Dear AROHE members, 

Following an invigorating and charged AROHE Board retreat, I am pleased to share that new member services are coming your way soon! 

As we reflected on our recent successful conference at last fall, coupled with feedback we have received from our membership community, we will soon be providing virtual member networking opportunities.  Aligned with our mission, these presentations are designed to facilitate the sharing of successful practices among our members. 

As we look forward to serving the needs of our constituents with excellence, your voice makes a difference. If you have suggestions or would like to share ideas of how we can better serve your organization, feel free to contact me at (305) 348-0101 or via email at Trudy.Fernandez@fiu.edu

Sincerely,

Trudy Fernandez

President, AROHE

AROHE Launches Travel Institute

Now you can discover Cuba with AROHE’s exciting new Travel Institute. The travel institute is a member benefit launching this spring, but not for ordinary travel—all of our trips will be all-inclusive educational adventures, not superficial tours. When you explore new worlds alongside other AROHE members, you’ll enjoy deep, thought-provoking experiences which include lectures and field trips, comfortable lodging, meals, and free round-trip airfare from Miami or New York City. Perhaps best of all — the life experience of your fellow retirees will add to stimulating intellectual exchange. Road Scholar educational adventures will manage this trip.

By traveling with AROHE you’ll meet other members from all over the US and Canada, academic retirees who also love learning, a sense of community and camaraderie. Road Scholar has sent more Americans to Cuba than any other organization and have been the not-for-profit world leader in educational travel since 1975. Scholarships may be awarded to lifelong learners without the financial means to participate in these learning adventures. Each year, more than 300 Scholarships are awarded by Road Scholar.

Please join us.  2019 is the time to make the journey of a lifetime happen for you. For full information including dates and prices regarding Discovering Cuba and the other trips we will offer in 2019-20 please contact Cherie Hamilton, Director, AROHE Travel Institute, pimentamalageta@hotmail.com

We look forward to traveling with you.

“If you think you should go before Cuba changes, you are right! Get going!”

In late November, 2018, the Association of Retired Faculty and Staff (ARF) at Florida State University President Jim Melton received information about a change to FSU's email policy as it pertained to retired faculty. He requested that ARF Board Member Fancy Funk contact her fellow Board Members in AROHE to learn how many Retirement Organizations are providing university email addresses to their retirees.

Funk reported promptly, with documentation, that 80% of institutional members serving over 100,000 retiree members throughout North America do provide continuing email for retirees as well as internet access and library privileges. This information, along with data provided through the ARF membership records from Treasurer Tom McCaleb indicating that 45% of the ARF membership identifies their @fsu.edu address as their contact with ARF, was forwarded to Provost Sally McRorie for consideration by the senior leadership team. After communications with the Provost, we were assured that there would be no change to email and internet access for retired faculty.  The ARF Board and Membership expresses our appreciation to AROHE for the immediate reply and documentation to our inquiry about benefits to Retirees at AROHE member institutions. We are grateful to AROHE and to our Provost and the Leadership Team at Florida State University.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Dr. Tom Jennings, Vice President for University Advancement , President, FSU Foundation; Dr. Fanchon “Fancy” Funk, Professor Emerita, AROHE and ARF Board Member; Dr. Anne Rowe, Professor Emerita and former Dean of the Faculties; and Dr. Sally McRorie, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs

A sold-out housing complex for older adults on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus sparks a conversation about whether universities are doing enough to engage with older people. 

CHARLIE LEIGHT/ASU NOW

Future residents and guests watch the groundbreaking ceremony of ASU Mirabella in February 2018.

New housing under construction at Arizona State University isn't slated to be completed until 2020, but the university president has nonetheless dubbed it "the world's coolest dorm," and future residents have already secured their spots.

The residents won’t be typical college students, however -- they’ll be people in their 60s, 70s and up. The housing complex on the university’s Tempe campus will be a retirement community with a twist -- the residents will be able to take classes, make use of campus facilities such as the library with university-issued ID cards and immerse themselves in university life as much, or as little, as they like. They'll also be encouraged to mentor and build relationships with younger students.

“There’s no reason everyone can’t be a college student and engaged in what this community has to offer for the entirety of their lives,” ASU president Michael Crow said at a groundbreaking ceremony for the complex, called ASU Mirabella, in February 2018. “We’re excited that we’ll have on our campus several hundred new learners, new teachers and new experts,” he said.

Retirees are often left out of the equation and have not been a significant part of those efforts, said Todd Hardy, managing director of innovation zones at ASU. “We want these residents to be part of our community and to be fully integrated into everything we do,” Hardy said “We’d like them to be guest lecturers, advise us on start-up companies, be docents at our art gallery and performance hall. We’d love them to engage in ways that appeal to them.”

