Taken from the October 2006 newsletter of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of S. Maine in Portland.

Thank you to the almost 300 OLLI members who responded to the curriculum questionnaire on the reverse side of the Fall registration form. Not surprisingly, given that respondents were among our most loyal members, the results confirm that you want us to continue to offer the kind of solid academic program that has become standard at OLLI.

The first question asked about factors that are important in selecting a course. The most common pattern was “intellectual stimulation” first (196); “gaining personal enrichment” Second (110); and “sharing experiences” (24) and “assistance with life issues” (23). All have an audience and some classes in these areas should continue. (Numbers in parentheses indicate those who selected the item as a (1) on a scale of 1-5).

When asked about preferred kinds of courses, you overwhelmingly chose lectures or college type reading and discussion courses. You selected these more than twice as often as any other choice. However, approximately 60 of you expressed a preference for skill/how to courses, another 60 chose courses on a defined topic. The findings indicate we should continue to offer a variety of kinds of courses to meet your interests and that we might even increase the number of shared inquiry courses as only two or three are currently being offered.

Another question asked you about preferred topics. (Any or all topics could be checked and others added.) The five most popular were: current affairs (172); history (171); fiction (146); art history (145); and non-fiction (136). We need to make sure we are offering enough courses in these areas; in particular, we may not be offering enough art history and current affairs classes. All topics listed were selected by at least some of you and we need to continue to offer a full variety of courses. One problem is that in certain areas, such as science and math, the interests are so varied that there may not be enough students to fill a class.

Several of you expressed an interest in more field trips associated with courses. While there are extra cost and transportation issues raised by such trips, faculty may want to consider how to add these experiences to some of their classes.

When asked about other activities OLLI might offer, you suggested a large variety from international trips, preceded by language instruction to overnight trips to places like NYC and Washington, D.C. for museums and plays; to day trips to historical and geological sites, historic houses and gardens; to interest groups for bowling, dancing, cooking, writing, kayaking, etc. We will pass these suggestions on to the Events committee.

Again, thank you for taking time to answer the questionnaire. Your responses will continue to guide the work of the Curriculum Committee.