Faculty Exchange Offers Benefits to
Maine’s Senior Colleges

The 2004 spring course listings at Senior Colleges around the state of Maine look a bit like a jigsaw puzzle with the some of the pieces in different places.  That’s because a number of Senior College faculty members throughout the state are serving as “guest faculty” at other Senior Colleges in an informal faculty exchange.

Chuck Acker, who normally teaches at the Senior College at University of Maine at Augusta will lead a course called Mind Out of Matter at Coastal Senior College.  Acker’s course deals with the nature of consciousness, something that we are most familiar with, but about which we know the least.  “Consciousness rules our every known experience, yet how this three pound blob of matter called the brain achieves it is the world’s greatest mystery,” notes Acker.  A retired psychologist, Acker will draw upon readings in philosophy, biology, and psychology along with a little neurology to engage course participants in class discussions. 

Nancy Wheeler	Chuck Acker

Coastal Senior College will draw upon another visiting faculty member, this time from Midcoast Senior College at the University College at Bath/Brunswick. Nancy Wheeler will teach Childhood Favorites—Old and New.  The course focuses upon glimpses of our New England past as seen through children’s literature. 

Both Wheeler and Acker were drawn to the idea of serving as guest faculty because of their love of teaching.  Wheeler notes, “It seems there is no end to the inspiration and satisfaction I get from being with seniors who share my passion.”

Acker jokes that his daughter accuses him of setting up the entire infrastructure of UMA Senior College so that he could have a platform to expostulate to a captive audience.  “She’s only partly right,” he quips. Acker believes that exchanging Senior College faculty is great if faculty has the time and interest.  He views the exchange in a positive light, noting that with the statewide umbrella of the Maine Senior College Network with 15 Senior Colleges throughout the state, faculty should be doing all they can to facilitate other programs. 

Maine has the advantage of proximity between many Senior College program venues, which facilitates the exchange.  Acker’s course, for example, will be taught at the Chase Point Assisted Living Center, part of the Miles Memorial Health Center in Damariscotta, only 20 miles from his home. “It is a beautiful facility, and they serve wonderful refreshments during the classes.” He is especially fond of the brownies “it is all about the perks, you know.” 

Acker was “discovered” by a former student in an OLLI class in Portland and recruited to teach at Coastal.  Flattery was his initial motivation, “If someone liked the class that much, I am happy to teach.”  Wheeler’s connection with Coastal was through a pre-retirement connection with Barbara (B.J.) Frederick, Coastal’s curriculum chair, a former colleague.  “Offering a course such as this gives the facilitator an opportunity to adjust course content to the needs and interests of another group, which I find inspiring.”

Faculty exchanges can also be beneficial in other ways by showcasing a variety of teaching approaches.  Acker, for example, gives students extensive readings, which serve as the bases of discussion groups.  “Learners sit in seminar style at round tables designed to facilitate exchange and discussion.”  He expects discussion and uses a number of techniques to encourage it, including getting students to open up in the beginning with introductions.  “By sharing their backgrounds, including their religious beliefs, they discover that they can all talk.  There are no shrinking violets in my courses.”

In addition to Chuck Acker and Nancy Wheeler, Duane Prugh and Heidi Munro, both members of Senior College at the University of Maine at Augusta will be visiting faculty.  Prugh at a special program on Maine Lighthouses at Downeast Senior College at the Hancock Higher Education Center in Ellsworth, and Munro will offer German at Gold Leaf Institute at the University of Maine, Farmington.