Osher Perspectives
The Relationship between the Lifelong Learning Institute and Host Institution
Sharon Sokoloff, Ph.D.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute @ Brandeis
Introduction
The relationship between a lifelong learning institute (LLI) and the academic institution that is its host or home is vital to the success of the program. This article is about the LLI/host relationship, its potential benefits and challenges, a philosophy of ‘win-win’ as a context for the relationship and principles to create a mutually beneficial relationship.
Context: Two Key Points
There are two key points that provide a context for this discussion. First, each LLI, each university or college, and each LLI/Host relationship is unique. There are many factors that distinguish LLIs, academic institutions and the LLI/Host relationships. Some examples follow: whether an institution is public or private; its location; size; the university mission and culture; the support the LLI receives from the university (i.e., both program “champions” and financial support); the financial condition of the university; financial mandates placed upon the LLI by the host; and the marketplace within which the LLI exists, e.g., are there competing programs in a small geographic area making marketing a challenge compared to a program with no competition.
The second issue is the fact that we are talking about a relationship between two organizations. Like every relationship, the LLI/host relationship is unique, complex and often challenging. It requires attention, work, constructive problem-solving and nurturing. Moreover, the relationship is in fact, many relationships between the LLI and a range of departments, programs and offices on campus. At Brandeis, for example, the Osher Institute interacts with twenty to thirty, maybe more, units on campus. If you think of what it means to do business in your program, you will probably recognize a similar pattern. These relationships build over the years. An interaction that is relatively routine in year four, may require hours or even days of work to ‘figure things out’ in the first and second years. This is one reason the early years of program development and implementation are extraordinarily challenging and program goals must be carefully prioritized as we build our infrastructure.
Examples of the campus entities with whom our program has relationships include the: President’s Office; Provost’s Office; Budget Office; Controller’s Office; university vice presidents (at least three or four, each in their own office); various deans and faculty; a myriad of arts including the Rose Art Museum, Spingold Theatre, Jewish Film Festival and the new umbrella organization, the Office of the Arts; Facilities (with many departments); Libraries; “Conferences and Events” and the Registrar’s Office, both responsible for different spaces on campus; staff at the facility we use for Osher Institute classes; Bookstore; Public Safety (parking); the copy shop; post office; and Information Technology Services.
Make a list of the intercampus relationships integral to your LLI. It’s a useful exercise. Being mindful about each of these relationships enables us to be strategic about working on them in a thoughtful, systematic and effective way. Developing and operating a LLI on an academic campus is relationship-intensive. Establishing and continuously improving these relationships requires an on-going investment. The benefits are worth the effort.
Basic Benefits & Challenges of the LLI/Host Relationship
Theoretically and ideally, both the LLI and the host institution derive benefits from their relationship. It’s important for stakeholders of both organizations to be mindful of what they receive because in the life of any organization, the daily and inevitable challenges often blind us to the ‘positives’ we sometimes take for granted.
By virtue of their existence, LLIs receive their life from the host institution. Regardless of how informal the arrangement is between the LLI and host, in most cases the academic institution provides space, other resources (even if the LLI pays for these resources) and some part of a name. These are the most basic benefits that we often take for granted. There are many other benefits to be discussed.
Similarly, there is a basic level of benefit to the host institution. After all, if the LLI wasn’t of benefit to the academic home, why would the host institution embrace the program? For example, virtually all academic institutions have a space shortage. If the LLI wasn’t of some value to the university, why would the much needed space be used for a LLI rather than another academic priority “more central to the university’s mission?” At a minimum, the host is making a social contribution to the community by offering itself as a home to a LLI. There is much more potential benefit.
Case Study: A Philosophy of ‘Win-Win’
As Director of the Osher Institute at Brandeis, I know the Brandeis program better than any other. In this section, I will describe some ways we practice the philosophy of ‘win-win’ at our Osher Institute with Brandeis. I have witnessed the practice of this ‘win-win’ philosophy maximize the benefit to both our LLI and home university in many ways.
A first step to creating a mutually beneficial relationship is to keep the relationship on the agenda in a mindful way. Each year, we establish explicit goals and objectives to continuously improve the relationship between the institute and home university. At the end of each year, we review our progress and establish intercampus goals for the next year.
In the earliest days of the Osher Institute at Brandeis, our tendency was to ask “what is Brandeis doing for us?” We’ve done much better in recent years since we changed our focus to: “What can we do for our home university or college?” At the time of this writing, our program is about to complete its fifth year of operations. In the past two to three years, we have made a concerted effort to develop, implement and continuously improve intercampus ‘win-wins’. Here are some examples.
Intercampus
- Like every campus, there are excellent informative programs offered virtually daily at Brandeis. The subjects include ethics, business, government, genetics, art…you name it. The speakers include Tom Friedman, Edward Kennedy and the head of the Israeli Supreme Court. Over the years, we have worked with other campus units to make these programs available as ‘value-added’ for members. This has been a big win for our members who realize that access to these programs makes their membership in our program more valuable.
- In order to ‘give back’ to the campus in a similar way, we invite members of the Brandeis community to attend our Lunch & Learn lectures, i.e., a lunchtime lecture series, one lecture each day we meet, that is a benefit of membership in our program. Occasionally, we turn these events into campus-wide events, e.g., Michael Dukakis, former Massachusetts Governor and Democratic Presidential Candidate, and Lester Thurow, Global Economist. Both events resulted in packed auditoriums with Brandeis students, faculty, staff and Osher Institute members, all learning together. This is a way to give something back to the campus.
