Dear AROHE members,

A new year is upon us, and I have no doubt it will bring new and exciting opportunities for all! To that end, I would like to start by thanking you for the privilege to serve as AROHE’s president during the 2019 – 2020 term.

As the only association serving the needs of retirement organizations in higher education globally, AROHE’s body of knowledge and professionals across various fields is an invaluable resource. Higher education continues to navigate an era of disruption and transformative practices, posing a unique opportunity for retirement organizations, human resources and Academic Affairs to promote their value as solutions-driven centers. Together, we can accomplish more and we’re counting on our membership community to share in the collective voice that is AROHE.

The incoming executive committee will soon develop AROHE’s strategic plan to expand our programs, services and reach globally. As we embark on the journey ahead into AROHE’s future, we look forward to continuing to serve the needs of our constituents with excellence. If you would like to share ideas of how we can better serve your organization, feel free to contact me at (305) 348-0101 or email me at Trudy.Fernandez@fiu.edu

Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy New Year!

In gratitude,

Trudy Fernandez

President, AROHE

Remembering John Bugge: Co-Founder of the Emory University Emeritus College and AROHE Colleague

John Bugge, Professor Emeritus of English, Co-Founder of the Emory University Emeritus College, Chair of its Executive Committee, and dedicated supporter of AROHE died on November 5, 2018, of injuries sustained in a cycling accident. 

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dr. Bugge graduated with a B.A. in English from Marquette University in 1963 and spent a year studying at the University of Tübingen on a Fulbright Fellowship. As a Danforth Fellow, he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in English at Harvard University in 1970. Before completing his doctorate, he was hired as a medievalist in Emory University’s Department of English, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses and supervised doctoral theses for 43 years. He also directed and taught in Emory’s British Studies Abroad Program at Oxford University. A brilliant and beloved teacher and mentor to generations of Emory students, he twice won Emory College’s Distinguished Professor Award and received the student-driven Crystal Apple Award. He also co-founded Emory’s Emeritus College and, after retiring in 2011, chaired its Executive Committee and served on the boards of statewide and national associations of retirement organizations in higher education, including AROHE, winning Emory’s Distinguished Emeritus Award in 2013. During his retirement, Dr. Bugge continued to contribute by providing interview training to Emory pre-med students; by mentoring Emory faculty; by giving time and energy to multiple civic and charitable causes; and by serving on the board of Atlanta’s branch of the Robert Burns Club. His integrity, wisdom, wit, generosity, and warmth were an inspiration to all who knew him.

AROHE Service

John and the Emory University Emeritus College have been strong supporters of AROHE from the start.  John served the maximum of two terms on the AROHE Board beginning in 2009, and subsequently served on various AROHE committees, always adding depth and focus to the work at hand. AROHE members most likely know John as the Chair of the Planning Group for this year’s AROHE Biennial Conference held at Emory.  It was John’s idea for us to host the Conference and he worked tirelessly in every phase of its planning and execution. In addition, he moderated the session on “The Emeritus College Model of a Retirement Organization.”

Co-Founder of GA-HERO

John was also a co-founder of GA-HERO, the Georgia Association of Higher Education Retiree Organizations.  Dave Ewert, President of GA-HERO, commented that without John, there would be no GA-HERO.  As an indication of John’s devotion to AROHE, one of the principles of GA-HERO is that member organizations are to be AROHE members.  It was also John’s idea to have GA-HERO serve as a co-host for the 2018 AROHE Conference and that partnership certainly contributed to the success of the Conference and also illustrated the functioning of such statewide organizations.

Emeritus College

John envisioned an Emeritus College as offering a continuation of faculty life to aid our wonderfully UNretiring Emory emeriti to move smoothly into the next phase of their time in the university.  As John said, “there should be no retirement from the life of the mind!” To paraphrase Emerson, he is now a part of us and we remember him.

A celebration of John’s life was held on December 8 at Cannon Chapel, located in the heart of Emory’s campus and the setting for many faculty memorial services.  A description of the service is provided in the Emeritus College newsletter, Volume 5, Issue 7.

The following article was written by Dwaine Eubanks early in July 2018. Shortly after that, Dwaine passed away unexpectedly on July 23, 2018. His wife, Lucy, encouraged us to publish this article

It was bound to happen—again. Family and close friends knew that Lucy and I were ill-equipped to be retirees. We would probably fail. And we did. Repeatedly.

Some years before we each retired from the faculty at Clemson University, Lucy and I formed a "C" corporation with two principals, Lucy Anne Tripp Eubanks and Isaac Dwaine Eubanks. We called the company LATEst IDEas Inc. Get it? The company had enough business to keep us engaged for several more years. We had failed retirement. However, after finally dissolving the corporation, we were ready at last to begin our real retirement. 

