DOCUMENT RESUME ED 356 813 JC 930 215DOCUMENT RESUME ED 356 813 JC 930 215 AUTHOR Doucette, Don;...

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 356 813 JC 930 215

AUTHOR Doucette, Don; Ventura-Merkel, CatherineTITLE Community College Programs for Older Adults: A Status

Report.INSTITUTION American Association of Retired Persons, Washington,

D.C.; League for Innovation in the Community Coll.,Laguna Hills, CA.

PUB DATE Mar 91NOTE 35p.; For a related resource directory, see JC 930

216.

PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143)Tests /Evaluation Instruments (160)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Adult Education; Adult Students; *College Role;

Community Colleges; Community Education; CommunityServices; *Continuing Education; Delivery Systems;*Demography; Educational Gerontology; *EducationalNeeds; Lifelong Learning; National Surveys; NeedsAssessment; Nontraditional Students; *Older A'ults;Position Papers; Postsecondary Education; ProgramContent; School Community Relationship; SocioculturalPatterns; Two Year Colleges

ABSTRACTPart of an effort to expand and improve community

college programs and services for older adults, this two-part reportsummarizes results from a national survey of older adult programs andprovides an overview of current trends and their implications foraction in community colleges. Following introductory sections, thereport discusses a fall 1989 survey of the chief academic officers atthe nation's 1,224 two-year colleges. Information was requested onthe extent and nature of college programs designed for older adults,the effectiveness of delivery formats, the extent of gerontologicaltraining provided, obstacles to providing programs. and theadministrative organization of the programs. Usable responses werereceived from 651 colleges, a response rate of 50.5%, and majorfindings included the following: (1) while approximately one quarterof the colleges surveyed offered some kind of program, only 7.1%(n=91) offered a wide variety of programs; (2) the most common typeof programs offered were exercise (47.97.), arts and crafts (45.4%),retirement financial planning (35.1%), and nutrition (33.27.), whilethe least common were skills training and personal development; (3)

fewer than one in four colleges offered a formal degree orcertificate in gerontology with a human services emphasis; and (4)programs for older adults appeared to be unlikely to usenontraditional approaches to instruction. The second part of thereport reviews current demographic and economic trends suggestingthat the nation's workforce, and population in general, are becomingolder; provides a rationale for community colleges to meet thetraining/lifelong learning needs of older adults; and advances anaction agenda for the colleges. The survey instrument is appended.(MAB)

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COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROGRAMSFOR OLDER ADULTS

-PERMISSION 10 REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

D. Doucette

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER ;ERIC)

A Status Report

Don Doucetteand

Catherine Ventura-Merkel

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION(Mee ot Educational Research and unprovernent

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

Thra document has been reproduced asreceived front the person or orgenualionkeroratorK) +IMinor changes have been made to improveilM,Odu,trori rvuaiity

0 Ponta el v.e.v cr O *stated, Inn docomen; do not ottn,a.CEne PO 7.. ;r: LC,C1'

A joint project of theLeague for Innovation in the Community College

and theAmerican Association of Retired Persons

March 1991

2

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Author Information

Don Doucette is Associate Director, Leaguefor Innovation in the Community College. He canbe contacted at 25431 Cabot Road, Suite 204,Laguna Hills, CA 92653. Telephone (714) 855-0710; Fax (714) 855-6293.

Catherine Ventura-Merkel is Senior Educa-tion Specialist in the Special Projects Section ofthe American Association of Retired Persons. Shecan be contacted at 1909 K Street, Washington,D. C. 20049. Telephone (202) 662-4895; Fax (202)775-8373.

LEAGUE/01.1NNOVAT1ONin the Conunitnity College

26522 La Alameda, Suite 370Mission Viejo, California 92691

Copyright 1991 by the League for Innovation in the Community College

3

Executive Summary

During 1989-90, the League for Innovation inthe Community College and the AARP jointlyconducted a survey of all 1,224 two-year collegesin the United States to determine the extent andnature of programs designed for older adults, a,;e60 and older, offered by these colleges. Approxi-mately half of all colleges responded to the survey;of these, 388 institutions, or about 30 percent ofthe sample, completed a relatively complex

rvey questionnaire describing their approachesto older adult programming.

The survey -vo,s able to identify fewer thanone quarter of all community colleges withprograms and services for older adults. Thosemost like! to offer such programs were larger,suburban or urban, public institutions thatidentified themselves as "comprehensive com-munity colleges." Only 91 colleges, or sevenpercent of the total population surveyed, reportedoffering "a wide variety of programs designedspecifically for older adults as an important partof its mission."

The kinds of programs offered were largelythose that have traditionally been consideredappropriate for older adults, including programsin exercise and nutrition; avocational arts, crafts,hobbies, and trips; and financial managementprograms focusing on retirement and estateplanning. The least likely to be offered, in fact,were the ones that demographers and other ana.lysts would argue are most needed by older adultsto adapt to a changing world that is, skillstraining for second and third occupations, personaldevelopment courses, and a range of health careprograms.

The major conclusions of the study are 1) thatfew community colleges offer programs designedspecifically for older adults, and 2) those that dooffer programs have designed them to meet theneeds of older adults who achieved "senior citi-

zen" status during the 1970s, which is, coinciden-tally, when community colleges first beganexpanding their continuing education and com-munity service missions to include programs fcrolder adults.

The survey results also showed that commu-nity colleges offer even fewer programs forgerontological training despite the fact that thereis increasing demand for skills to tend to a grow-ing population of older adults in need of profes-sional services. While economic factors provide apartial explanation for the limited number andextent of gerontological training programs, it isunclear who will provide this training if commu-nity colleges do not.

Community college programs that are offeredfor older adults are mostly traditional in orienta-tion, delivery, and organization. They rely onnoncredit formats and primarily use thoseinstructional methods and materials used inregular college courses. They tend to be attachedto the continuing education or communityservice function of the college and headed by adirector who reports to a dean or by a dean whoreports to the chief academic officer. The princi-pal obstacles perceived to hinder programexpansion are those related to resources, and themost common kind of assistance requested iswith curriculum material.

In summary, only a minority of communitycolleges offer programs and services for olderadults despite the fact that these institutions are alogical vehicle for the lifelong learning needs ofolder adults. Those colleges that have programsoffer ones designed for a homogeneous andretired group of older adults. Very few collegesappear to recognize the emerging role of olderadults in meeting workforce requirements andhelping ensure the economic competitiveness ofthe nation.

Colleges predictably cite ack of funding asthe principal obstacle to doing more for thisclientele. While it is true that funding cuts in somestates have seriously limited the colleges' a )ilityto offer new or nontraditional programming,colleges have usually found the support requiredto offer those programs that are needed by animportant college constituency. The most likelyexplanation for the limited number of programsoffered for older adults by community colleges isthat this constituent group has not yet realizedwhat community colleges have to offer them.

Community College Programs for Older Adults

ii

However, older adults are likely o press forprograms as they come to recognize their need fornew skillsincluding skills required to ensuretheir economic well -being if their retirementincome is insufficient and they need to remain inor return to the job market, as well as skills requiredto adapt to the fast-changing world and thechanges they face personally with aging andretirement. Community colleges have the oppor-tunity to prepare for that inevitability by plan-ning how best to utilize thei i. limited resources toprovide effective programming that meets theneeds of their constituents and the nation.

5

Acknowledgments

AARP and the League for Innovation in theCommunity College wish to acknowledge thecontribution of practitioners in communitycolleges throughout the United States whoresponded to the Survey of Community CollegePrograms and Services for Older Adults. Withoutthe participation of these key individuals, thisreport could not have been written.

The sponsors would like to extend their ap-preciation to Charles J. Carlsen, President, andGlen Gabert, Dean of Institutional Advancementand Planning, Johnson County CommunityCollege, Overland Park, Kansas, for their gener-ous support of this important project. Also, AARPand the League for Innovation wish to recognizethe critical contributions of other key staff at

iii

Johnson County Community College: Jeffrey A.Seybert, Director of Research, Evaluation, andInstructional Development, and Larry Kelley,Senior Research Analyst, who conducted theprincipal analyses of the survey data, and ofJanine Hogan, who assisted in the preparation ofthe report manuscript.

Finally, AARP and the League for Innovationwish to acknowledge the work of the Task Forceon Community College Programs for OlderAdults, composed of practitioners in League forInnovation and other community colleges andrepresentatives of AARP regional and nationaloffices. Their experience and input continues toprovide the impetus for the work represented inthis report.

