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Strategic Plan

Making Progress #4: Implementing OLLI's Strategy

In April 2015, OLLI members were introduced to the OLLI Strategic Plan for 2015-2018 with an Executive Summary available in print and on the OLLI website. Since then, OLLI members have received three progress reports about OLLI improvements implemented as a result of that Strategic Plan, also available in print and online.

Since so many improvements have been completed and two years have passed, it was time to refresh and update the Strategic Plan and identify a new set of action items to make OLLI even better for members. In April 2017, OLLI members received an update about the refreshed OLLI Strategic Plan for 2017-2020, both in print and online.

Now it is time for our fourth progress report about OLLI improvements implemented as a result of the Strategic Plan.

As noted in both of the Strategic Plans, the top member expectations of OLLI are:

  1. Social engagement (opportunities for socialization and a sense of belonging),
  2. Quality offerings (wide variety of high-quality experiences),
  3. Customer service (the inviting and helpful nature of volunteers and staff), and
  4. Involvement (an outlet to feel relevant and to keep growing intellectually).

OLLI Director Michelle Riggio and the entire OLLI Executive Committee are pleased to report the following progress:

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

  • OLLI and its members make significant contributions to Bradley University in many ways, such as funding improvements in the Michel Student Center, giving Student Volunteer Awards to two students each year, volunteering to work with students to help them practice their skills for a speech class, and more. But we haven’t always told the story of these contributions. An annual communications calendar has now been established and communications channels identified to help Michelle and her team communicate the contributions of OLLI and our members to Bradley University throughout the academic year.

QUALITY OFFERINGS

  • Electronic evaluations have been created and implemented for OLLI members who participate in learning trips. Now, each participant has the choice of completing a learning trip evaluation online or on paper – and the majority are going online!

CUSTOMER SERVICE

  • The Wellmobile is scheduled to visit OLLI on the last day of classes in October 2017 to offer health screenings.
  • The OLLI website home page now offers an online store with Lands' End, where you can quickly and easily order a variety of apparel and promotional products customized with the new logo for OLLI at Bradley University.

INVOLVEMENT

  • Beginning with the registration form in the 2017 Fall OLLI brochure, we now offer OLLI members the optional opportunity to share information about themselves:
    • their 10-year age brackets,
    • hobbies/ interests,
    • areas of expertise they are willing to share, and
    • volunteer opportunities that may be of interest.

This will help Michelle and her staff utilize best practices from the other 119 OLLIs and resources from the OLLI National Resource Center to better serve our members. In addition, this will help us match members who have skills and interests they are willing to share with volunteer opportunities throughout OLLI.

 

OLLI’S Strategic Plan Has Been Refreshed and Updated

In April 2015, OLLI members were introduced to the OLLI Strategic Plan for 2015-2018 with an Executive Summary available in print and on the OLLI website. Since then, OLLI members have received three progress reports about OLLI improvements implemented as a result of the Strategic Plan, also available in print and online.

Since so many improvements have been completed and two years have passed, it was time to refresh and update the Strategic Plan and identify a new set of action items to make OLLI even better for members. So this report, in April 2017, describes the results.

The Executive Committee was involved in this process:

  • Larry Trollope, OLLI President
  • Jennifer Bass, Vice President
  • Mary Ellen Krum, Past President
  • Pat Meismer, Secretary
  • Bob Yonker, Treasurer
  • Cornell Carr, Winter Chair
  • Ralph Dalton, Curriculum Chair
  • Shelley Epstein, Learning Trip Chair
  • Jane Hense, Study Group Chair
  • Carol May, Cinema Chair

This effort was facilitated by Michelle Riggio, Director of OLLI, and Sharon Amdall, Chair of Strategic Planning.

The first step was to “refresh” the strategy – that is, to consider whether any parts of it need to be changed. The Executive Committee confirmed that the existing strategy is still valid for 2017-2020.

As noted in the first Strategic Plan, the top four member expectations of OLLI still are:

  1. Social engagement (opportunities for socialization and a sense of belonging)
  2. Quality offerings (wide variety of high-quality experiences)
  3. Customer service (the inviting and helpful nature of volunteers and staff), and
  4. Involvement (an outlet to feel relevant and to keep growing intellectually)

We confirmed that, in everything we do, OLLI at Bradley believes there is value to lifelong learning in an open, social environment. We provide a welcoming and social experience that is volunteer-driven, sponsored by Bradley University and The Bernard Osher Foundation, and we deliver high-quality learning opportunities for our members.

The next step is to identify the action items to be implemented to make OLLI even better.

Members of the Executive Committee volunteered to lead four task forces, and recruited other OLLI members to help them identify the needed action items.

The action items are still being refined and planned, but the following list gives a sample:

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

  • Improve the connection between OLLI and the BU community.

QUALITY OFFERINGS

  • Develop a handbook for class instructors.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

  • Improve the instructions for class “hosts.”
  • Recruit more senior living centers to provide transportation for the residents to attend OLLI classes.

