Benchmarking Age-Friendly University Practices: AFU Inventory and Campus Climate Survey (ICCS) Study Insights

The Age-Friendly University (AFU) initiative endorsed by GSA’s Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) provides institutions of higher education with guiding principles for addressing the needs of aging populations. Benchmarks are now needed for assessing age-friendly academic, workplace, and physical campus environments, perceptions of campus constituents, and recommendations for advancing age inclusivity. This symposium will discuss what the AFU Inventory and Campus Climate Survey (ICCS) administered to a national sample of colleges and universities is revealing about the study of age-friendliness in higher education. The sample includes data from over 10,000 faculty, staff, students, and older learners surveyed in 2020-21. Whitbourne will introduce the conceptual model that served as the foundation for the ICCS, with special attention to the need to assess and compare “objective” age-friendly practices with “subjective” perceptions of these practices. Bowen will describe the utility of examining age-friendliness across institutional units with different functions: outreach-engagement, personnel, physical environment, research, services-resources, student affairs, and teaching-learning. Beaulieu will present data demonstrating the importance of assessing perceptions of specific constituent groups including faculty, staff, students, and lifelong learners. Montepare will discuss insights gained about the definition and manifestation of what it means to be ageist, age-friendly, and age-inclusive in higher education. Silverstein will describe strengths and challenges observed across campuses along with recommendations and promising new directions for advancing age inclusivity in higher education.

Advancing Age Inclusivity in a Pandemic: Age-Friendly University (AFU) Campuses Take Action

The COVID-19 pandemic presented extraordinary challenges for professionals in the aging field across campuses and communities, calling for rethinking and redesigning how their work was structured, their programs were delivered, and their connections were sustained. The pandemic also made clear the value of being an age-friendly institution of higher education, especially as we experience historic changes in age demographics. This symposium features campus leaders representing institutional partners of the Age-Friendly University (AFU) global initiative (endorsed by GSA’s Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education) who will discuss how their age-friendly programs were adapted during the pandemic to continue to advance age inclusivity. These diverse responses exemplify the vast potential of age-friendly opportunities. June and Andreoletti (Central Connecticut State University) will discuss how the Scholars for Life! program supported the engagement of older learners in the neighboring community through the engagement of faculty. Elfenbein (University of North Georgia) will describe how learning experiences for older learners and intergenerational exchange were created beyond the classroom through the Personal Enrichment, Action and Knowledge (PEAK) program. Terhune (Northern Kentucky University) will describe how student support practices and services were adapted to provide working adult students with guidance for navigating their educational needs during the pandemic. Kheirbek (University of Maryland, Baltimore) will describe how age-friendly collaborations with the institution’s medical school leveraged intergenerational connections and technology to foster social connection for hospitalized older adults. Gautam and Melillo (UMass Lowell) discuss how a campus partnership with the Learning in Retirement Association (LIRA) adapted efforts around healthy aging.

Scholars for Life! Building Faculty and Community Connections on an Age-Friendly University Campus

Central Connecticut State University’s Scholars for Life! supports the engagement of older learners in the community through faculty guest lectures. During the COVID-19 pandemic, participation in the virtual format frequently swelled to over 100 attendees, which is five times the number participating pre-pandemic. Moreover, faculty engagement increased. This presentation will share results of a study that used an Age-Friendly University (AFU) lens to explore this expanded connection to community members with the intention to build on its successful faculty-community engagement. 132 participants responded to the survey (M age = 69), mostly identifying as local retired alumni and community members. Participants reported high satisfaction with the lectures, connection to the university, interest in joining future travel abroad experiences, and utilizing campus resources when safe. Indeed, 84% are now aware of CCSU’s AFU status and 61% expressed interest in the 62+ course tuition waiver. Implications and future directions will be addressed.