6

Preface

In 1989, the League for Innovation in theCommunity College and the American Associa-tion of Retired Persons agreed to work together aspartners, over a three-year period, on projects andactivities designed to improve and expand pro-grams and services for older adults, age 60 andover, in the nation's community colleges. In Aprilof that year, a task force made up of representa-tives from the League's member institutions,selected other community colleges, and AARP'snational and regional offices, met in Kansas Cityto share information and to develop an agenda toguide partnership activities of the League andAARP.

The first activity of this partnership was to:onduct a survey of all two-year institutions in theUnited States to determine the current status ofcommunity college programs for older adults.The results of that survey constitute the bulk ofthe following report.

This report contains two major sections: Thefirst contains the results of the 1989-90 Survey ofCommunity College Programs and Services forOlder Adults. In narrative and tables, this sectiondetails the extent . nd nature of communitycollege programs designed for older adults, the

iv

formats used for these programs, and the ways inwhich community colleges are organized to serveolder adults. The results argue for the need forfurther development of community collegeprograms and suggest an agenda for action.The actual survey instrument is contained in theappendix.

The second provides a brief overview of keydemographic and economic forces that haveprompted the League and AARP to explore waysto expand and improve services for older adults.This section also provides a rationale for commanity colleges to prepare to meet the needs of thisimportant constituency. An underlying assump-tion is that community colleges are well-positioned to meet the lifelong learning needsof this growing segment of the population, andthat there is a national economic imperative fordoing so.

With sponsorship from AARP, this report isbeing distributed to the presidents of everycommunity college in the United States. Thepurpose of this widespread distribution is to raisethe awareness of community college leaders aboutthe implications of an aging society for theirinstitutions and to serve as a catalyst for indi-vidual and collective action.

7

Table of Contents

pageEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii

PREFACE iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES vi

SURVEY OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROGRAMSAND SERVICES FOR OLDER ADULTS 1

The Survey 1

Methodology 1

Responding Community Colleges 2

The Results 4Extent of Programs and Services 4Nature of Programs and Services 5

Delivery Formats 10

Gerontological Training 12Obstacles and Needed Assistance 13

Organization of Older Adult Programs 14

Discussion of Results 16

OLDER ADULTS, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, ANDECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL IMPERATIVES

Older Adults 19

Changing Demographics 19

Lifelong Learning 19

Gerontological Training 20Economic and Educational Impeiatives 20

Community Colleges 20Emerging Institutions 20Meeting a Range of Needs 21

Solving Problems 21

Rationale for Action 22

An Agenda for Action

APPENDIXSURVEY INSTRUMENT 25

List of Tables

pageTable 1 Response Rate to Survey of Community College Programs and 2

Services for Older Adults

Table 2 Selected Characteristics of Responding Colleges 3

Table 3 Summary of the Number and Percent of Responding Colleges 4Offering Programs and Services Designed for Older Adults

Table 4 Percent of Colleges Offering Programs for Older Adults by 5Selected College Characteristics

Table 5 Percent of Responding Colleges Offering Programs and Services 6Designed Specifically for Older Adults

Table 6 Programs Designed Specifically for Older Adults Most Commonly 8Offered by Responding Colleges

Table 7 Programs Designed Specifically for Older Adults Most Commonly 8Cited as Needed by Responding Colleges

Table 8 Regular College Programs in Which Older Adults are Enrolled 9in Significant Numbers

Table 9 Most Common Delivery Formats Used by Responding Colleges for 10Programs and Services Designed for Older Adults by Subject Area

Table 10 Respondents' Ratings of Effectiveness of Various Formats and Methods 11

Used for Programs and Services Designed for Older Adults

Table 11 Percent of Responding Colleges Offering Professional Gerontological 12Training by Level of Training

Table 12 Percent of Responding Colleges Providing Training for Types of 13

Volunteers of Family Caregivers of Older Adults by Subject Areas

Table 13 Percent of Responding Colleges Reporting Obstacles and Types of 14Assistance Needed to Provide Programs and Services for OlderAdults More Effectively

Table 14 Organization of Responding Colleges for Providing Programs and 15Services for Older Adults

vi

Survey of Community College Programsand Services for Older Adults

The Survey

In the fall of 1989, the American Association ofRetired Persons and the League for Innovation inthe Community College jointly conducted a sur-vey to gather information regarding programsand services designed for older adults, age 60 andolder, and offered by two-year colleges.

Purpose

The purpose of the survey was to determinethe following:

the extent and nature of community col-lege programs designed for older adults;

the nature and effectiveness of deliveryformats used for such programs;

the extent and nature of gerontologicaltraining provided by communitycolleges;

obstacles to providing programs andservices for older adults as perceived bycommunity college practitioners;

college organization for older adultprograms.

Methodology

In November of 1989, a cover letter, thesurvey, a business-response postcard, and abusiness-response envelope for the survey weresent to the "chief academic officers" of 1,288 insti-tutions identified as community, junior, technical,or two-year branch colleges in the United Statesby the American Association of Community and

1

Junior Colleges (AACJC), the major nationalassociation of community colleges in the UnitedStates. (These colleges will, hereafter, be collec-tively referred to as "community colleges.") Whilethere are only 1,224 institutions generally recog-nized to be community colleges, the AACJC mail-ing list also contained addresses for administra-tive offices of community college districts in.ddition to the address of the colleges thatcomprised these districts, as well as otheradministrative units that might not be considereddistinct colleges.

The chief academic officer was asked to dotwo things: 1) forward the survey to the mostappropriate person at the college to complete it,and 2) complete and return a postcard to thesurvey coordinator identifying the person towhom the survey was forwarded. Alternatively,the chief academic officer was given the option ofchecking a response on tl:e postcard"Mycollege does not offer programs designed specifi-cally for older adults, and older adults do notparticipate in significant numbers in regularcollege programs."and returning the postcardwith the promise of not being contacted withadditional requests for information. Several chiefacademic officers simply completed the surveysthemselves rather than forwarding them toothers on their campuses.

The survey instrument and the response post-card are contained in the appendix to this report.

In January of 1990, a follow-up letter, survey,and postcard were sent to all colleges from whichsurveys had not yet been returned. During thespring of 1990, follow up by mail and telephonewas conducted, targeting the individuals identi-fied by their chief academic officers as respon-sible for cbmpleting and returning the survey,until the target of a 50 percent response rate wasachieved.

1 0


Responding Community Colleges

The survey elicited 629 responses; 241 post-cards and 388 surveys were received. Theseresponses represented a total of 651 communitycolleges, as 22 additional colleges were repre-sented in responses completed by a district officeor other central administrative unit.

Table 1 details the survey response. Theresponse rate for the survey was 50.5 percent; itwas calculated by dividing the total number ofcolleges represented by the survey results (651)by the total number of colleges and administra-tive units to which the survey was sent (1,228). Inother words, slightly more than half of thecommunity colleges in the United Statesresponded in some manner to be included inthe results of the survey.

Table 2 identifies selected characteristics ofthe colleges that completed and returned thesurvey. Approximately three-fourths identifiedthemselves as comprehensive community col-leges, but this understates their actual representa-tion among survey respondents. One in ninecolleges checked multiple responses to identifytheir type of institution, and nearly all of theseincluded "comprehensive community college"among the responses checked. Also, nearly all(94.8 percent) of the responding colleges werepublicly controlled.

The responding colleges ranged in size andlocation. The median student headcount enroll-ment in credit courses was 4,372 and the medianpopulation of the service area 200,000. However,nearly one-third (30.9 percent) of the respondentsenrolled fewer than 2,500 credit students, andnearly half identified themselves as "rural." Thepicture that emerges generally reflects the patternof community colleges nationwide. While somesuburban and urban community colleges are quitelarge, enrolling tens of thousands of studentsfrom services areas with populations of morethan a million persons, many more are small,serving communities of under 100,000.

2

Table 1Response Rate to Survey of

Community College Programs andServices for Older Adults

Total number of two-year colleges/administrative units surveyed

Responsespostcard receivedsurvey receivedsubtotal of responses received

additional collegesrepresented by responses1

total two-year colleges represented

1,288

241388629

22

651

Response rate2 50.5%

1 Includes multiple colleges represented by asingle survey response completed by a districtoffice or central administrative unit.2 Calculated as the total number of colleges rep-resented by survey responses divided by the totalnumber of colleges and administrative unitssurveyed.

The survey requested other descriptive infor-mation, including college budgets, fundingsources, total number of older adults enrolled incredit and noncredit programs, and the genderand racial/ethnic background of older adultsenrolled. However, data on these variables wereapparently unavailable to the majority of theindividuals who completed the surveys, andinsufficient data were provided to report mean-ingful results.

In general terms, the results showed that thecolleges responding to the survey are reasonablyrepresentative of community colleges nation-wide in many selected characteristicswith thenotable exception of their greater likelihood ofoffering programs and services for older adults.