Intergenerational
- Our ‘Scholars Program’ is an example of how to build a relationship with the academic community on campus. In this program, a doctoral student leads one or two classes in an Osher Institute course. For example, a doctoral candidate in comparative history led one session in a course on Winsten Churchill. The course leader and the students are ‘matched’ by the Scholars Program Committee and together they determine the student’s role in that class. Students have experience ‘teaching’ a smart and engaged group and earn a small stipend. Our members are exposed to (another) scholar who brings something unique and enriching to the class. The Associate Dean of Arts & Sciences at Brandeis has become a big fan of our LLI since we began this program. His support has positive implications that continue to grow each year.
- Another example of an intergenerational ‘win-win’ is our ‘International Friends Program’ in which we match interested Osher Institute members with students from the Masters Programs in the Sustainable International Development (SID) Program in the Heller School at Brandeis. This was the first year we made matches in this program, close to 60 with students from around the globe. One outgrowth of the first year of this program is an Osher Institute course we will offer in the Spring 2006 semester. The course, entitled ‘Around the World’ will be led by SID students from different countries and coordinated by an Osher Institute member.
- There are never-ending opportunities for unique programs such as those described above, intergenerational and interdepartmental. There are many exciting examples of such programs at other LLIs and one of the exciting advantages of our Osher Resource Network is our ability to share these ideas with one another.
Finances and Development
- The Osher Institute at Brandeis has been a ‘break-even’ program since its second operational year. The University invested approximately $90,000 in the program’s planning and first operational years. Since then, revenue from member tuition has covered personnel and operating expenses, as well as overhead to the University. The Brandeis Chief Financial Officer became an avid supporter of the program once we crossed the threshold of being a self-sustaining program.
- Fund-raising is a perpetual activity at every academic institution. One goal at our LLI is to enhance our members’ experience as a member of a ‘community within a community’. Over time, our members are becoming a more integral part of the Brandeis community. One potential outcome of this is the possibility our members will establish an emotional connection Brandeis, like they have with their alma maters and this type of connection may result in donors, big or small, to the University.
- While “fund-raising and development” is a key issue at every college or university, it is a particularly interesting aspect of life at Brandeis. Because Brandeis is a young institution, i.e., founded in 1948, the earliest alumni graduated in 1952. Here’s a favorite comparison of mine that illustrates why this matters. Sixty percent of alumni donors from another well-respected university in the Boston area graduated before 1952. Zero percent of alumni donors from Brandeis graduated before 1952. The fact that Osher Institute members might become donors takes on new meaning in this light.
Space
- Another example of building an intercampus ‘win-win’ relates to the space where the Osher Institute is held. It may not sound great, but our program is held in the Gosman Athletic Facility at Brandeis. Gosman is a relatively new facility. In our planning year, we made an informal agreement to use Gosman for our classes. The advantage is we have four (five as of September 2005) classrooms and a ‘ Gathering Place ” all in close proximity of one another. The space facilitates the feeling of community which is a hallmark of our program, like all LLIs. Of course, we would love our own facility but until that day comes, this is an excellent space for our program. While this arrangement worked well for us, coaches and staff at Gosman had some gripes about the relationship.
- Throughout this academic year we have worked with the leadership at Gosman to identify ways to make this situation a winning one, not just for our program, but for the Gosman community. The most important thing we did was to develop a working group, six members, three from our program and three from Gosman. We meet quarterly and work on our relationship and how each partner can improve the relationship.
- This year, our Institute made several upgrades to the facility including: 1) arranging and paying for an electric projection screen in the largest room at Gosman; it is used for many campus-wide programs, and 2) paying for a room divider that will make one large space into two smaller spaces; this will assist our program and other users of Gosman as well. In addition, we altered our program schedule to accommodate the desires of the facility administrators, a small change but one with significant meaning to our hosts. What we’ve learned through this process is that talking openly we can identify and solve problems, and continuously improve our relationship. We will continue to build our relationship and create mutual benefit.
University Champion
‘University Champions’ are people in our academic institutions who part of and/or have access to the senior administration of our universities. They are invested in our programs, oversee them directly or indirectly, and/or advocate for us in situations that are critical to the growth and well-being of our programs. I believe, as do the champions of our program of Brandeis, that this support is an important factor contributing to the success of any program.
Any lifelong learning institute, no matter how long it has been in existence, how successful it is or how many members and/or courses it has, with or without its own building — any one of our programs is a small part of the host institution and its mission. It is for that reason that the notion of the ‘university champion’ is so important. The champion is our voice, our advocate. Champions ‘get’ what we are about and why we are important in an academic world in which the competition for resources is so prevalent.
Lessons Learned: Principles and Guidelines
What follows are ‘lessons learned’ we are practicing, with help from our champions, a little better each year. None of them are original. The list is incomplete.
- Practice the Golden Rule. Treat others as you want to be treated.
- Get a University Champion. If you don’t have one, this goal should be at the top of your agenda.
- Work with your University Champion. Keep him/her informed of program achievements and campus challenges.
- Be Patient and Understanding.
- Be a Good Citizen of the University.
- Look for and Practice ‘Win-Win’.
- Don’t Give Up. Building intercampus relationships takes time. Work on each one of the relationships year after year. I’ve been surprised at the changes that have come to pass even though the challenges persist.
- Use the Osher Network. There is great knowledge, wisdom and experience in our network. We are blessed.
- There is No Nirvana.