Older Student Experiences: A Critical Examination of Aging on Campus

There is overwhelming evidence that the number of older learners on college campuses has been steadily increasing since the 1970s. The needs of older learners differ from traditional students, and many services and resources available at higher education institutions are geared towards students aged 18-25 (Silverstein, Choi, & Bulot, 2001). Age Friendly University (AFU) principles highlight the need to consider older learners at a university and provide structure to evaluate programs and practices and to enhance inclusion and diversity based upon age. This study examined how an AFU designated university is working to better understand their older students. Methods A web-based pilot survey of older learners (N=248) asked all students ages 40 and older a series of questions regarding motivation to attend school, barriers and supports, campus environment, and connection with AFU principles. Analysis: A regression analysis found that older learners who felt more welcomed by faculty (p=.001), administration (p=.002),and student organizations (p=.026) were more likely to feel connected to campus, and younger-older students (p=.031) and those who did not feel their job was a barrier to attending school (p=.037) were more likely to feel satisfied with their level of engagement on campus. Additionally, older learners felt the AFU principles were demonstrated by their university. Discussion The experiences of older learners are important as we continue to see higher numbers of students over the age of 40. Our results demonstrate the need to engage older learners as part of diversity and inclusion efforts to facilitate connection to the campus community.

The Intersection of Older Students and Disability: How Age-Friendly Universities Can Boost Visibility and Accessibility

The needs of older learners differ from traditional students, and many services and resources available at higher education institutions are geared towards students aged 18-25 (Silverstein, Choi, & Bulot, 2001). Age Friendly University (AFU) principles highlight the need to consider older learners at a university. Older learners face various barriers to education including balancing schoolwork with responsibilities and accessibility of campus resources (Silverstein et al., 2001). This study examined how an AFU designated university is working to better understand their older students. Methods A web-based pilot survey of older learners (N=248) asked all students ages 40 and older a series of questions regarding motivation to attend school, barriers and supports, campus environment, and connection with AFU principles. Analysis: A t-test analysis explored differences in motivation, barriers and challenges, and connection to campus between students who identified as having a disability and those who did not. Findings: We found there were significant differences between the groups in how health impacted their education (p=.001), being able to physically access campus (p=.014), the availability of online classes (p=.047), and the hours of operation of student support services (p=.045). There were also differences between groups in how connected they felt to campus based on feeling welcomed by faculty (p = .033) and feeling satisfied with their level of engagement at the university (p = .002). Discussion Our results demonstrate the need to fully engage older learners with a disability as part of diversity and inclusion efforts to facilitate connection to the campus community.

Changes in Users Trends Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic on WHO’s Online Learning Platform

OpenWHO provides open access, online, free and real time learning responses to health emergencies. Before the pandemic, courses on 18 diseases were provided. The increase to 38 courses in response to COVID-19 have led to a massive increase in the number of new learners. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic affected learners’ trends. This paper presents initial findings of changes perceived in the use and user groups’ attendance to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) health emergency learning platform OpenWHO. Enrolment statistics were based on data collected in December 2019 and March 2021. A descriptive analysis was conducted to explore changes in the usage pattern of the platform. Several user characteristics shifted between before and during the pandemic. More women, younger and older learners joined the learning during the pandemic. Public health education leaned toward a more equitable reach including previously underrepresented groups.

Students as Designers of Augmented Reality: Impact on Learning and Motivation in Computer Science

In this study, we report findings from the PCBuildAR project, in which students developed augmented reality (AR) artifacts following a guided design-based learning (DBL) approach. Sixty-two students participated in the study and were either in their first year to learn about computer science or were more experienced computer science students. In terms of learning performance, only the first-year students benefited from our guided DBL approach. In contrast, the experienced students were highly motivated to learn computer science not only immediately after the intervention, but also in the long term. For first-year students, this effect was only evident directly after the intervention. Overall, the guided DBL design proved to be effective for both motivation and learning, especially for younger students. For older learners, a better balance between guidance and autonomy is recommended.

Intergenerational Messages as Sign of Wisdom of Active Polish and Czech Older Learners

The goal of the paper is to identify the message in letters written by Polish and Czech seniors. The letters were subject to qualitative analysis. The method used was the analysis of the inspired texts—letters written by older people to the younger generation, which may become a didactic tool for the younger generations to learn from the biographies of seniors. The result of the analysis is a list of categories reflecting the main aspects dominating in the letters. These categories are: message addressed to a younger generation, important events and people in individual life story, reflection upon the meaning of life and concerns and challenges in the course of life. All the seniors express their affirmation of family, share ethical reflections on their relationships with other people and on passing. Thus, the main message of the letters is a call to cherish family relationships, nurture relations with other people and show respect to others.