Retirement was great. We occupied our time with ACS and its Chemical Education Division (CHED), Clemson's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the Clemson University Emeritus College, the Keowee Sailing Club, trips aboard N5313V, friends and family, plays and concerts, travel, and writing. But we still had too much time on our hands. That is, until Clemson's Provost offered me the chance to lead the transformation of the Clemson University Emeritus College (CU EC) into a robust, viable unit that fully supported Clemson's teaching, research, and public service missions. 

Clemson emeritus faculty already enjoyed essentially all the perquisites and privileges of active faculty. They were prepared for the idea of giving back to Clemson, providing a host of services to benefit students and active faculty. The administration stood ready to provide all the facility, financial, and personnel resources the College needed. How could I pass up an opportunity to be a part of that initiative? It was interesting. It was worthwhile. The resources were there.

We're now more than two years into the transformation. CU EC programming is well received and highly touted. The CU EC administrative model is receiving serious consideration from several US and Canadian faculty retirement organizations. Nationally, a strong emeritus organization is increasingly considered to be a win–win for emeriti and their college or university. For those of you who are organizing, or strengthening, your own faculty retirement organization, I'm happy to share our experience in building a strong program. It has become my passion. You can learn more about the CU EC at www.clemson.edu/emerituscollege/.

Life Expectancy at Age 65

In NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics) Data Brief No. 328, November 2018, mortality data is presented for 2017. At age 65, males can expect to live another 18.1 years, females 20.6.

The Age Friendly University (AFU) Global Network

The Age-Friendly University (AFU) network consists of institutions of higher education around the globe who have endorsed the 10 AFU principles and committed themselves to becoming more age-friendly in their programs and policies. The Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) endorses the AFU principles and invites its members and affiliates to call upon their institutions become part of this pioneering initiative.

Joining the AFU AGHE network of global partners offers institutions the opportunity to learn about emerging age-friendly efforts and to contribute to an educational movement of social, personal, and economic benefit to students of all ages and institutions of higher education alike.

Why should my institution endorse the AFU principles?
Response to the educational needs and interests of this emerging age population calls for new opportunities and innovative practices of teaching, research, and community engagement that colleges and universities in communities are poised to offer. The AFU principles give your institution a valuable guiding framework for distinguishing and evaluating how it can shape age-friendly programs and practices, as well as identify gaps and opportunities for growth. For more information, go to https://www.aghe.org/19-resources?tmpl=component&print=1&page=.

Upcoming Age Friendly Webinars

One Vision, Many Paths: Making an Age-Friendly University Work for You

Wednesday, February 6, 2019
1 p.m. EST

Registration link

This webinar will examine how different institutions approach their AFU vision and offer examples of how your institution can draw on its distinctive strengths to realize the AFU principles. Presenters: Carrie Andreoletti, PhD (Central Connecticut State University—Connecticut, USA) and Andrea June, PhD (Central Connecticut State University—Connecticut, USA)

A Starting Point for Looking at Age-Friendliness on My Campus: AGHE Can Help

Friday, March 1, 2019, 1 p.m. EST

Registration link

This webinar will discuss data-gathering approaches to explore your institution’s age-friendly assets, gaps, and opportunities along with how AGHE can be an Age-Friendly University resource for you and your institution. Presenters: Nina M. Silverstein, PhD (University of Massachusetts Boston—Massachusetts, USA) and Marilyn Gugliucci, PhD (University of New England—Maine, USA)

Hang in there. As couples age, humor replaces bickering

Honeymoon long over? Hang in there. A new UC Berkeley study shows those prickly disagreements that can mark the early and middle years of marriage mellow with age as conflicts give way to humor and acceptance.

Overall, the findings, just published in the journal Emotion, showed an increase in such positive behaviors as humor and affection and a decrease in negative behaviors such as defensiveness and criticism. The results challenge long-held theories that emotions flatten or deteriorate in old age and point instead to an emotionally positive trajectory for long-term married couples.

Consistent with previous findings from Levenson’s Berkeley Psychophysiology Laboratory, the longitudinal study found that wives were more emotionally expressive than their husbands, and as they grew older they tended toward more domineering behavior and less affection. But generally, across all the study’s age and gender cohorts, negative behaviors decreased with age.

The results are the latest to emerge from a 25-year UC Berkeley study headed by Levenson of more than 150 long-term marriages. The participants, now mostly in their 70s, 80s and 90s, are heterosexual couples from the San Francisco Bay Area whose relationships Levenson and fellow researchers began tracking in 1989.

For more information go to https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/12/03/marriagemellows/.

Reframing Aging: Gaining Momentum

America is having conversations about varying sources of inequality—we’re talking about how gender, race, economic status, or citizenship status can shape life trajectories and what the public response should be. We have become accustomed to hearing about “disruptions” or changes that create new opportunities, new challenges, and essentially, a new normal, but the topic of aging isn’t coming up in any of these conversations. Americans hear little about aging as a matter that requires a public response, and even less about ageism—discrimination based on age.