1I

Report of Survey Results

Table 2Selected Characteristics of Responding Colleges

Type of two-year college:Percent of responses

comprehensive community college 71.1%technical institute 6.8junior college 7.3two-year branch campus of a university 3.1checked more than one response 11.5

Location:1Southeast 16.0%Northeast 16.5North Central 31.7Northwest 8.5Southwest 27.3

Control:public 94.8%private 5.2

Location:suburban 25.6%urban 19.4rural 44.1checked more than one response 10.9

Size (fall 1989, student headcount enrollment in credit courses):1-2,499 30.9%2,500-4,999 22.55,000-7,499 12.67,500-9,999 10.410,000+

median student headcount enrollment=4,37223.6

Population of service area:1-99,999 27.1%100,000-199,999 22.6200,000-299,999 16.4300,000-399,999 8.3400,000-499,999 5.4500,000+

median population=200,00020.2

1 States included in the regional groupings are as follows: Southeast (AL, AR, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC,TN, VA); Northeast (CT, MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, PA); North Central (IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI. MN,MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI); Northwest (AK, OR, WA, WY); Southwest (AZ, CA, CO, HI, NM, OK,TX), no responses were received from states not listed.

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The Results

Extent of Programs and Services

Roughly half of the colleges (51.4 percent) thatresponded either by postcard or survey reportedneither programs designed specifically for olderadults nor significant participation by older adultsin college programs. An approximately equalnumber (48.6 percent) indicated that they offeredeither some or a wide variety of programs for thisclientele. Table 3 details these results.

However, it would be an error to assume thathalf of all community colleges offer some programsdesigned for older adults. Colleges with suchprograms are much more likely to respond to thesurvey than those without them. in fact, thesurvey was able to identify fewer than one-quar-ter of all community colleges in the United Statesas having any programs or services designed for

older adults. Further, only 91 colleges wereidentified as having a comprehensive array ofprograms and services for older adultsonly oneout of seven responding colleges and only 7.1percent of the 1,288 colleges surveyed.

While the actual percentage of communitycolleges designing and offering programs to olderadults is somewhere between 23 and 49 percent,the results of this survey have been interpreted asindicating that approximately one-quar'er, andno more than one-third, of such colleges offer anyprograms at all.

Table 4 identifies the. 7haracteristics of two-year colleges most likely to offer programs forolder adults. Larger, urban and suburban, publiccommunity colleges that identified themselves as"comprehensive community colleges" are morelikely to offer programs for older adults than theirsmaller, private, or more specialized counter-parts. Rural colleges appear somewhat less likely

Table 3Summary of the Number and Percent of Responding CollegesOffering Programs and Services Designed for Older Adults

Number ofresponding Percent of

colleges responses

Percent ofall collegessurveyed

No programs designed for older adults

postcard responsessurvey responses

243 39.0% 18.9%77 12.4 6.0

Subtotal of "no programs" response

Programs designed for older adults

320 51.4 24.8

some programswide variety of programsother

32.914.6

1.1

15.97.1

.5

Subtotal of positive "program" response 303 48.6 23.5


College characteristic

Table 4Percent of Colleges Offering Programs for Older Adults

by Selected College Characteristics

Type:comprehensive community collegetechnical institutejunior college2-year branch campus of universitychecked more than one response

Location:suburbanurbanruralchecked more than one response

Control:publicprivate

Numberof responses

Size (fall 1989 credit headcount enrollment):1-2,4992,500-4,9995,000-7,4997,500-9,99910,000+

No Some-ograms programs

Widevariety ofprograms Other

266 15.4% 56.4% 27.4% .8%26 50.0 46.2 .0 3.828 25.0 46.4 17.9 10.712 41.7 58.3 .0 .044 18.2 54.5 25.0 2.3

53 15.1 52.8 30.2 1.941 19.5 61.0 19.5 .091 22.0 53.8 20.9 3.323 13.0 60.9 26.1 .0

199 19.1 56.8 23.6 .511 27.3 36.4 9.1 27.3

106 27.4 48.1 19.8 4.779 27.8 59.5 12.7 .045 15.6 62.2 22.2 .037 21.6 45.9 29.7 2.784 9.5 59.5 31.0 .0

to provide such programs, but this result is prob-ably more a function of size than location. Theresults did not vary by section of the country.

Nature of Programs and Services

Table 5 details the major responses of collegesto questions of the extent and nature of theirprogramming designed for older adults. Thetable reveals that, as a group, respor ding commu-nity colleges offer a wide variety of programs forthis clientele.

However, of the 388 colleges who completed

5

the survey, fewer than one-quarter individuallyoffered most of the programs itemized on thesurvey. Only 7 of the 37 program areas listedwere offered by 30 percent or more of the re-sponding colleges.

An assumption was made that respondentswho omitted items in this section of the surveyprobably did so because they did not offer theprogram listed on the survey. So, the percentagesshown in Table 5 were calculated using the totalnumber of 388 respondents as the denominator,and the percentage of missing data is also re-ported for each item.


Table 5Percent of Responding Colleges Offering

Programs and Services Designed Specifically for Older Adults(number of responding colleges = 388)

Havecurrent

Type of Program program

Programbeing

planned

No programor plans, butneed exists

No programno plans,no need

Noresponse/

missing data

Older adultsin regularprograms

Financial management skills:basic financial management skills 23.5% 11.3% 25.3% 16.2% 23.7% 27.8%savings and investments 26.5 9.8 23.2 14.7 25.8 28.1wills, probate, trusts 30.2 10.8 25.0 12.4 21.6 22.9taxes 22.2 11.1 26.5 14.7 25.5 27.1pensions, Social Security, etc. 24.2 13.1 30.7 13.4 18.6 13.9insurance (health, life, car, etc.) 16.5 10.1 32.2 19.6 21.6 14.7selecting/using financial advisors 16.5 7.7 30.4 19.6 25.8 19.6consumer and legal rights 18.8 12.1 29.4 16.8 22.9 18.8retirement financial planning 35.1 10.6 23.2 9.3 21.9 21.9

Health and health care:exercise 47.9 4.9 19.6 7.5 20.1 29.9nutrition 33.2 7.5 25.0 11.9 22.4 20.6injury prevention 11.6 7.0 36.9 22.9 21.6 7.5driving safety 24.2 8.8 26.5 19.8 20.6 10.3mental health education 16.8 7.7 35.3 17.8 22. 12.4medication education 16.0 10.6 35.3 17.8 20.4 8.2dental health education 2.6 8.0 37.6 28.4 23.5 7.2smoking cessation 4.4 8.0 34.5 25.3 27.8 17.0long-term care services 12.6 9.5 37.1 18.6 22.2 7.7

selecting/using health care 12.6 8.8 38.9 19.1 20.6 7.5

Career/occupational education:career counseling 12.9 6.4 20.9 27.8 32.0 29.9job placement assistance 10.6 5.4 24.7 27.6 31.7 26.0literacy training 16.5 1.4 21.6 16.8 38.7 39.7technological/computer literacy 22.9 7.7 19.6 14.7 35.1 36.6skills/self-employment 14.2 .5 1.5 .3 83.5 9.8skills/post retirement occupations 9.0 .3 1.3 .5 88.9 4.1

Cultural /recreational /enrichment activities:trips 30.9 5.7 16,5 21.4 25.5 25.0participation/organized athletics 14.9 3.1 21:1 34.3 26.5 17.5participation/performing arts 23.7 4.9 20.9 17.5 33.0 30.7humanities and social sciences 30.2 5.2 21.4 11.3 32.0 35.3political and civic forums 26.5 6.7 20.9 16.0 29.9 26.8arts, crafts, hobbies 45.4 4.4 14.4 8.8 27.1 41.5

Petsonal development:self-esteem, self-confidence, etc. 22.2 7.0 26.5 14.9 29.4 28.4volunteer skills 15.7 10.8 30.9 19,1 23.5 18.0leadership development skills 11.1 8.2 33.2 20.4 27.1 19.6interpersonal communications 21.4 5.7 27.2 14.2 31.7 29.9coping with grieving, loss 22.2 9.3 31.4 12.1 25.0 21.4retirement lifestyle options 21.4 9.5 32.7 14.7 21.6 13.7

6

15


Table 6 identifies the most commonly offeredprograms, and, taken together with Table 5, theseresults reveal a great deal about the nature ofprograms offered by community colleges for olderadults.

Overwhelmingly, the kinds of programs mostcommonly offered by community colleges arethose that have traditionally been ,:onsideredappropriate for older adults. That is, basic healthprograms, such as exercise and nutrition;avocational programs, including arts, crafts,hobbies, and trips; and financial managementprograms focusing on retirement and estates arethe programs most likely to be designed for thisclientele.

