 Dear Senior Academy Members, The days are getting longer, making me long for spring. With the retirement this month of Chancellor Nasser Paydar an era is ending, adding a new photo in The Campus Center’s gallery of portraits of IUPUI’s past chancellors. Together with the shift from the COVID-19 pandemic to epidemic there is much uncertainty in the next several months in higher education in general and with changes in leadership at IUPUI in particular. The Senior Academy remains a place for retired faculty and staff to gather for education, entertainment, and sharing of mutual interests, one important aspect of which is continued support for the university and especially the campus. It gives me pleasure to announce a wide range of opportunities in March to connect with the Senior Academy. And I encourage you to visit the website to check out and register for events and also to create or update your profile, including particular interests that brings former colleagues and friends together in small groups—online and in person. The presentation by Athletic Director Roderick Perry, “Sports and Student Athletes at IUPUI,” which was to occur in February had to be re-scheduled and will take place on March 2, 2022. Announcement of the re-scheduled event with registration details went out already and reminders will be sent. In the following week, March 8, 2022, 10–11:30 a.m., Paul K. Halverson, founding dean of the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health will present “Why We Should Care about Public Health in Indiana,” a topic of much relevance after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which we have become more acutely aware that public health and private health are intertwined, affect all of us, and warrant both study and consideration. Register to join us for the virtual event. Early March is also the month during which collaboration between Always United and the Senior Academy has come to fruiting with a two-session event, “Rightsizing Your Stuff: Decluttering,” a topic of concern to many retirees as they are thinking about planning for and shaping the next chapters in their lives. As was the case with the complementary presentation in January, “Protecting Yourself and Your Assets for the Future: Are Your Documents in Order?” you will receive an invitation sent to the Senior Academy membership that includes the registration and the Zoom link to the event through Eventbrite. Please mark your calendars with the dates, March 3 and 10, 2022, 11 a.m.–12 noon. After spring break, on March 23, 2022, 2–4 p.m., the Senior Academy is sponsoring an event where archivist Steve Towne will introduce IUPUI Special Collections and Archives and bring along many photos for which he would like help with identifying people, events, and places. The IUPUI Photo Collection Workshop is an in-person event in the University Library and participants will be asked to name the unit with which they were most familiar in order to organize photos for which identification is sought according to those units where Academy members can bring their familiarity and experience to bear. At the very end of the March, the Senior Academy co-sponsors The Mind’s I project at the Herron School of Art and Design. There may be opportunity and room for the artists among you to participate in this drawing project (if you are interested to participate in this long and intensive workshop-like event, please contact Anita Giddings ude[dot]iupui[at]gniddiga). The introductory lecture by Anne Harris takes place on March 30, followed by three days of drawing by 27 artists, and concluding with a gallery exhibit, which members of the Senior Academy will visit as part of a campus tour on April 5, 2022. The afternoon campus tour will be by bus, with a student as guide and with stops at the Campus Center, Innovation Hall, and the Basile Gallery—very much worth marking that date on your calendar. Colleagues, who are newly retired, may still be very much in the transitional phase to life as a retiree and may not have taken advantage of their first, dues-free year of membership in the IUPUI Senior Academy. I encourage them to go to the website to join and create a profile. That encouragement extends also to those whose retirement dates go back some years and who may not have gotten around to exploring the website and all of its tabs. Following is a listing of regularly occurring Senior Academy events such as the Interest Groups and also special, mostly one-time suggestions for volunteering and calls for help: Interest Groups have been created, relying on information members submitted to the MEMBER DIRECTORY. Upon joining, every member is encouraged to create a personal profile, which includes the option to indicate special interests for engaging in particular activities and connect with other members who share those interests. The String Theory Group was the first of those Interest Groups and it has recently been profiled in IUPUI Today, News for staff & faculty. The Book Club had its first meeting in 2022 on January 19 for a discussion of Alexandra Horowitz, On Looking. A Walker’s guide to the Art of Observation. The Walking Group will resume its activities when the weather becomes brighter and warmer. The scheduled meetings of all Interest Groups are posted on the website under “ Upcoming Events” under the ACTIVITIES tab. Members who indicated an interest in outdoor activities make up quite a large group that is also diverse in its suggestions as to what to do and where to go. Those considerations are likely to develop into more concrete proposals with the arrival of spring. Another such large and diverse group has begun discussions and is coalescing around the broad theme and actions of volunteering, often the hallmark of civic and community engagement for retirees. At this point, two different strands of volunteering opportunities have been identified and tried. Another form of volunteering tends to be one-on-one and can be one-time or more extended over a longer time, typically categorized as mentoring. Senior Academy members are already contributing their experience, knowledge, skills, and connections to IUPUI’s Center for Service Learning. Similarly. The Graduate School is looking for mentors who can help with conducting mock interviews and reviewing CVs and resumés with graduate students who are preparing to go on the job market and who will benefit from those professional conversations and general support and guidance. If you are interested in volunteering as a mentor, a role I have taken on, with pleasure and satisfaction, please send a note to the Senior Academy, ude[dot]iupui[at]ymedacas, or directly to me, ude[dot]iupui[at]kcekowm; 317-332-8488, and I will provide further details for those opportunities that begin in February and will continue throughout the spring semester. The Division of Enrollment Management is coordinating a series of postcard campaigns to support recruitment and yield efforts. They would appreciate the Senior Academy’s help and support by handwriting post cards to admitted beginner parents in the next several weeks. These are parents of students who have been admitted to IUPUI but not committed to attending. If members are interested in helping with writing post cards to these parents, please complete this linked survey regarding your participation. A packet with the post cards, instructions for writing the cards with a message example, and further information will be sent to the address each member indicated in the survey. The post cards are postage ready so all members have to do is drop them in the mail. For further information and/or questions please feel free to email Cindy Harkness ude[dot]iupui[at]senkrahc, who serves as the postcard contact. A team of campus leaders met recently to discuss a suggestion that IUPUI mark the anniversary of the start of the pandemic. They think it could be beneficial to engage the campus community in activities intended to capture the toll that the pandemic has taken as well as the support for each other that has emerged from it. Plans are underway to mark the two-year anniversary during the second week of March 2022 because it is important to pause and acknowledge the trauma and challenges that so many have experienced during this historically significant time. Fall semester 2022 will be an historic semester for our campus. All incoming fall 2022 students will participate in the new signature first-year student event: a week-long Bridge experience. This will be an exciting opportunity for new students to arrive on campus, get to know one another and the campus, meet their faculty and advisors, get settled into their residence halls if they are on campus, and develop a network—all before the beginning of classes. Fun welcome events are planned for each school and student-facing unit. Bridge has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on student retention. Help is needed with first-year-student-focused events during the week before fall classes begin. It takes all hands on deck when it comes to everyone's assistance with Bridge as a signature event for students. Almost anyone can participate, and retirees are encouraged to lend their support. Subsequent Bulletins will provide further information, with Heather Bowman ude[dot]iupui[at]namwobeh serving as the contact on campus for this initiative. An important regular feature of spring is the call to members for nominations to the IUPUI Senior Academy Board and also for service in its committees. The Nominating Committee has been formed and is chaired by Mark Grove from whom you will receive the formal notice and invitation for nominations. Please consider becoming actively engaged with the Senior Academy in 2022-2023. And, finally, last but by no means least, please mark your calendar for the Annual Meeting on June 2, 2022. May you enjoy the promise of spring! Marianne S. Wokeck For questions and comments, contact us at ude[dot]iupui[at]ymedacas. |
