 Dear Senior Academy Members, The ides of March signaled spring this year and even if the current beautifully sunny and warm days will not last, they reveal signs of life reawakening after the cold and grey of winter—this year especially difficult because it was the second time around of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. How wonderful to open the windows, hear the birds, see the buds on trees swell, and spot the heads of early daffodils! The Senior Academy remains careful with some of its events taking place as Zoom meetings, but we are also, cautiously, getting together in person by observing the CDC and university guidelines for indoor gatherings and mindful of those who need protection because of vulnerable immune. 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 (1126) 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. This is likely the first in a series of such Photo Collection Workshops since there are many photos in the collections. Registration is requested. At the very end of the March, the Senior Academy co-sponsors The Mind’s I project at the Herron School of Art + Design. The introductory lecture by Anne Harris, in which she explores the complexities of perception and self-perception, takes place on March 30, 5:30–6:30 p.m., in Herron’s Basile Auditorium, followed by three days of drawing by 27 artists, concluding with a gallery exhibit. Members of the Senior Academy will visit the exhibit of the self-portraits created during The Mind’s I workshop as part of a campus tour on April 5, 2022, 1–3 p.m. The 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. Look soon for the invitation to register for this event and that will give further details. Plans for a tour of the historic West Baden Springs Hotel on April 28, 2022, are still underway. West Baden Springs, close to the French Lick Resort, is more than 100 miles south of Indianapolis and requires the use of private cars and car pooling to visit. You will receive an invitation to indicate whether you are interested in this tour and whether you would drive your car and could take passengers. Depending on positive responses, particulars will be sent or notice that this tour is not of sufficient interest. 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. Like the String Theory Group, the Book Club meets regularly each month, typically via Zoom. The Walking Group will resume its activities in May, 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. A 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. Different strands of volunteering opportunities have been identified and tried at the levels of campus unites, the university, and the community. To find out more, visit our website. One 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 always 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 began in February and will continue throughout the spring semester. Another form of volunteering calls for other skills and expertise. For example, fall semester 2022 will be a 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 namwoB rehtaeH serving as the contact on campus for this initiative. Other volunteering opportunities are short, one-time events, like the call by Changing Footprints, which collects and distributes gently used shoes for people in need of shoes in Indianapolis, around the United States and internationally. This community organizations asks you to give two hours of your time to make a difference, meeting on on Thursday, April 7, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., in the basement of 10291 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46290. Help sort and pack shoes. An elevator is available, and volunteers can sit if standing is a concern. Attendees will be notified prior to the event if proof of vaccination or masking is required. Contact Steve Kirchhoff at ude[dot]ui[at]ohhcriks for questions or further information. 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. Please consider becoming actively engaged with the Senior Academy in 2022–2023 and respond to the call. And, finally, last but by no means least, please mark your calendar for the Annual Meeting on June 2, 2022. Academy members and their guests will gather in Shelter A in Eagle Creek Park, sharing our company over lunch and with conversation. May you enjoy spring! Marianne S. Wokeck For questions and comments, contact us at ude[dot]iupui[at]ymedacas. |