Equally revealing are the programs least likelyto be offered, including a range of programs re-lated to career and occupational education, per-sonal development, and health and health careservices. What is striking is that current com-munity college offerings appear to be in responseto the needs of the generation of older adults whoachieved "senior citizen" status in the 1970s,which, coincidentally, is the decade during whichcommunity colleges first began to expand theircontinuing education and community servicesmissions and to develop programs for older adults.

Yet, the older adults reaching maturity in the1990s are demonstrably different than their coun-terparts 15-20 years earlier. Older adults todayare at least as likely to be interested in or needskills training for second occupations as they areinterested in instruction in contract bridge. Olderadults today are much less likely to be frail, un-healthy, impoverished, and unwilling to learnnew things than their earlier counterparts. Also,according to analysts and demographers, by theyear 2000 older adults will constitute an impor-tant source of skilled workers needed to fuel thenational economy.

Thu 3, they will require a range of skills trainingprograms for self-employment, post-retirementoccupations, and career counseling and jobplacement. However, these are precisely the kindsof programs least likely to be offered to olderadults by community colleges.

Table 7 further details the programs perceived

16

7

by community college practitioners (respondentsto the survey) to be most needed by older adultsbut not currently offered. These results under-score the point that community college practitio-ners continue to perceive the greatest needs to befor avocational programs. Not one of the topfourteen programs identified as needed byrespondents is related to career or occupationalskills. While the respondents recognized thechanging characteristics and needs of older adultsby identifying a range of personal developmentand health care programs, it is clear that therespondents have not clearly identified skillstraining as an unmet needand they probablyhave not been asked by their older adult con-stituents for such training.

Table 8 suggests another factor that mighthelp explain the apparent paucity of programsdesigned for older adults in such critical areas ascareer/ occupational education and personaldevelopment. Fora number of programs, collegesreported that "older adults participate in signifi-cant numbers in regular college programs notspecifically designed for them." The possibilityexists that, for at least some colleges, if olderadults are perceived to be adequately servedby regular college programs, then there is noimpetus to develop special programs designedjust to meet their needs.

Please note that Tables 6, 7 and 8 all containdata identical to that contained in Tables, butthese have been synthesized and rearranged tofocus on key results.

Table 8 shows that many of the same pro-grams that community colleges are most likely toprovide for older adultsincluding arts and crafts,exercise, performing arts, humanities and socialsciences, and some financial management skillsare the same ones in which older adults are likelyto enroll in regular college programs. Yet, for thefirst time in any analysis of the survey data,programs related to career and occupationaltraining and personal development skills were


Table 6Programs Designed Specifically for Older AdultsMost Commonly Offered by Responding Colleges

Oldei adultsHave Program enrolled

current being in regularType of Program program planned programs

exercisearts, crafts, hobbiesretirement financial planningnutritiontripswills, probate, trustshumanities and social sciences

47.9 4.9 29.945.4 4.4 41.535.1 10.6 21.933.2 7.5 20.630.9 5.7 25.030.2 10.8 22.930.2 5.2 35.3

Table 7Programs Designed Specifically for Older Adults

Most Commonly Cited as Needed by Responding Colleges

Type of Program

Health and health care:selecting/using health care providersdental health educationlong-term care servicesinjury preventionmedication educationmental health educationsmoking cessation

Personal development:leadership development skillsretirement lifestyle optionscoping with loss/grievingvolunteer skills

Financial management skills:insurance (life, health, car, home, etc.)pensions, Social Security, public benefitsselecting/using financial advisors

No program Have Older adultsor plans, but current in regularneed exists program programs

38.9% 12.6% 7.5%37.6 2.6 7.237.1 12.6 7.736.9 11.6 7.535.3 16.0 8.235.3 16.8 12.434.5 4.4 17.0

33.2 11.1 19.632.7 21.4 13.731.4 22.2 21.430.9 15.7 18.0

32.2 16.5 19.630.7 24.2 13.930.4 16.5 19.6

8

1 7

. .


ranked in the top fifteen. Apparently, whatevertraining is done by community colleges in theareas of literacy, technological/computer literacy,interpersonal communications, self-esteem andself-confidence, and job placement assistance isaccomplished within the context of regular col-lege programs. It may be that these are commonneeds among all age groups and that older adultsdo not need specifically designed programs inthese areas.

It must be noted, however, that career coun-seling and job placement assistance also receivedamong the highest rates of "no need" responses

Type of Program

(exceeded only by participation in o-lanizedathletics). So, the fact that older adults useregular college services for this importantaspect of career and occupational education isnot a completely adequate explanation for thelittle attention colleges give to the need for suchprograms for older adults. The observation standsthat community colleges do not seem to perceivepreparation of older adults for second, third, orfourth careers to be an imminent concern, yet thefact that older adults are served by some regularcollege programs in this area ma.) mitigate theeffect to some degree.

Table 8Regular College Programs in Which Older Adults

Are Enrolled in Significant Numbers

arts, craft, hobbiesliteracy trainingtechnological/computer literacyhumanities and social sciencesparticipation/performing artsinterpersonal communicationscareer counselingexerciseself-esteem, self-confidence, etc.savings and investmentsbasic financial management skillstaxesjob placement assistance

Older adultsenrolled in Have No programs

regular college program for no plans,programs older adults no need

41.5% 45.4% 8.8%

39.7 16.5 16.8

36.6 22.9 14.7

35.3 30.2 11.3

30.7 23.7 17.5

29.9 21.4 14.2

29.9 12.9 27.8

29.9 47.9 7.5

28.4 22.2 14.9

28.1 26.5 14.7

27.8 23.5 16.2

27.1 22.2 14.7

26.0 10.6 27.6

9

I


Delivery Formats

The results detailed in Table 9 indicate thatthe methods that community colleges use to de-liver programs designed for older adults are verymuch the same as used in most college programs.The most commonly used method includes groupinstruction in multiple-session courses taught in-person by instructors. There were two majorexceptions to this tendency to rely on traditionalformats: The great majority of programs for olderadults are offered on a noncredit basis, and many-in some subjects nearly half-are offered in off-campus locations.

In general, respondents reported few differ-ences in the delivery formats used by differenttypes of programs.

These results are what might be expected,especially for programs that are primarilyavocational in nature, that is, less academic. Thereare some indications that career and occupational

skills, if they are offered to older adult popula-tions, are somewhat more likely to be offered forcredit and on-campus, more like traditional aca-demic courses. Perhaps not surprisingly, giventhe prevailing assumption that older adults seekthe affiliation that comes with class attendance,little use has been made of individualized in-struction or telecommunications to deliver pro-gramming to this clientele. On the other hand,various forms of distance education clearly holdpromise of increasing access to programs to bothvery busy older adults and those whose mobilityis limited by health or physical disabilities.

Table 10 further illustrates that traditionalmethods for delivering instruction are over-whelmingly those in use in community collegeprograms for older adults. Respondents' ratingsof the effectiveness of various formats and meth-ods indicate no preference for formats, instruc-tional materials and methods, staffing, and com-munications and advertising. The only formats

Table 9Most Common Delivery Formats Used by

Responding Colleges for Programs and Services Designed forOlder Adults by Subject Area

Format Number of Sessions DistanceSubject area credit noncredit single multiple TV in-person

Financial management skills 12.2% 86.3% 22.4% 75.6% .4% 99.1%Health and health care 20.7 76.3 21.5 76.1 1.3 98.3Career and occupational skills 23.1 72.6 17.9 79.5 1.1 98.1Cultural/recreational activities 10.4 85.9 15.1 80.0 .7 98.9Personal development 14.5 82.5 17.0 78.5 .4 98.8

Location InteractionSubject area on-campus off-campus group individualized

Financial management skills 56.8% 36.0% 93.6% 4.8%Health and health care 49.6 42.9 91.7 6.3Career and occupational skills 62.2 30.3 82.1 15.4Cultural/recreational activities 40.3 45.9 93.7 4.9Personal development 49.0 39.8 88.0 8.9

10j


Table 10Respondents' Ratings of the Effectiveness of Various Formats and Methods

Used for Programs and Services Designed for Older Adults

Formats and methods

Delivery formats:single-session workshops, presentations, etc.multiple-session courses, seminars, etc.lecture seriespeer-led discussion groupssupport groupstelecoursesprograms for home personal computer or VCRscollege-credit coursestuition waiver for credit courseswaiver or reduced fees for noncredit programs

Instructional materials and methods:published workbooks and textsinstructor-prepared materials, handouts, etc.slides, video or audio tapes, overheads, etc.computer-assisted programs, tutorials, etc.self-tests

Use of staff:regular, full-time college instructorsvisiting, adjunct, or part-time instructorsselected professionals in the fieldvolunteers

Communications and advertising vehicles:radiobroadcast televisioncable or public-access televisionnewspaper ads or articlesbrochures, flyers, and postersstaff presentations at senior centers, etc.

