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Get Tuned Up with Lifelong LearningBY CATHY CASTILLO February, 2003 ONE EVENING LAST SEPTEMBER, some 70 alumni/ae listening to faculty member Rod Kramer describe the nature of genius sat transfixed in a classroom. Finally, 15 minutes after the session had been scheduled to end, Erica Richter, the Alumni Association’s associate director for Lifelong Learning, apologized that they’d run out of time. A few attendees filed out to the patio, where a reception had been set up, but moments later an enthusiastic member of the audience rushed after them and announced: “He’s agreed to keep talking.” Wine glasses and plates were filled, and the crowd piled back into the classroom to continue the discussion for another hour. The program was one of the offerings of the School’s Lifelong Learning initiative, designed to help alumni remain involved in the intellectual community long after they graduate. “Our programs try to remove geographic and time barriers,” Richter says. “We have events on campus, but we also design activities specifically so people can be involved even if they can’t be here physically.” Alumni from Singapore, Bolivia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Kuwait, and Greece, and throughout the United States, have signed up as Frequent Learners, asking to receive email newsletters which provide information and notification of activities. Many offerings can be accessed through the program’s Web page. The site includes written or video descriptions of recent speakers and conferences, syllabi, and video giving a sample of current classroom offerings and information about upcoming events. One of the most popular online features thus far has been “Course and Seminar Reading,” containing bibliographic lists of readings recommended or required for current courses at the School. The “Suggested Reading” section also invites alumni to recommend books, and lists recent publications written by faculty or GSB graduates. “In My Opinion” poses a question or states a position and invites readers to share their views. Topics have included the proposal to require MBA graduates to pass a certification test, a discussion of teaching ethics in the classroom, and a debate titled “Will Internet Voting Reinvent Politics?” Lifelong Learning also offers CDs of faculty lectures, with slides and other sup-porting materials that create a type of mini-class. “This is one way we’re trying to use technology to extend the School’s connection with its graduates,” says Richter, MBA ’79. A monthly newsletter, @GSB Today, reaches out to all alumni for whom the Business School has email addresses and recaps news and current research, and outlines services offered. For those who can attend events on campus, Lifelong Learning offers eight faculty programs each year along with small, informal events featuring alumni. These events are targeted to different career levels and professional development plus outside interests, such as a discussion of the California wine industry. Another service allows alumni to subscribe to four databases offering online access to major newspapers and magazines through Jackson Library. “It’s a great addition to the Internet resources people have already,” says Richter. “You develop business knowledge and skills while you’re a student. It makes sense to continue building on those as you move through your career. We’re trying to offer some useful and fun ways to do this.” |
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Lifelong Learning at a Glance
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Get
Tuned Up with Lifelong Learning
