Older students welcomed at Pitt through Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Pictured: Cris Casillo of the South Hills has taken Osher classes at Pitt for several years. She… Pictured: Cris Casillo of the South Hills has taken Osher classes at Pitt for several years. She enjoys taking history, music, and art classes. A retired schoolteacher, Casillo is taking “History of Black Pittsburgh” this semester.

Even though he retired from his job as a teacher, 73-year-old Michael Feldman is stepping back into the classroom — this time, as a student.

Feldman is a member of Pitt’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, a division of the College of General Studies which allows people 50 or older to take courses through the University.

The program offers classes such as Wine in Australia, Homicide Investigation and Birding in Pittsburgh. Members may take as many classes as they wish, space providing — and they can also participate in social events offered by the Institute.

Like other Pitt students, Osher members have photo IDs. They can use campus shuttles, borrow books at Hillman Library and go to Pitt Arts events.

The Institute also hosts a “Fall Fling” each year to kick off the new term, as well as lecture luncheons, tours of local attractions and trips for members.

Members of the program can audit two undergraduate classes per term with an annual membership of $225 or a single term membership of $125. Each additional class audit costs $25.

Associate members can audit classes for $55, but they can’t take Osher classes and don’t receive certain Pitt benefits.

Judi Bobenage, director of the Osher program, said that Pitt is one of few universities that allows members to audit classes. She said that this option depends on whether the program is offered at a state-supported university and if the state itself has set regulations that allow adults over a certain age to take classes.

There are no grades in the Osher classes, but depending on the class, instructors might ask the students to read or complete writing assignments. Those who choose to audit undergraduate classes do not receive grades either, unless they request special permission from the professor.

“I love the auditing classes because on-the-whole they are more challenging. When I audit them, I do the work and take the tests, so it keeps me on my toes,” Feldman, a former audiologist who taught at California University of Pennsylvania, said.

This spring, Feldman is enrolled in both French and Italian through the Osher program. He is also auditing Spanish Grammar and Composition and Bollywood and Indian Cinema, not to mention the two classes he is taking at Carnegie Mellon University.

The Osher program is geared toward adults looking for intellectual stimulation rather than students who want to obtain a degree. There are no academic requirements from an Osher student in order to participate in the program.

“A lot of learning in Osher is incidental learning … it’s osmosis. What you absorb, you absorb, and what you don’t, you don’t. You don’t go home and spend hours studying,” Feldman said.

The program receives support from the Bernard Osher Foundation, which works to sustain post-secondary scholarship programs and learning institutions for seasoned adults.

Susan Kinsey, the former dean of the College of General Studies, started the program at Pitt in 2005. It is currently one of 122 Osher institutes located on campuses across the country.

After reaching a membership total of 500, the Osher program at Pitt was awarded a $1 million endowment.

The courses are instructed by current Pitt faculty, retired faculty or members of the Pittsburgh community with expertise in a particular area.

The instructors submit proposals for the courses they want to teach, which are designed around an outline of requirements by the curriculum committee of the Osher program.

Bobenage said that Osher programs at each university have flexibility when planning their curricula. Adults younger than 50 can still become members and take Osher classes, however, the primary audience of the program should be older adults.

“Most of the classes we offer are in liberal arts topics so they are pretty academically-oriented, but we do also want to provide some other courses that are a little bit more fun, a little bit lighter,” Bobenage said.

The Osher classes are five weeks long and meet for two hours per week. Each fall, spring, and summer term has two five-week sessions.

“We ask for course proposals that are more narrow in scope because we find that our members like to delve into a subject deeper rather than doing a survey course that touches on many different things,” Bobenage explained.

At the end of last year, Pitt’s Osher institute had 825 members. Bobenage said that during a given session, between 650 and 700 members are enrolled in classes.

Bobenage said that there are more students taking Osher classes than auditing undergraduate classes because most members are more comfortable learning with their peers.

This is not the case for Feldman. He said he is very comfortable working with students 50 years younger than him, especially in his language classes.

“When I went to school a long time ago, we never worked in groups — that was not the way language was taught. Now it is much less formal, and we can work in groups of two and three,” Feldman said.

Feldman said he is used to being surrounded by younger students since he started taking German at the University in 2003.

When he is not taking classes, Feldman spends his time traveling. He just returned from a 10-week cruise to Australia and New Zealand. Once the next session of Osher classes begins Feb. 1, Feldman’s schedule will consist of about 13 hours of class per week in addition to his audits.