INVOLVEMENT

  • Beginning with the Spring 2016 OLLI program brochures, volunteers now distribute dozens of the brochures to libraries and health clubs. Continue to expand distribution to senior living centers with more volunteers.

 

Making Progress #3: Implementing OLLI's Strategy

In April 2015, OLLI members were introduced to the OLLI Strategic Plan for 2015-2018 through an Executive Summary available in print and on the OLLI website. In October 2015, we published the first progress report about improvements implemented as a result of the Strategic Plan and, in April 2016, we published our second progress report. This is our third progress report about improvements we've implemented to make OLLI even better.

As noted in the Strategic Plan, the top four member expectations of OLLI include:

  1. Social engagement (opportunities for socialization and a sense of belonging),
  2. Quality offerings (wide variety of high-quality experiences),
  3. Customer service (the inviting and helpful nature of volunteers and staff), and
  4. Involvement (an outlet to feel relevant and to keep growing intellectually).

To help ensure we continue to make progress on implementation of our Strategic Plan, the Executive Committee in 2015 added a Chair of Strategic Planning, Sharon Amdall. She, along with OLLI Director Michelle Riggio and the entire Executive Committee, are pleased to report the following progress:

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

  • When we discontinued the OLLI “Free Flicks” cinema program due to a lack of social engagement, we decided to instead co-sponsor the Silver Screen film series hosted at the Peoria Riverfront Museum (PRM) in the Giant Screen Theater, including a moderated discussion following each film. The first film to be
    co-sponsored with the PRM was Bonnie and Clyde on March 19, 2016, in conjunction with the “Prohibition” exhibit at the PRM.

QUALITY OFFERINGS

  • The Study Group Committee Chair had received feedback that study group facilitators were not universally excellent. As a result, the required skills and abilities for study group facilitators were defined, and “facilitator training” was developed and offered as a free study group several times, most recently in the Spring 2016 and Fall 2016 terms.
  • As reported in our April 2016 Progress Report, we have already implemented improved evaluation forms for you – the OLLI members. Now we have developed improved evaluation forms for our class instructors, study group facilitators, and cinema moderators to provide feedback on their experiences, and these new forms are being piloted in Fall 2016.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

  • Hosts for Study Groups face a special challenge because Study Groups are held in ten different locations. To assist these hosts, we now have a Study Group Host Coordinator role with a written job description. And the Study Group Hosts have access to a Handbook containing everything they need to know and do.

INVOLVEMENT

  • If your local library group or service club would like to hear about OLLI, we now have a Speaker's Bureau comprised of members of the Executive Committee who are trained and ready to deliver. Michele Riggio provides the needed information and tracks the presentations.
  • OLLI programs are volunteer-driven, and some volunteers find themselves as new Committee Chairs. To help our new Committee Chairs quickly acclimate to this new role, we have created a new “Handbook” or reference manual for new Committee Chairs. This is currently in the pilot phase.

 

Making Progress #2: Implementing OLLI's Strategy

In April 2015, OLLI members were introduced to the OLLI Strategic Plan for 2015-2018 with an Executive Summary available in print and on the OLLI website. In October 2015, we published the first progress report about improvements implemented as a result of the Strategic Plan. Now, in April 2016, we are publishing our second progress report.

As noted in the Strategic Plan, the top four member expectations of OLLI include:

  1. Social engagement (opportunities for socialization and a sense of belonging)
  2. Quality offerings (wide variety of high-quality experiences)
  3. Customer service (the inviting and helpful nature of volunteers and staff), and
  4. Involvement (an outlet to feel relevant and to keep growing intellectually)

To help ensure we continue to make progress on implementation of our Strategic Plan, the Executive Committee in 2015 added a Chair of Strategic Planning, Sharon Amdall. She, along with OLLI Director Michelle Riggio and the entire Executive Committee, are pleased to report the following progress:

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

  • OLLI programs are created by committees of volunteers working with staff. To ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals, we have created new definition documents for the four OLLI programs and new “filters” to assist in selecting the right options for the activities the committees will offer to OLLI.
  • When we discontinued the OLLI lecture program due to a lack of social engagement, we decided to continue to help interested OLLI members have access to other lectures. We are currently partnering with Bradley University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to support, sponsor, and publicize its lectures. Although most of these lectures will be included in OLLI’s seasonal brochures, the best way to learn about these opportunities is to provide your e-mail address to a staff member so you receive the weekly OLLI e-mail newsletter.

QUALITY OFFERINGS

  • OLLI staff are improving their processing of the evaluation forms that participants complete so they are summarized within two weeks. As a result, the summaries are always available to influence the planning of future offerings in each program.
  • An initiative is underway to improve the design of the evaluation forms that participants are asked to complete after every OLLI event. The new evaluation forms will be introduced in Spring 2016.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

  • Staff developed a new orientation document and packet for everyone who is new to OLLI. It doesn't matter whether the new person starts with classes, trips, study groups, or cinema, because they will always receive the orientation packet wherever they start.
  • A new registration system was introduced in January 2016 for all of the Continuing Education department. We are still on a steep learning curve, but we expect this system and its associated database to deliver much improved functionality when it is fully implemented.