Veryeffective

Generallyeffective

Noteffective

Havenot used

43.1% 43.1% 1.6% 12.2%54.7 37.9 2.8 4.627.2 41.0 9.2 22.616.7 27.2 7.9 48.218.3 26.2 3.3 52.23.8 12.8 14.5 69.09.5 12.5 2.4 75.7

28.5 35.8 11.6 24.243.1 22.4 3.9 28.647.4 22.1 1.6 28.9

21.7 51.1 8.0 19.257.9 37.2 0.3 4.650.9 39.2 1.3 8.515.3 26.9 4.0 53.810.6 23.6 7.0 58.8

49.5 30.5 2.3 17.763.7 31.7 0.6 4.067.1 25.5 0.3 7.1

28.8 34.5 5.7 31.0

24.2 45.5 7.1 23.212.3 25.6 6.3 55.812.6 31.6 13.3 42.546,3 43.2 3.1 7.454.4 39.6 2.7 3.344.4 33.3 5.6 16.7

receiving as much as 10 percent "not effective"rating were telecourses (14.5 percent), cableor public-access television (13.3 percent) andcollege-credit courses (11.6 percent).

More significantly, programs designed forolder adults appear to be unlikely to use, or evenexperiment with, nontraditional approaches toinstruction. Only about half of the respondents

11

had ever used peer-led discussion groups or sup-port groups, though those that did found themeffective. Fewer than half had tried to use com-puter or telecommunications technology, such ascomputer-assisted tutorials; self-tests; programsfor use on home computers or VCRs; telecourses;or public access, or broadcast television for com-municating with older adult audiences.

0


Gerontological Training

In addition to determining the extent ofprogramming offered for older adults, a majorpurpose of the survey was to determine the extentof gerontological training provided by communitycolleges. Tables 11 and 12 dr -iiment thatcommunity colleges currently offer only verylimited gerontological training for eitherprofessionals or volunteers providing servicesor care to older adults.

Data in Table 11 show that fewer than one infour of the responding colleges offered a formaldegree or certificate in gerontology with a humanservices emphasis; fewer than one in five a degreeor certificate for nursing home or geriatric aides;and only one in seven a formal program in geron-tology with a health care emphasis. Overall, halfor fewer of the responding colleges indicated thatthey provided any kind of training for profession-als in aging.

The most commonly provided training wasfor nursing home or geriatric aides, but the major-ity of such training was noncredit or did not leadto a formal certificate or degree. This result is atleast partially explained by the reluctance of somecommunity colleges to offer degree programs inpreparation for jobs that pay close to minimumwagebecause it is difficult to justify the expense

of offering the program or to justify a student'sinvestment in time and energy to earn the samewages as an untrained aide. This phenomenonhas been repeated in other fields, such as childcare, where the demand for trained staff is greatbut where the financial rewards that differentiatebetween trained and untrained staff are few.Unfortunately, solutions to this ->roblem lieoutside educational institutions in the humanservices industry and the bodies that regulatethem.

Neither do many community colleges offertraining for volunteer or family caregivers of olderadults. Table 12 shows that fewer than one-quarter of the colleges responding to the surveyreported providing training for adult children,spouses, relatives, friends, or volunteers. Themost commonly provided training is in first aidand emergency procedures, information aboutcommunity resources and services, and interper-sonal communications. On the other hand, onlyone in six colleges provided training or informa-tion about home adaptations and products toassist the care of older adults.

It appears that community colleges generallyhave not focused on providing gerontologicaltraining. In fact, they are less likely to providegerontological training than they are to provideprogramming for older adults themselves.

Table 11Percent of Responding Colleges Offering Professional

Gerontological Training by Level of Training(number of responding colleges = 388)

Professionaltraining

Associatedegree

program

One-yearcertificateprogram

Less thanOne-yearcertificate

Short-termnoncreditcertificate

Training but Doesno degree/ not offercertificate training

Noresponse/missing

data

Gerontologyhealth care

5.4% 4.4% 3.9% 11.3% 16.2% 39.9% 18.9%

r'.erontologyhuman services

11.9 7.0 2.8 9.8 13.7 40.2 14.6

Nursing home/geriatric aide

4.6 5.2 8.8 20.1 12.6 34.3 14.6

12

21


Table 12Percent of Responding Colleges Providing Training for Types ofVolunteers or Family Caregivers of Older Adults by Subject Area

(responding colleges = 388)

For adultchildren, spouses,

relatives, For

For bothfamily andfriends and

Does notoffer No response/

Subject area and friends volunteers volunteers training missing data

Nutrition 12.1% 4.4% 12.4% 51.0% 20.1%Home health care skills 11.9 4.4 13.1 51.0 19.6Medication use and abuse 8.8 4.9 10.3 53.9 22.2First aid/ emergency procedures 13.1 7.7 17.0 43.6 18.6Implications of normal aging 12.9 5.2 12.9 49.5 19.6Home adaptations/ care products 5.7 3.1 6.4 62.1 22.7Diseases and their implications 9.3 5.2 11.3 53.1 21.1Alzheimer's dementia & implications 10.8 3.6 14.4 52.1 19.1Community resources/ services 13.9 8.5 12.9 45.9 18.8Interpersonal communications 13.7 4.1 14.4 47.4 20.4

Obstacles and Needed Assistance

The survey asked community college respon-dents to identify the most common obstacles toproviding programs for older adults and the typeof assistance that they most need. Overwhelm-ingly, community colleges identified lack offunding as the principal obstacle, cited by72.4 percent of respondents. Table 13 shows thelist of other obstacles identified by respondents,including difficulty in reaching older adultaudiences (32.:.; percent) and lack of trained staff(31.4 percent).

Table 13 also shows the assistance that re-sponding community colleges need to expand orimprove their programming for older adultsCurriculum materials and publications for hand-outs lead the list with approximately 60 percent ofthe respondents indicating need in this area.Technical assistance and training followed withjust under 40 percent.

Responses to these questions provide someinsight into the reasons that only about one-quar-

ter of the community colleges in the nation offerprograms designed specifically for older adults.The indifference of college leaders and facultyand the negative attitudes of older adultsthemselves toward older adult programmingwere identified as obstacles by the respondents -who were responsible for the area their collegesand thus more likely to be advocates for suchprogramming. About 10 percent identified lackof interest of college leaders as an obstacle, andeight respondents (2.1 percent) filled in "facultyindifference" under the other category. Yet,seventeen respondents (4.4 percent) wrote in"negative attitudes of older adults."

It appears that only a combination of factorscan explain the fact that sc few communitycolleges offer programs designed for so numer-ous a potential clientele. These might includeinstitutional indifference, lack of awareness ofcollege leaders, preoccupation with other priori-ties, or the absence of constituent demand forolder adult programming.

Historically, however, community colleges13

22

have been sensitive to community needs andhave usually responded to organized appeals toserve identified interest groups. The paucity ofcommunity college programs for older adults canprobably be explained, at least in part, as a resultof lack of expressed needs by the current genera-tion of older adults. The possibility also existsthat older adults are satisfied with communitycollege programs that were not necessarilydesigned for them, and Table 5 provides ampleevidence that older adults enroll in a variety ofregular college courses.

Community College Programs for Olc ler Adults

Organization of Older Adult Programs

Community colleges, like most complexorganizations, tend to develop organizationalstructures that reflect their own histories, person-nel, and unique circumstances. Therefore, it isdifficult to generalize about similarities anddifferences in the way that community collegesorganize to provide older adult programming.Table 14 summarizes key characteristics of thosewho responded to the survey questions on orga-nizational structure.

