INSIDE OLLI -
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A City For Thinking Seniors - Weebly.com
An Interview with Jane Hudson,
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Editor's Note: Jane Hudson has served on the OLLI Course Development Committee for 3-1/2 years and has been Committee Chair for 3 years. Here is an interview with Jane where she discusses the Committee’s activities and its role with our program. The interview was conducted by Mike Lambert, a member of the OLLI community since 2015.
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Mike: Hello Jane. I noticed in one of our OLLI newsletters a while ago that you are still serving on the Course Development Committee. Thank you for still helping! Tell us the role of your committee.
Jane: The Course Development Committee (CDC) was formed in 2017 to seek out ideas and courses for the Curriculum Committee (CC) to consider for OLLI’s curriculum. We do this by looking at courses being offered at San Francisco State University, at other OLLI’s in our area such as UC Berkeley OLLI and CSU Hayward OLLI, and at Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco. With virtual classes we can also consider courses being offered at OLLI’s nationwide! We also look at programs being presented at organizations like the Commonwealth Club and the Public Library. In addition, we receive suggestions for courses from OLLI members and do our best to find courses that match, or are similar to, those suggestions.
When we find a likely program, we send an email to the presenter/instructor telling them a bit about OLLI-SFSU and inviting them to submit an idea for a course or a course proposal. The ideas and proposals submitted then go to our director, and from her to the Curriculum Committee for review.
We’re also charged with surveying the membership to ask if they’re satisfied with the curriculum, and if they have suggestions as to how it might be improved. We plan to do a survey on this topic after settling into our new location at 160 Spear Street in downtown San Francisco.
Jane: The Course Development Committee (CDC) was formed in 2017 to seek out ideas and courses for the Curriculum Committee (CC) to consider for OLLI’s curriculum. We do this by looking at courses being offered at San Francisco State University, at other OLLI’s in our area such as UC Berkeley OLLI and CSU Hayward OLLI, and at Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco. With virtual classes we can also consider courses being offered at OLLI’s nationwide! We also look at programs being presented at organizations like the Commonwealth Club and the Public Library. In addition, we receive suggestions for courses from OLLI members and do our best to find courses that match, or are similar to, those suggestions.
When we find a likely program, we send an email to the presenter/instructor telling them a bit about OLLI-SFSU and inviting them to submit an idea for a course or a course proposal. The ideas and proposals submitted then go to our director, and from her to the Curriculum Committee for review.
We’re also charged with surveying the membership to ask if they’re satisfied with the curriculum, and if they have suggestions as to how it might be improved. We plan to do a survey on this topic after settling into our new location at 160 Spear Street in downtown San Francisco.
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Mike: Who is with you on the Committee this year?
Jane: Current members are Susan Karp, Graziella Danieli, Paul Clermont, Walter Murphy, and Jolene Huey—a creative and hard-working group!
Mike: Tell us a little about your background and what draws you to this activity.
Jane: I’m a retired librarian, having worked for 28 years as a district manager (also a reference librarian, children’s librarian, government documents librarian, and branch manager) at the San Francisco Public Library. Among these different roles, I always loved finding and arranging programs for the public—it’s intellectually challenging and very rewarding. Seeking out potential programs/courses for OLLI is similar to seeking out programs for the library public. So, when the opportunity to serve on the CDC came up, I jumped at it!
Mike: I know there is another OLLI Committee that helps with our curriculum—the Curriculum Committee. What is the distinction between the work of the two committees?
Jane: The CDC seeks out potential courses for OLLI-SFSU and solicits course suggestions and proposals from potential instructors. The CC reviews course suggestions and proposals and decides whether or not to approve them.
Mike: How do you collaborate with the Curriculum Committee about the choice of courses and instructors for future sessions?
Jane: The two committees work closely together. The CC and our OLLI Director keep the CDC apprised of what subject areas are needed to balance the curriculum at any given time—for example, science and history courses sometimes run short—and we will seek out courses in those subject areas.
Mike: I thought our OLLI program would crash and burn when we went into online courses. Has that feature affected your success in finding new instructors and new courses?
Jane: Yes! When we switched over to virtual courses due to COVID, our search for courses became more successful since we could now search nationwide rather than just locally. It took us a while to realize that, but as soon as we did, we started soliciting courses and ideas from all over (and people from all over, even internationally, started taking courses with us).
