Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Students and Faculty Celebrate a $1 Million Endowment

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) of Cal State San Marcos Extended Learning hosted a champagne reception with over a hundred guests in attendance at Carlsbad Seapointe Resort on Tuesday in celebration of the $1 million gift bestowed to the program from The Bernard Osher Foundation. This endowment will allow the program to continue to grow by funding the incorporation of more locations throughout San Diego and offering even more interesting topics.

“Cal State San Marcos Extended Learning does not take continued learning for granted and this program is a demonstration of our commitment to fill the needs within our community,” said Jan Jackson, Associate Vice President of Community Engagement and Dean of Extended Learning. “We are grateful to have so many devoted faculty members and hundreds of students to keep this journey on track. We look forward to a year of exciting developments.”

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is for mature learners 50 years + and now offers
several classroom locations throughout North County.  Cal State San Marcos Extended Learning began offering OLLI in the fall 2004 with 64 students, one location and 10 classes. This past fall there was a record 32 courses in 11 locations and 570 members, double from the past year. In 2007, Extended Learning focused on “taking it on the road” and bringing the program to the students, starting with Escondido at Calif. Center for Arts, then Mission San Luis Rey, Oceanside as a second venue to reach the coastal residents in winter 2006. The next 8 locations were added in the spring 2007, bringing students on

campus for the first time and adding Carlsbad, Rancho Santa Fe, and San Marcos to the location list.  High demand and interest lead to a Summer Term and this fall, the school increased to 11 locations, adding Encinitas and other Carlsbad sites.

“At the end of each course, students provide us with a survey that includes questions on their ideas for future classes and locations,” said Janice Monypeny, director of OLLI. “And we do what we can to make it happen. We are now offering a large spectrum of courses, including wine appreciation, religion, politics, astrology, art, and more.”

For more information or to register for classes, please call 760-750-4020 or visit www.therightcourse.net/olli.
About Extended Learning
As the academic outreach arm of Cal State San Marcos, Extended Learning is a leading provider of professional and continuing education in the San Diego North County region. Offering more than 350 classes, including academic credit and noncredit professional enrichment courses and career-based certificate programs, Extended Learning helps individuals and organizations achieve their educational and training goals.

The Bernard Osher Foundation (www.osherfoundation.org)

The Bernard Osher Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco, was founded in 1977 by Bernard Osher, a respected businessman and community leader.  The Foundation seeks to improve quality of life through support for higher education and the arts.

The Foundation provides post-secondary scholarship funding to colleges and universities across the nation, with special attention to reentry students.  It also benefits programs in integrative medicine in the United States and Sweden, including centers at the University of California, San Francisco; Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston; and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.  In addition, the Foundation supports a growing national lifelong learning network for seasoned adults.  The Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes, operating on the campuses of over 100
institutions of higher education from Maine to Hawaii, have a National Resource Center at the University of Southern Maine.  Finally, an array of performing arts organizations, museums, and selected community programs in Northern California and in Mr. Osher’s native state of Maine receive both operating and capital support.  A growing interest of the Foundation is in bringing younger audiences to classical music and the performing arts.

The Foundation has a nine-member Board of Directors which is chaired by the Honorable Barbro Osher, Consul General of Sweden in San Francisco.

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