OLLI is independent nonprofit Institute with separate governing committee
OLLI exists on Yavapai Community College because of a two million dollar grant that was given to the College to set it up.
The Community College spin-masters seem to be using OLLI as their next excuse for the loss of 6,000 students (by audited headcount) in the last decade. They use it because few in the County understand how OLLI was created and what it does. Here are the facts.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes are found on the campuses of 119 colleges and universities from Maine to Hawaii and Alaska. Each provides a distinctive array of non-credit courses and activities specifically developed for seasoned adults aged 50 or older who are interested in learning for the joy of learning.
OLLI operates free of College direct interference. It is a self-directed membership organization within Yavapai College, which means it has a Governing Council and its own curriculum, finance, long range planning, policies and procedures and social committees.
The OLLI administration receives operating income from the $2 million dollars Yavapai holds in trust for it. OLLI faculty are not paid. OLLI accepts donations that are tax deductible because its is separate from the Community College. Students receive no college credit for attending an OLLI program and normally pay a registration fee for the program that goes toward operating OLLI. Students are 50 or older.
OLLI states that “We are a membership organization within Yavapai College, created to meet the needs and interests of local retirement-age people.” The OLLI program has a staff in Prescott and a separate staff in Sedona. According to OLLI, “Our learning groups are discussion groups conceived, created and facilitated by our own members, who volunteer their time. There are no tests, grades, or college credits associated with our groups. Our members are excited about learning and sharing knowledge and thoughts. They gain a great deal of satisfaction in the process of stimulating and stretching their mental capacities.”
In an article appearing August 18 in the Verde Independent (click here to read the article), it was suggested the decline in students at Yavapai College was because “students who only took non-credit courses five years ago are taking courses through the college’s OLLI [Osher Lifelong Learning Institute] program.”
Because of OLLI’s mission (stated above), the above quoted statement is puzzling. Moreover, because headcount is based on students taking credit classes, that has little to do with the student decline. That decline was measured using credit courses–the original reason Yavapai Community College was created.