INVOLVEMENT

  • Beginning with the Spring 2016 OLLI program brochures, a committee of volunteers now distributes dozens of the brochures to libraries and health clubs.
  • OLLI programs are created by committees of volunteers. When a new volunteer attends a committee meeting for the first time, he or she now receives an orientation packet designed to help new volunteers feel welcome and involved from their very first meeting.

 

Making Progress: Update to OLLI's Strategic Plan

In April 2015, OLLI members were introduced to the OLLI Strategic Plan for 2015-2018 with an Executive Summary available in print and on the OLLI website. Now, in October 2015, we are publishing the first progress report about improvements implemented as a result of the Strategic Plan.

As noted in the Strategic Plan, the top four member expectations of OLLI include:

  1. Social engagement (opportunities for socialization and a sense of belonging)
  2. Quality offerings (wide variety of high-quality experiences)
  3. Customer service (the inviting and helpful nature of volunteers and staff), and
  4. Involvement (an outlet to feel relevant and to keep growing intellectually)

To help ensure we continue to make progress on implementation of our Strategic Plan, the Executive Committee has added a Chair of Strategic Planning, Sharon Amdall. She, along with OLLI Director Michelle Riggio and the entire Executive Committee, are pleased to report the following progress:

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

  • Implemented a “new member” table at the “kickoff luncheon” and at OLLI classes.
  • Starting in 2016, we will no longer offer stand-alone OLLI lectures due to a lack of social engagement for participants. Instead, OLLI will partner with Bradley University to support, sponsor, and help publicize the lectures offered by various colleges and departments.

QUALITY OFFERINGS

  • To improve the use of evaluations completed by class participants into the planning for future classes, the “wrap-up” will now be included at the start of the Curriculum Committee meetings, starting with the Curriculum Committee meeting in November to plan 2016 Spring classes.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

  • Added a “healthy choice” option to the lunch buffet during the April 2015 classes. Based on the high level of demand for this option in April, we have decided to continue to offer this option for Fall Classes.
  • In April 2015, we replaced school buses with motor coaches and OLLI shuttles to deliver a more comfortable ride for classes “park and ride.” This service will continue into Fall 2015 and beyond with the reduction of class gift purchases.
  • Launched a new registration process that delivers OLLI brochures several days in advance – first used for Fall 2015 registration. The walk-in registration open house will continue to improve and evolve, thanks to our member feedback.
  • Developed a new orientation document and packet for those new to OLLI who attend the orientation held just prior to the “kickoff luncheon” for classes – first used on September 23.

INVOLVEMENT

  • Staff is working with a volunteer committee to construct a list of locations that will allow placement and distribution of OLLI brochures.

 

Strategic Plan: 2015-2018 Executive Summary

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Bradley University embarked on a strategic planning process in October 2014. The objective of this process was to assess current key issues, define essential organization characteristics, determine core member needs and expectations, and specify critical success factors to enhance and improve our lifelong learning program.

OLLI Executive Committee members and recent OLLI Past Presidents, under the guidance of Dr. Aaron Buchko, Professor of Management at Bradley University, have given many hours of their time to devote to this strategic plan. The volunteers involved in this process include:

  • Bernie Drake, OLLI President
  • Keith Butterfield, Secretary
  • Wayne Goetz, Learning Trip Chair
  • Mary Ellen Krum, Vice President
  • Larry Trollope, Treasurer
  • Jane Hense, Winter Chair
  • Sharon Lansdowne, Past President
  • Sharon Amdall, Lecture Chair
  • Carol May, Cinema Chair
  • Gil Nolde, Past President
  • Ralph Dalton, Curriculum Chair
  • Carolyn Shepherd, Past President
  • Mary Franck, Study Group Chair

In everything we do, OLLI at Bradley believes there is value to lifelong learning in an open, social environment. We provide a welcoming and social experience that is volunteer-driven, sponsored by Bradley University and The Bernard Osher Foundation, and we develop high quality learning opportunities for our core members.

The primary member expectations are social engagement (opportunities for socialization and a sense of belonging), quality offerings (wide variety of high quality experiences), customer service (the inviting and helpful nature of volunteers and staff), and involvement (an outlet to feel relevant and to keep growing intellectually). In order to ensure the continuing success of our programming and to meet the needs and expectations of our members, OLLI will address:

Social engagement - We will establish a systematic process of program reviews to ensure that our programming drives social engagement.

Quality focused programs with optimal accessibility and availability - We will evaluate and ensure the knowledge and instructional ability of the lead instructor/facilitator and identify standards for that position.

Customer Service - We will modify and simplify the registration process by providing training and support, and modify the food service provided at programs. As a result of early task force action, OLLI has already added a healthy choice option to its lunch buffet during Classes.

Involvement - We will establish a well-coordinated marketing effort to increase community awareness, attract new members, keep current members engaged, and encourage volunteer involvement.