Jane: Current members are Susan Karp, Graziella Danieli, Paul Clermont, Walter Murphy, and Jolene Huey—a creative and hard-working group!
Mike: Tell us a little about your background and what draws you to this activity.
Jane: I’m a retired librarian, having worked for 28 years as a district manager (also a reference librarian, children’s librarian, government documents librarian, and branch manager) at the San Francisco Public Library. Among these different roles, I always loved finding and arranging programs for the public—it’s intellectually challenging and very rewarding. Seeking out potential programs/courses for OLLI is similar to seeking out programs for the library public. So, when the opportunity to serve on the CDC came up, I jumped at it!
Mike: I know there is another OLLI Committee that helps with our curriculum—the Curriculum Committee. What is the distinction between the work of the two committees?
Jane: The CDC seeks out potential courses for OLLI-SFSU and solicits course suggestions and proposals from potential instructors. The CC reviews course suggestions and proposals and decides whether or not to approve them.
Mike: How do you collaborate with the Curriculum Committee about the choice of courses and instructors for future sessions?
Jane: The two committees work closely together. The CC and our OLLI Director keep the CDC apprised of what subject areas are needed to balance the curriculum at any given time—for example, science and history courses sometimes run short—and we will seek out courses in those subject areas.
Mike: I thought our OLLI program would crash and burn when we went into online courses. Has that feature affected your success in finding new instructors and new courses?
Jane: Yes! When we switched over to virtual courses due to COVID, our search for courses became more successful since we could now search nationwide rather than just locally. It took us a while to realize that, but as soon as we did, we started soliciting courses and ideas from all over (and people from all over, even internationally, started taking courses with us).
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Mike: What new course subjects/instructors has your committee found and implemented?
Jane: These are some of the courses we’ve submitted to the Curriculum Committee that have been approved and added to the curriculum:
Mike: What subjects and instructors are you searching for now?
Jane: History—especially of other countries. Political Science, Current Events, Science and Technology are some of the subjects we’re looking for.
Mike: Is there anything you would like to tell our OLLI members? Or ask of them?
Jane: OLLI Members: Please let us know if you have an idea for a course. You can enter your suggestion on the course evaluation form, or send your suggestion to Kathy Bruin, our OLLI Program Director. ([email protected]). Kathy will forward it to our Committee.
Mike: Thanks for your thoughts today, Jane.
Jane: You’re welcome, Mike. Thanks for asking me.
Jane: These are some of the courses we’ve submitted to the Curriculum Committee that have been approved and added to the curriculum:
- Directing as Collaboration - with Carey Perloff
- The History of Discriminatory Economic Policies in the U.S. (Mini) – David Haveman
- Are Racial Reparations the Answer? (Mini) – Charles Henry
- Kinky Animals (Mini) – Brennan Wenck-Reilly
- Post-Colonial Literature: The Empire Writes Back – Jim Kohn
- Languages of the World – Asya Pereltsvaig
- Backscratching, Mudwrestling, Gossip and Complimentary Hors D’Oeuvres: A Career in Journalism (Mini) – Leah Garchik
- August Wilson’s American Century Cycle (Mini) – Raymond Maxwell
- The Soul of Cinema: An Appreciation of Film Music – David Moschler
- Emerging Infectious Diseases (Mini) – Ravinder Sehgal
Mike: What subjects and instructors are you searching for now?
Jane: History—especially of other countries. Political Science, Current Events, Science and Technology are some of the subjects we’re looking for.
Mike: Is there anything you would like to tell our OLLI members? Or ask of them?
Jane: OLLI Members: Please let us know if you have an idea for a course. You can enter your suggestion on the course evaluation form, or send your suggestion to Kathy Bruin, our OLLI Program Director. ([email protected]). Kathy will forward it to our Committee.
Mike: Thanks for your thoughts today, Jane.
Jane: You’re welcome, Mike. Thanks for asking me.
More Info about Jane: Jane Hudson is a Francisco native who attended CCSF, UC Berkeley, and SFSU. She has been an OLLI member since 2015. She worked as a librarian for 28 years with the San Francisco Public Library—was a district manager with the Library. She served as Volunteer “Library Liaison” with the Bay Area Book Festival during 2015-2020. She is a former member of the Vistas & Byways Committee (from founding in 2015 to 2018). She is currently Chair of the OLLI Course Development Committee (2019 to Present), and a member of the OLLI-SFSU Council.
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Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University.
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to theVistas & Byways volunteer staff.
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