Table 13Percent of Responding Colleges Reporting Obstacles and

Types of Assistance Needed to Provide Programs and Servicesfor Older Adults More Effectively

ObstaclesPerceni of Respondents

lack of funding 72.4%difficulty reaching older adult audience 32.7lack of trained staff 31.4competition from other providers 22.7lack of appropriate materials and resources 14.7inaccessible locations/transportation problems 12.9lack of interest from college leaders 10.6(write in) other institutional constraints 5.2(write in) attitudes of older adults 4.4(write in) faculty indifference 2.1(write in) state or federal regulations 1.5

Needed Assistancecurriculum materials 62.6%publications for handouts 58.0technical assistance 39.4training 34.0(write in) publicity and marketing 5.9(write in) grants for program development 3.6(write in) legislative support 1.5

other write 5.2

14

25


Table 14Organization of Responding Colleges for Providing

Programs and Services for Older Adults

Coordinated by a single office:

Name of office:Continuing education / community servicesOtherSenior citizen programAcademic affairsLifelong learning

Title of principal administrator:directordean or assistant/associate deancoordinatorother administratorchief academic officerfacultyvolunteerother

Title principal administrator reports to:dean or assistant/associate deanchief academic officerchief executive officerdirectorother administrator

Fully two-thirds of those responding reportedthat their colleges' programs designed for olderadults were coordinated by a single office. Mostoften, this central office is the division of continu-ing education or community services and isheaded by a director-level administrator whoreports to a dean or by a dean who reports to thechief academic officer. At least for those respond-ing to the survey, programs for older adults

15

Percent of Respondents

67.5%

62.9%15.713.3

4.53.6

36.0%34.516.26.15.11.5

.5

1.6

42.2%27.615.99.15.2

appear to be coordinated by a relatively high-ranking administrator. This could imply pro-gram stability, as well as commitmen: on thepart of the institution to serve its older adultclientele effectively. Alternatively, this couldimply that few colleges have staff designatedspecifically to provide programming for olderadults or gerontological training as their principalresponsibility.


r..

Discussion of Results

The results of the survey are both somewhatexpected and somewhat surprising. It comes asno surprise to many with experience working inthe field that the survey found that communitycolleges throughout the United States offer asmattering of many different kinds of programsfor older adults, primarily through their continu-ing education and community service divisions.It also comes as no surprise, however, that fewcommunity colleges have taken a comprehensiveapproach to providing an array of programsdesigned specifically for this clientele.

While community colleges accurately repre-sent themselves as institutions offering a broadspectrum of programs to meet a wide range ofcommunity needs, their comprehensive pro-gramming tends to be reserved for their majortransfer and occupational education programs.While these major programs enroll students of allages, they were originally designed to meet theneeds of traditional college-age students and havebeen adapted to meet the needs of other studentsover the years.

Programs to serve special populations arequite common in community colleges. For ex-ample, programs for underprepared students,persons with various handicapping conditions,and employees of local business and industryrequiring skills retraining have received specialpriority over the last decade. Community collegeshave made special efforts to accommodatenontraditional students, mostly working adults,by altering class schedules, providing opportuni-ties for distance education, and other arrange-ments to reduce barriers to attending otherwisetraditional college programs. These institutionshave also steadily expanded their continuingeducation and community service missions sothat they now include an enormous variety ofcourses, seminars, workshops, and other activi-ties developed in response to requests from indi-viduals and groups in the community, as well asin response to perceived market demands.

However, it would appear from the results of

16

this survey that older adults have not yet beenidentified by most community colleges as a specialclientele requiring specially designed programs.Rather, older adult programming is offeredalongside other programs, either offered for creditthrough regular college programs or on a non-credit basis through continuing education andcommunity service programs. Apparently, olderadults have not emerged from the large anddiverse group of "community members" as adistinct clientele for most community colleges.

The question remains, however, why collegesthat are apparently committed to serving olderadults effectivelythe majority of those respond-ing to the surveygenerally do not offer a fullrange of programs to meet the needs of thecurrent older adult population, nor do manyprovide gerontological training.

The lack of gerontological training is almostcertainly partially related to the absence of finan-cial rewards in the human services delivery fieldto justify developing academic programs toprepare for entry-level positions. When the needfor personnel with gerontological training resultsin established professions with clear career paths,training programs will inevitably follow, andcommunity colleges are likely to lead in theirdevelopment.

There are also plausible explanations for therelative absence of programs aimed at the needsof today's older adults, not all of whom are retiredand engaged in avocational pursuits. While de-mographers and economists are certain of theimportant role that older adults will play in theAmerican work force of the 1990s and beyond, thereality of older adults working into their seven-ties in second, third, and fourth careers is onlyslowly coming into focus. It would appear thatneither college leaders nor older adults themselveshave yet recognized that skills training andworkforce preparation will become major needs.

Also, as older adults live longer and healthierlives, the need for programs to provide volunteerskills, leadership abilities, and personal growthand development skills will increase. Lifelonglearning will become increasingly relevant to a

2


larger and larger portion of the population.Historically, community colleges have

responded to the needs of their constituents. Themost likely explanation for the limited number ofprograms offered by community colleges for olderadults is that this constituent group has not yetrealized what these colleges have ':o offer them,nor what skills they may need in the future, andthey have not petitioned community colleges tooffer specially designed programs.

When older adults themselves become awareof the new skills they will needincluding skills

required to ensure their economic well-beingif they need to remain in or return to the jobmarket and skills required to adapt to both a fast-changing world and the changes they facepersonally with aging and retirementthey arelikely to press for programs to meet their needs.

Community colleges have the opportunity toprepare for that inevitability by planning howbest to utilize their limited resources to provideeffective programming that meets the needs oftheir constituents and the nation.

Older Adults, Community Colleges, andEconomic and Educational Imperatives

The Survey of Community College Programsand Services for Older Adults was undertakenwithin the context of changing demographics,changing educational patterns, and changingeconomic imperatives. It was also undertakenwith the predisposition to use its resultswhichhave been detailed in the preceding section ofthis reportto advance an agenda that includesexpanding and improving community collegeprograms for older adults in order to help meetthe changing needs of this growing constituencyand the changing economic needs of the nation.

Older Adults

Changing Demographics

These are some of the key facts: In 1989,persons 65 years of age or older numbered 31.0million, or 12.5 percent of the population. Thisgroup increased 21 percent during the 1980s,compared to an increase of 8 percent for all otherage groups. This older adult population willcontinue to grow, more than doubling to 65.6million by the year 2030, when the "baby boom"generation matures. Part of the reason for thisgrowth is that people continue to livc longer; thelife expectancy of a person reaching age 65 in 1988was an additional 16.9 years.

Added to this are the changing demographicsof the American work force. Projections by theU. S. Bureau of the Census show that the workforce is fast becoming older. The 20-29 age group,from which most new workers have historicallybeen recruited, will decline in size from 40.1 millionto 34.5 million between 1990 and 2000. At thesame time, the 50-59 age group will grow from21.9 million to 30.6 million. The 60-69 age groupwill become slightly smaller, and all age groups

19

27

from 70 upward will experience dramatic increasesin size.

Projections by the Bureau of Labor Statisticsidentify the three groups that will contribute themajority of new entrants into the work force bythe year 2000: 1) women, 2) minorities, and 3)older adults. By 2000, only 15 percent of newentrants into the work force will be white males,though they make up 47 percent of the currentwork force.

Lifelong Learning

Increasingly large groups of older adults willbe healthier, more active, and better educatedthan previous generations. Educational attain-ment levels of older adults are expected to increasefrom 11.3 years of schooling in 1990 to 12.5 in theyear 2000. Many older adults will be exploringsecond, third, and fourth careers in retirement.The decrease in the dependency ratios of olderworkers to retirees will require that many olderpersons continue to work and upgrade or de-velop new job skills. Also, projected workforceshortages, especially of highly skilled workers,will require greater participation of older adultsin order to ensure the competitiveness of theAmerican economy.

While large numbers of older adults will turnto education for job or career related reasons,many will look to education for personal enrich-ment or practical skill building purposes. Theywill also seek opportunities to enhance leadershipand volunteer roles. It hasbecome widely acceptedthat older adults are capable of learning and eagerto learn.

Studies have shown that older adults are moreactively engaged in educational pursuits thanever before. Although educational participationrates of older adults are on the increase, the


numbers are small in relation to younger agegroups. However, trends support the notion thatthe numbers of older adults participating ineducational programs will continue to grow asemerging cohorts of older Americans will haveachieved higher levels of education. The correla-tion between the extent of formal education andrate of participation in adult education activitiesholds true for olaer as well as younger adults, sothe need for educational institutions, agencies,government, and business and industry to beginplanning is long overdue.

Educational programs sponsored byElderhostel and other senior-specific programshave grown rapidly over the last ten years. Seniorcenters have been successful in increasingeducational program offerings as they are naturalsettings for group activities. Unfortunately, an"aging in place" phenomenon has occurred insenior centers in which the clientele is becomingincreasingly older and less healthy, creating asocial service climate rather than a true educationalsetting conducive to learning. Newer generationsof older adults appear increasingly less interestedin participating in centers that focus on providingsocial services.

Educational opportunities in the next decadewill have to address a broader range of possibili-ties, including training and upgrading of voca-tional skills as well as avocational programs forolder adults with increased leisure time. 'Chang-ing demographics are bringing into question howmuch retirement society can support in the twenty-first century. The challenge to educators will beeducating older adults to help them cope withsocietal and personal changes.