Knowing this, eight leading national organizations on aging, including ASA and AARP, came together in 2014 to change the way Americans think about aging through the Reframing Aging Initiative.

As research partner for #ReframingAging, the FrameWorks Institute conducted an investigation combining theory and methods from different social science disciplines to realize recommendations for reframing the national dialogue about aging.

Gaining Momentum, a toolkit prepared by the FrameWorks Institute, aims to correct popular myths and misconceptions about older adults while highlighting the importance of word choice and context when communicating. What's in the toolkit?

• A full research and recommendation report, Finding the Frame: An Empirical Approach to Reframing Aging and Ageism
• A frame brief titled Framing Strategies to Advance Aging and Address Ageism as Policy Issues
• A Quick-start Guide with phrases to use and to avoid
• Staying on Frame in Real Time: A list of common questions with guidance to help keep answers "on frame" 
• ReFrame cards to help advocates find the right metaphor and structure for reframed communications about aging.

New Maps of the Future of Aging, Longevity, Retirement, Work, Leisure, Health, Housing, Family, Money and Success

Due to increasing longevity, declining fertility and the aging of the massive Baby Boom generation, retirement is undergoing a monumental transformation. No longer a passive time to wind down, it is becoming a dynamic stage of life with new opportunities, fears, purpose, choices and funding challenges – that will alter nearly every aspect of the marketplace, the workplace and our personal lives.

In response, Age Wave and an experienced group of researchers, gerontologists, sociologists, economists and academics have just conducted a study in collaboration with Bank of America Merrill Lynch on “The Future of Retirement/Longevity/Aging.”  You can also view the reports here.  We are quite proud of the comprehensiveness of this work and the many new insights that were examined, dissected and charted. The fact that we garnered over ten billion media impressions was surely gratifying too. Because of your interests in these subjects, I thought you might enjoy seeing all of these together.

Road Scholar announces financial assistance for past and present educators

As the nation’s largest educational travel institution for older adults, Road Scholar is proud to announce a unique opportunity for past and present educators to take part in one of our Road Scholar travel programs. With the generous support of our donors, we’ve created a special kind of financial assistance specifically for active and retired educators, the “Professional Educator’s Assistance Recognition” scholarship — or “PEAR” for short.

Who is eligible to receive this scholarship?
If you are over 50 years of age, are currently working in or have retired from any educational organization or system and are facing financial barriers preventing you from participating in a Road Scholar program, you are eligible to apply.

How does it work?
Our financial assistance for educators is available for Road Scholar programs in the United States and Canada that cost no more than $1,400. Scholarship recipients are responsible for their round-trip transportation to and from the program. Road Scholar takes care of everything else: Lodging, meals, field trips, and transportation during your program and much more — it’s all included. For more information or to apply online, visit https://www.roadscholar.org/PEAR.

Every May, the Administration for Community Living leads our nation’s observance of Older Americans Month. We are pleased to announce the 2019 theme, Connect, Create, Contribute, which encourages older adults and their communities to:

• Connect with friends, family, and services that support participation.
• Create by engaging in activities that promote learning, health, and personal enrichment.
• Contribute time, talent, and life experience to benefit others.

Communities that encourage the contributions of older adults are stronger! By engaging and supporting all community members, we recognize that older adults play a key role in the vitality of our neighborhoods, networks, and lives.

Older Americans Month 2019 includes suggestions, resources, and material to celebrate older Americans and the communities of which they are a vital part. Visit https://acl.gov/news-and-events/announcements/older-americans-month-2019-theme.  for ways to get started and promote the observance on social media using #OAM19 and #ConnectCreateContribute.

The Purposes of Longer Lives Collection

 “The Purposes of Longer Lives” is the theme under which the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America convened in November 2018. The Editors-in-Chief of the GSA scientific journals, including the Journals of Gerontology Series A, Journals of Gerontology Series B, The Gerontologist, and Innovation in Aging assembled full issues, special sections, and collections related to the conference theme. These 45 articles appear in the current issues of the journals and also on the GSA Journals Page (https://academic.oup.com/gsa). The reports, of course, were not conceived to address the theme; each one, rather, arises from research questions integral to the authors’ work, but they can be collectively viewed nonetheless in light of the “Purposes” theme.

Click to return to the Issue Highlights.

Since 2001 AROHE has supported both institutions and individuals by transforming the experience of retirement – the preparation, the actual transition, and post-retirement programming – into a smooth and productive life-course change.

To renew, join or learn more visit arohe.org or contact AROHE by emailing info@arohe.org or calling (213) 740-5037.