when you renew your membership, consider becoming a monthly donor - it's an easy way to help sustain ASC through this difficult time.

 

When you receive our appeal in the mail later this fall, please support ASC with your tax-deductible donation. You can respond by mail or by clicking the DONATE button on the ASC website. You don't even have to log in. Also, remember that gifts made to honor or memorialize a special person can be made at any time. Below is an article explaining why we truly count on your support.

What does it mean to be a member of Acadia Senior College? ASC is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit membership organization. This means that you, the members, run the College, through an elected Board of Directors. Whether you take a course or not, your membership dues ($35) entitle you to attend all our events, receive all our communications, and most importantly, participate in elections at the annual meeting and have a voice in how the College operates.

 

What are course tuition fees used for? Administering all that we do requires a paid part-time staff. Related expenses include brochure printing, office supplies, internet and phone, website maintenance and improvements, etc. Tuition also covers the expense of all course materials – textbooks, literature, photocopies.

 

So, why the annual appeal for donations? The funds generated by membership dues and course tuition make up a large part of ASC income, usually somewhere between $35,000 and $40,000. We also receive some income from grants as well as from investment and endowment interest, typically less than $10,000. This year both membership dues and course tuition have fallen off, partly because all spring offerings were free and partly due to the transition to online.

 

What are our expenses? Our major expense is for staff. We spend about $47,000 a year for administration, bookkeeping and accounting. Other significant costs are for course materials, production of our brochures, and office supplies and equipment, roughly $20,000.

 

As you can see, our income from dues and tuition does not cover our expenses of about $67,000. We make up the difference by the generosity of our members, who have historically donated another $20,000 in response to our appeals.

Did you know that as members of Acadia Senior College, you are eligible to register for classes offered by other Senior Colleges in Maine without paying an additional membership fee? Space permitting, you can register for online courses and pay only the course fee.

You can also subscribe to the MSCN blog to receive notices for online presentations from all the senior colleges in Maine. (Click the Log In link to sign up.)

See what's going on around the state - the September/October issue of the Maine Senior College Network newsletter is now available.

Since it looks like we'll be meeting online for quite some time, some of you may be interested in learning more about technology and devices. The National Digital Equity Center is a great resource with the mission of helping communities with digital literacy, education, and mobilizing broadband technologies.

In particular, they offer free webinars and classes on a variety of topics like iPad basics, internet safety, using technology for better health, Google classroom and lots more. Check out their website if you are interested.

If you haven't used Zoom, are not yet confident, or just want a little more practice, we can help. Please call (207) 288-9500 or email learn@acadiaseniorcollege.org to set up a practice meeting.

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