Gerontological Training

At the same time, an aging society has pro-duced a growing need for professionals withgerontological training. Community colleges havelong been the primary source of entry-level occu-pational training, and, as the population ages,more job opportunities will be available at theassociate-degree level. Also, many of the newhuman service jobs at various levels require

20

training and education about aging, but manyprograms do not include significant geron-tological content.

Economic and Educational Imperatives

In summary, to meet the educational needsof older adults in the next decade and beyond,programs need to be developed in the followingareas:

job training and career preparation toassist mid-life and older adults to meetthe skill requirements of a changingwork place in order to contribute to thenation's work force and enhance their owneconomic well-being;

practical life skills to assist older adultsto cope effectively with changing social,economic, and technological demands;

personal enrichment educational oppor-tunities to assist older adults in pursuinglifelong learning;

gerontological training to ensure thatolder persons have access to know-ledgeable and skilled professionals inthe human services fields.

Community colleges are well-positioned andcapable of providing these educational opportu-nities at the local level where they can efficientlyand effectively reach the greatest number of olderadults and others interested in learning moreabout aging and aging issues.

Community Colleges

Emerging Institutions

During the 1980s, community collegesemerged as mature and sophisticated institutionsnot only providing a critical link between the K-12system and higher education and the work force,

0 0U

Imperatives for Action

but also contributing with local efforts to thesolution of pressing national economic andeducational problems.

Community colleges have developed rapidlysince their emergence in the 1960s and are nowthe largest and fastest-growing segment of highereducation. These 1,224 institutions enroll overfive million credit students, an additional fivemillion noncredit students, and represent nearlyhalf of all students enrolled in colleges anduniversities nationwide. Fifty-five percent of allnew students entering college each fall begin at acommunity college. Community college enroll-ments continue to grow at annual rates of 5-15percent while enrollments in other institutions ofhigher education have stabilized or are declining.

Meeting a Range of Needs

A community college is located within com-muting distance of over 90 percent of the nation'spopulation, thus making them key institutions inreaching the entire citizenry. They have becomethe primary means of access to higher educationfor an increasingly large segment of the popula-tion. Minorities and other disadvantaged groupshave long sought upward social and economicmobility through community college transfer,occupational, and general education programs.These high-quality, but affordable, programsattract students from all economic groups as afinancially prudent higher education alternative.Older adults have been attracted to a range ofcommunity college programs offered in flexibleformats through the rapidly expanding commu-nity service and continuing education divisions.

Community colleges enroll students repre-senting a wide range of ages, racial and ethnicgroups, and educational backgrounds and skilllevels; their demographics are more representa-tive of the demographics of the nation as a wholethan those of any other institutions of highereducation. As evidenced by their open-dooradmissions policies, community colleges arecommitted to providing a range of programs and

21

services to meet the needs of all of their constitu-ents, including those underprepared to meet thechallenges of the classroom or the work place, aswell as those requiring a range of nontraditionaleducational programs and services to assist themto lead independent and productive lives. Inaddition, community colleges have a long historyof developing effective programs to meet thevarious expressed educational needs of the con-stituents in their local communities.

Community colleges' commitment to accesshas been aided by the rapid pace of technologicaldevelopment. They have developed telecommu-nications capabilities, including broadcast, cable,and satellite transmission, to reach constituentswho can not easily take advantage of campus-based programs. Community colleges are lead-ing institutions in the delivery of distance edu-cation and have the capability and the inclinationto reach out to new clientele through technology.

Solving Problems

Perhaps one of the most critical characteristicsof community colleges is the leading role thatthey play in their communities and region Com-munity colleges are accustomed to working jointlywith a wide variety of community groups, includ-ing chambers of commerce, churches and syna-gogues, social service organizations, local businessand industry, labor unions, and other key groups.They often serve as the hub for local networksdealing with community problems, ranging fromdrug education to economic development andfrom housing to health care.

In fact, an increasing number of business andpolitical leaders on the local, state, and nationallevel have come to recognize the critical role thatcommunity colleges will have to play in prepar-ing the nation's work force to compete effectivelyin the emerging global economy. With thisrecognition comes increasingly high expectationsthat community colleges assist in serving theneeds of all the nation's citizens, including olderadults.


Rationale for Action

The preceding demographic, economic, andeducational trends provide a clear rationale forcommunity colleges to prepare to become a majorprovider of programs to meet the lifelong learn-ing needs of older adults. While communitycolleges have historically served this clientelethrough their continuing education and commu-nity service divisions, the results of the surveyshow that this approach has not produced com-prehensive approaches to programming to meetthe fast-changing needs of this rapidly growinggroup of citizens.

Community colleges are positioned tobecome a major provider of needed programsfor older adults because of their historical com-mitment to serving nontraditional students withspecial needs, because of their accessibility to themajority of the population of older adults, andbecause of their demonstrated ability to developand implement effective programs quickly andefficiently. The major obstacle to communitycolleges' providing programs for older adults islimited financial and staff resources. However, itis certain that older adults have the influencerequired to obtain support for community collegeprograms designed to meet their needs shouldthey choose to exercise it for this purpose.

What is needed now is a better vr -lerstandingof the demographics of this diverse group of olderadults, its needs in a fast-changing economic andtechnological environment, and the critical com-ponents of successful programs for serving thisclientele. Perhaps an increased awareness amongeducational, business, and political leaders aboutthe critical role that older adults will play inensuring the economic competitiveness of thenation is also needed to spur commitment andsupport for educational programs for older adults.

22

An Agenda for Action

So, it is within this context that AARP and theLeague for Innovation in the Community Collegejoined in partnership to pursue activities aimed atimproving and expanding community collegeprograms for older adults. The Survey of Com-munity College Programs and Services for OlderAdults was conducted to establish baseline datafor such programs and to identify areas on whichto focus future efforts. The survey results suggestthe following agenda for joint action:

1. Focus national attention on issues,programs, and concerns related to serv-ing the educational needs of older adultsby disseminating information throughpublications, periodicals, conferences,workshops, and seminars.

2. Increase awareness among communitycollege leaders, academic a dministrators,and faculty about the changing demo-graphics of older adults, the role olderadults will play in the national economy,and the implications of an aging societyon educational and other institutionsthrough publications, periodicals, con-ferences, workshops, and seminars.

3. Identify successful programs in a widevariety of subjects offered by communitycolleges that are designed for olderadults and disseminate informationabout these programs to communitycolleges nationwide.

4. Develop case studies of model approachesto providing comprehensive program-ming for older adults in community

30

Imperatives for Action

colleges, establish guidelines for devel-oping and implementing successful pro-grams, and disseminate these guidelinesto community colleges nationwide.

5. Facilitate the dissemination of curricular,training, and marketing resources avail-able from organizations that specialize inaging to assist the development andimplementation of community collegeprograms for older adults.

6. Conduct regional training workshops forcommunity college leaders, programdirectors, faculty, and other practitionersto assist them in developing and operat-ing successful programs for older adults.

23

7. Assist in the development of a nationalnetwork of community colleges whichfocuses on providing programs to meetthe lifelong learning needs of older adults.

AARP and the League for Innovation recog-nize that this is an ambitious agenda. The resourcesnecessary to support these activities have not yetbeen identified. Nonetheless, both organizationsexpress their commitment to this agenda as a planto pursue their common objective of expandingand improving community college programs forolder adults. They seek the support of those whocan assist in achieving this goal and offer what-ever support they can to others with the samecommitme

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SURVEY OF COMMUNITY COLLEGEPROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR OLDER ADULTS

Dear Colleague:

The League for Innovation in the Community College and the American Association of Retired Persons are collaboratingto determine the extent to which community colleges nationwide are providing programs and services for older adultsand their interest in expanding such programs and services. We need the help of professionals like you in this effort tosurvey all community colleges in the United States. Your response is critical to insure representative results.

We thank you in advance for taking the time to answer the survey questions as completely as you can. In all cases, pleaseprovide the best answer to the question. If necessary, please estimate rather than leave questions unanswered.

While you may complete the survey anonymously if you wish, we urge you to provide your name and address so thatwe can include you on a list of key contacts for community college programs and services for older adults. We wouldalso be pleased to send you a summary of survey results and a catalog of AARP resources.

Please don't hesitate to call the League office if we can be of help. Thanks again.

