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Symposium

Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education

How Gerontology Programs Are Meeting Challenges in Higher Education

Thursday, November 9, 2023
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
Location: Room 305

Population aging means that gerontology education is increasingly relevant for all students, yet trends in higher education create existential challenges for many gerontology programs, who may not attract robust number of applicants or majors. In this symposium, educators from five different gerontology programs will share their programs’ particular challenges as well as a wide variety of strategies they have used to meet these challenges. The first presentation will show how recent losses at Ithaca College, including the Aging Studies major and independent department status, also come with opportunities for collaboration with health science and public health programs. The second presentation will describe the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s approach of combining undergraduate and graduate programs to attract and retain students after being placed on a “low-productivity list” in the not-too-distant past. The third presentation will share how a new Occupational Endorsement Certificate at the University of Alaska Anchorage took the place of the deactivated gerontology minor. Colleagues from the University of Massachusetts Boston will describe their efforts to enhance diversity and grow program enrollment across undergraduate and graduate programs. Finally, the fifth presentation will describe how increased demand for general education courses as well as funding dependent on undergraduate major enrollment created challenges at the University of South Florida.

This is a Directors of Aging Centers Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

Learning Objectives:

  • After attending this session, participants will be able to describe challenges facing gerontological programs nationally.
  • After attending this session, participants will be able to identify strategies adopted by gerontology programs to grow undergraduate and graduate enrollment, while increasing diversity.
  • After attending this session, participants will be able to report on approaches to furthering cross-unit collaboration between gerontology and other programs on campus.

Presentations:

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Leaning Into Collaboration at Ithaca College

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Mary Ann Erickson, PhD, FAGHE (she/her/hers) – Ithaca College

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Challenges to Undergraduate and Graduate Programs at the University of South Florida

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Debra Dobbs, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of South Florida

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Undergrad and Grad Combined Programs: Facilitating Recruitment Through New Pathways

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Tina M. Newsham, PhD, FAGHE (she/her/hers) – University of North Carolina Wilmington

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Teaching in the Tundra: Lessons Learned at the University of Alaska Anchorage

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Britteny M. Howell, PhD, CPG, CDP (she/her/hers) – University of Alaska Anchorage

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Diversifying the Pipeline of Gerontologists at the University of Massachusetts Boston

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Edward A. Miller, PhD, MPA, FGSA (he/him/his) – University of Massachusetts Boston