Lightfoot Appointed New Director of USM’s Senior College

USM’s Senior College, the first school for Maine people aged 55 and older, has a new director. Kali Lightfoot, former senior manager of program administration at Elderhostel, was appointed to the position after a search which produced 70 applicants. Lightfoot succeeds founding director, Rabbi Harry Sky, who will continue to teach in the program and remain as a consultant.

“We owe a great debt to Harry Sky for bringing the idea of Senior College to fruition,” Lightfoot said. “Now I'd like to take it the next step, to make access to Senior College truly statewide. We want to make programs available from Fort Kent to York County that reflect the communities they will serve.” Lightfoot has begun talking to residents in the northern part of the state to assess their needs and provide potential students the opportunity to take classes in their area without traveling.

In addition, Lightfoot will continue to provide staff support and guidance to the operation of Senior College from USM’s Portland campus.

In her previous capacity with Elderhostel, Lightfoot was responsible from 1979 to 1986 for developing new Elderhostel sites in New England, formulating curriculum policies, editing program descriptions for national catalogs and organizing annual national meetings. In addition, for the past five years, Lightfoot managed an elder international exchange program and coordinated international service learning programs with several organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity.

Lightfoot said she was privileged to work with the senior citizens who take courses through Senior College. These are people, she said, “who are extending [themselves] to meet new people, learn new things, look at the world differently to learn something new, risking rejection, and risking not knowing.”

USM’s Senior College was established in 1997 in response to requests from seniors in the Portland community who desired an alternative learning opportunity. Courses are offered during the fall and spring semesters. Members devise the curriculum and enroll in non-credit classes taught by peers. The program is an adjunct of USM’s Center for Extended Academic Programs and is affiliated with the national Elderhostel Institute Network.
Earlier this fall, Senior College received the Year 2000 Distinguished Non-Credit Program award from the national organization, the Association of Continuing Higher Education.
Membership in Senior College has grown to 465 members at USM’s Portland site and over 900 members statewide. This fall, courses at Senior College are being offered at five locations affiliated with the University of Maine System. Courses are offered in York County, Lewiston, Bridgton, Brunswick and Mt. Desert Island, covering such topics as world history, spirituality, literature and computers. Most courses are six to eight weeks long and meet one day per week.

The latest undertaking for the school is in the arts. Members are forming a Senior College Theatre Group to write and perform plays for senior audiences in assisted living facilities, community centers and churches. Senior College members are also launching an annual arts journal to include photography, fiction, plays, poetry and essays, music and artworks.
For more information on classes, the journal and theatre group, please call USM’s Senior College at 780-4512.