Terry O'Banion, League for Innovation Catherine Ventura-Merkel, Americanin the Community College Association of Retired Persons

PLEASE RETURN THE COMPLETED SURVEY BY DECEMBER 15, 1989, TO:League for Innovation in the Community College

25431 Cabot Road, Suite 204Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Tel (714) 855-0710; Fax (714) 855-6293

Directions: Provide the best possible information available to you. Estimate when necessary rather than leave questions unanswered ordelay completing the survey. Indicate estimates with an asterisk ( * ). It is not necessary to rype; simply print legible responses to eachquestion.

COLLEGE INFORMATION

I. Type of college: (Check all that apply.)comprehensive community collegetechnical institutejunior collegetwo-year branch/campus of a universitysuburbanurbanruralpublicprivate

2. Enrollment and budget:total headcount, credit courses, fall 1989total credit hours, fall 1989total noncredit enrollment, fall 1989total budget, 1989-90 fiscal year

3 Population of service area:

4. Location of college:statezip codelargest city in service area 32

5. Percentage of funding by source:% state funds% local funds% tuition and other income

6. Total number of adults 60 or older served, fall 1989:# in credit courses# in noncredit programs

and services

7. Characteristics of adults 60 or older served by your college'scourses and programs: (Estimate percentages as necessary )

credit noncreditGender

% male% female

Racial/ethnic% white% Black% Hispanic% Asian% American Indian

MOST COMMON DELIVERY FORMATS

14. Please indicate the most common formats your college uses to deliver programs designed specifically for older adults. For each pairof responses, indicate by circling the most commonly used formats for programs and services in the subject areas noted.

a. financial management skillsb. health and health carec. career and occupational skillsd. cultural/recreational activitiese. personal development

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATS

Rate the effectiveness of each of the following formats or methods that you have used at your college to provide programs and servicesdesigned specifically for older adults by circling the best response for each item.

formatcredit/noncredit

# of sessionssinelelmultiple

distanceMinperson

site interactiononloff-campus grouplinclividualizeil

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 I 2

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 I 2

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 I 2

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

15. Delivery formatsa. siagle session workshops, presentations, etc.b. multiple session courses, seminars, etc.c. lecture seriesd. peer-led discussion groupse. support groupsf. telecoursesg. programs for home personal computers or VCRsh. college credit coursesi. tuition waiver for credit coursesj. waiver or reduced fees for noncredit programs

16. Instructional materials and methodsa. published workbooks and textsb. instructor-prepared materials, handouts. etcc. slides, video or audio tapes, rheads, etc.d. computer-assisted programs, tutorials, etc.c. self-tests

17. Use of staffa. regular, full-time college instructorsb. visiting, adjunct, or part-time instructorsc. selected professionals in the fieldd. volunteers

18. Communications and advertising vehiclesa. radiob. broadcast televisionc. cable or public acce:s televisiond. newspaper ads or articlese. brochures, flyers, and postersf. staff presentations at senior centers, etc.

TRAINING FOR CAREGIVERS

very effective enetg.!Auffe not effective have not used

1 2 3 41 2 3 41 2 3 41 2 3 4I 2 3 41 2 3 4

1 2 3 41 2 4I 2 3 4I 2 3 4

1 2 3 4I 2 3 41 2 3 41 2 3 4I 2 3 4

1 2 3 41 2 3 4I 2 3 4I 2 3 4

1 2 3 41 2 3 41 2 3 41 2 3 4I 2 3 41 2 3 4

19. Indicate the audiences to whom your college provides training for unpaid caregivers of older adults by circling the most appropriateresponse. (Circle all that apply.)

a. nutritionb. home health care skillsc. medication use and abused. first aid and emergency procedurese. implications of normal agingf. home adaptations and home care productsg. diseases and their implicationsh. Alzheimer's and other dementias and their implicationsi. community resources and servicesj. interpersonal communications skillsk. other (List.)

for adult children, spouses,relatives, and friends

forvolunteers

does not offertraining

1 2 3

1 2 3

I 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR OLDER ADULTS

First, indicate the current status of your colleges programs and services designed specifically for older adults by circling the most ap-propriate response (from 1-4) for each of the subject areas listed below. Second, indicate those regular college programs and services inwhich older adults participate in significant numbers but which are not designed specifically for them by circling "yes."

--,

(4) no program, no plans, and no perceived community need Older adults participate 1

(3) no current program or plans; but need exists for older adults , in significant numbers in(2) no current program; but one planned/being considered regular college programs

(1) current program designed specifically for older adults , not specifically designed 1for them in these subjects.;

8. Financial management skills I

a. setting financial goals, basic financial management, recordkeeping, budgeting, paying bills, credit, banking, etc.

b. savings and investmentsc. wills, probates, and trustsd. taxese. pensions. Social Security, and public benefitsf. health, life, car, and home insuranceg. selecting and using financial professionalsh. consunicr and legal rightsi. retirement financial planning

9. Health and health carea. exerciseb. nutritionc. injury preventiond. driving safetye. mental health educationf. medication educationg. dental health educationh. smoking cessation.i. long-term care servicesj. selecting and using health care providers

10. Career and occupational educationa. career counselingb. job placement assistancec. literacy training (reading, writing, math)d. technological literacy, including computer literacye. skills trait ..g for self-employment (List fields.)

f. skills training for post-retirement occupations (List fields.)

11. Cultural, recreational, and enrichment activitiesa. tripsb. participation in organized athletic programsc. participation in performing arts (choir, dance, band, etc.)d. programs in the humanities and social sciencese. forums on political issues and civic concernsf. programs for arts, crafts, and other hobbies

12. Personal developmenta. self-esteem, self-confidence, and assertivenessb. volunteer skillsc. leadership development skillsd. interpersonal communications skillse. coping with loss/grievingf. retirement lifestyle options

13. Other programs and services (List.)a.

b.

1 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 Yes

I 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 Yes

I 2 3 4 Yes

I 2 3 4 .ies1 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 Yes

1 2 3 4 Yes

I 2 3 4 Yes

1 2 3 4 Yes

1 2 3 4 yes1 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 Yes

I 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 Yes1 2 3 4 Yes

I 2 3 4 YesI 2 3 4 Yes

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20. Indicate the length and Formality of training your college provides for paid professional and paraprofessional caregivers for olderadults. (Circle all that apply.) associate one-year < one-year short-term training but does not

degree certificate certificate noncredit no de, free or offerprogram program ..gr-ainr certificate certificate training

a. gerontology, health care emphasisb. gerontology, human services emphasisc. nursing home and geriatric aided. other (List.)e.f.

OBSTACLES AND NEEDED ASSISTANCE

21. What are the greatest obstacles that your college must overcome in order to serve older adults more effectively? (Check all that apply.)lack of funding lack of interest from college leaderslack of trained staff other, please specifylack of appropriate materials and resourcesdifficulty reaching older adult audienceinaccessible or inappropriate locationscompetition from other providers

22. What services provided by AARP or other national organizations would most assist your college to offer programs and serviceseffectively for older adults in your service area? (Check all that apply.)

training other, please specifytechnical assistancecurriculum materialspublications for handouts

COLLEGE ORGANIZATION TO PROVIDE SERVICES AND PROGRAMS FOR OLDER ADULTS

23. Which of the following hest describes your college's current approach for providing programs and services for older adults?(Check only one.)

The college offers a wide variety of programs and services for all members of the community, but none are designed specificallyfor older adults.The college offers a wide variety of programs and services, and some are designed specifically for older adults.The college offers a wide variety of programs and services designed specifically for older adults as an important part of its missionto serve the needs of the community.Other (Please describe approach briefly.)

1 2 3 4 5 6I 2 3 4 5 61 2 3 4 5 6I 2 3 4 5 6

1 2 3 4 5 61 2 3 4 5 6

24. Are all or most college programs and services designed specifically for older adults coordinated by one office? yes _noIF YES:a. name of officeb. title of principal administratorc. principal administrator reports to (title)IF NO:d. What offices, departments. and divisions of the college offer programs and services designed specifically for older adults?

Estimate what percentage of program activity is conducted by each.

OfficelDepartmentlDivision Percentage of Activity

SURVEY RESULTS AND KEY CONTACTS

We are developing a list of key contacts in community colleges for providing programs and services for older adults. If you would liketo be included on that list, please check the appropriate item and provide your name and address. Also, please indicate if you would liketo receive a summary of survey results and a catalog of AARP resources.

I wish to be included on a list of key contacts. I wish to receive a summary of results and an AARP catalog.

Name TitleCollege

Street City/State/Zip codeTelephone Fax

Thank you for taking the time to complete this important survey.USE THE ENCLOSED BUSINESS RESPONSE ENVELOPE TO RETURN THE SURVEY.

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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 356 813 JC 930 215DOCUMENT RESUME ED 356 813 JC 930 215 AUTHOR Doucette, Don;...

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