Ramona Meraz Lewis, a faculty coordinator at the College of Education and Human Development at Western Michigan University who has conducted research on older learners, said ASU Mirabella is an “innovative take on a somewhat established idea.” While some of these retirement communities may lease or buy college-owned land, such as Kendal at Oberlin, which has close ties to Oberlin College in northern Ohio, and Vi at Palo Alto near Stanford University, very few are actually situated on a campus, she said. Some communities, such as Oak Hammock at the University of Florida or University Commons at the University of Michigan, have deep connections to the universities and were even founded by former faculty. But neither community is directly managed by the universities.

As Americans' life spans increase and people stay healthier longer, universities need to adapt, said Rovy Branon, vice provost at University of Washington Continuum College, who described the challenges and opportunities of the “60-year curriculum” -- a concept coined by Gary Matkin, dean of the Division of Continuing Education at the University of California, Irvine, which describes a continuous learning program from high school to retirement -- in an op-ed column he wrote for Inside Higher Ed in November.

Seth Meisel, associate dean of academic affairs at Northwestern University, said although many university administrators are starting to talk more about the 60-year curriculum, they will need to carefully consider the specific needs of older learners -- an area of pedagogy known as gerogogy. Classes "need to be in a location that is accessible and flexible," he said. Older learners also often have a lot of experience and want that to be acknowledged. "They want a learning environment that builds upon their experience," he said.

Living at ASU Mirabella doesn’t come cheap. Residents pay a “buy-in” fee starting at $378,500 for a one-bedroom unit and up to $810,200 for a two-bedroom penthouse. Residents also pay a monthly fee of between $4,195 and $5,570. When residents die, 85 percent of the buy-in fee is refunded to their heirs. Despite the high cost, ASU Mirabella has already sold out. Residents like the idea of being part of a university community, even if they don’t have any connection to the institution, said Paul Riepma, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Pacific Retirement Services, an Oregon-based nonprofit that is leading the development of the complex.

To read further, go to http://tinyurl.com/y8zm4k6j

Federal Trade Commission Scam Warning on Social Security

The Federal Trade Commission is getting reports about people pretending to be from the Social Security Administration (SSA) who are trying to get your Social Security number and even your money.

In one version of the scam, the caller says your Social Security number has been linked to a crime (often, he says it happened in Texas) involving drugs or sending money out of the country illegally. He then says your Social Security number is blocked – but he might ask you for a fee to reactivate it, or to get a new number. He will ask you to confirm your Social Security number.

In other variations, he says that somebody used your Social Security number to apply for credit cards, and you could lose your benefits. He also might warn you that your bank account is about to be seized, that you need to withdraw your money, and that he’ll tell you how to keep it safe. 

All of these are scams. Here’s what you need to know:

• The SSA will never call and ask for your Social Security number. It will not ask you to pay anything. It won’t call to threaten your benefits.

• Your caller ID might show the SSA’s real phone number (1-800-772-1213), but that’s not the real SSA calling. Computers make it easy to show any number on caller ID. You cannot trust what you see there.

• Never give your Social Security number to anyone who contacts you in this way. Do not confirm the last 4 digits. Do not give a bank account or credit card number – ever – to anybody who contacts you by phone asking for it.

• Remember that anyone who tells you to wire money, pay with a gift card, or send cash is always a scammer no matter who they say they are.

If you’re worried about a call from someone who claims to be from the Social Security Administration, get off the phone. Then call the real SSA at 1-800-772-1213.

To learn more, you can go to https://tinyurl.com/y9gf87bv.

BenefitsCheckUp® on Fixed Income

Benefits play important role in helping older adults age well on a fixed income. The National Council on Aging’s BenefitsCheckUp® tool provides a free, individualized screening to identify benefit programs for which your clients are likely eligible. With links to program applications, checklists of needed information, and more, it's the perfect way to help an older adult realize benefits are worth the time to explore. You can even take a screening on behalf of someone else, so encourage caregivers to use BenefitsCheckUp® too! To learn more, go to https://tinyurl.com/y5y5mxqm.

Readers Speak Up About Elderspeak

NextAvenue, 2/28/19
Reactions to the 1/9/19 Next Avenue story reveal strong feelings about this topic
http://tinyurl.com/y5n2xp8z

Participating in the arts creates paths to healthy aging

Clinical Research Cognitive Health

We all know to eat right, exercise, and get a good night’s sleep to stay healthy. But can flexing our creative muscles help us thrive as we age? Ongoing research looking at singing group programs, theater training, and visual arts for older adults suggest that participating in the arts may improve the health, well-being, and independence of older adults.

To learn more, go to http://tinyurl.com/yyt9kadv. 

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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.