{"id":81,"date":"2013-08-27T16:41:48","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T16:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/currents.winonastateu.com\/?p=81"},"modified":"2013-08-27T16:41:48","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T16:41:48","slug":"plugged-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/2013\/08\/27\/plugged-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Plugged In"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"retireeone\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Shari Kiple<\/p>\n

For many of Winona State University\u2019s 400-plus retirees, their years as employees may have ended, but their service to the institution is far from over. The WSU Retiree Center is re- engaging former employees in exciting new ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes there\u2019s a mistaken assumption that when people retire, they don\u2019t do anything,\u201d says Ann Kohner, director of the Retiree Center since August 2011. \u201cThe truth is, most of our retirees are very active and they enjoy being involved. They are not sitting back in their rocking chairs. They\u2019re out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Retiree Center is plugging them in and sending them out. Retirees serve as tutors, mentors, advisors, university committee members, guest lecturers, fundraisers, adjunct professors, thesis advisors, support staff for athletic teams, ushers, travel guides, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m requesting volunteers all the time,\u201d Kohner shares. \u201cThey help with a variety of campus events, including student move-in day, Grandparents University, commencement, and countless others.\u201d The Retiree Center offers dozens of opportunities each year ranging from one-time commitments to longer-term committee work.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of the Center\u2019s Assessment Committee, I\u2019m so impressed with the extent to which retirees give back to the community,\u201d says Ron Stevens, longtime WSU faculty member. In recent years, members have contributed about 1,800 hours of service annually.<\/p>\n

GETTING STARTED<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed, things have unfolded just as Stevens \u2013 also one of the Retiree Center\u2019s co-founders \u2013 had hoped.<\/p>\n

After 36 years as a sociology professor at Winona State, Stevens took early retirement in 2004. As luck would have it, friend and colleague Jim Reynolds also retired that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was perfectly happy doing what I was doing,\u201d he says, \u201cand I knew I didn\u2019t want to walk away from the university.\u201d So when Reynolds suggested creating a center for retirees on campus it was a no-brainer to the two sociologists. \u201cIt was a great way to maintain ties with WSU retirees and consider the many ways they could stay connected to Winona State.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following a feasibility study, focus groups, and visits to assess similar programs in other parts of the country, Stevens and Reynolds established a solid rationale for creating a Retiree Center on campus. With the support of then- President Darrell Krueger and WSU\u2019s Office of University Advancement, the Retiree Center was approved in 2004 and hired its first director, Cathie Logan, in 2005.<\/p>\n

The goals of the Center encompass educational, social, and service opportunities, which it fulfills through creative programming and community outreach.
\nFor example, while the Retiree Center is managed and funded by the university, its programs are open to all retirees, not just those from Winona State. Its Senior University serves more than 200 people, half of whom are not WSU retirees. Grandparents University welcomes grandparents and their grandchildren (or other seniors with special children in their lives) for a two-day residential college and the chance to learn about a topic together, drawing attendees from throughout the region.<\/p>\n

\"retiree2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

GIVING BACK<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Retiree Center is a wonderful way to give back to an institution \u2013 and a community \u2013 that was really good to me,\u201d says Jean Leicester, an education professor at Winona State for 15 years before retiring in 2006. \u201cI\u2019m interested in reaching out to the community through things like Grandparents University and in other ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she says she\u2019s a \u201cnewbie\u201d on the Retiree Center\u2019s Advisory Board, Leicester is seasoned in work that involves service. Her teaching background has been instrumental in leading efforts at the Kumasi School in Ghana where her team, a partnership between Winona State, Mayo Clinic, and Rochester Public Schools, equips K-12 teachers with tools to make science education come to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cMayo Clinic has contributed materials to help create a science room with the resources they need to study malaria,\u201d Leicester explains. This summer, twelve students from Kumasi School visited Winona State to continue their experiments and share results with the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also working with the Indian government to identify partner schools to provide resources to help teachers educate students about the importance of clean drinking water,\u201d says Leicester. She adds that her team also works with schools in Rochester to provide internships for teachers, who conduct research in Mayo\u2019s science labs.<\/p>\n

Closer to home, Leicester is reaching out through the \u201cComfort Choir\u201d she started using the model of a hospice choir she had belonged to in the Twin Cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt provides opportunities to get community members singing and offer the gift of voices to those who are facing end-of-life issues or other situations in their lives,\u201d notes Leicester.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve sung at people\u2019s bedsides or after they\u2019ve received a tough diagnosis,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re all volunteers and go where we\u2019re called.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while serving the greater good is always the first priority, it\u2019s particularly nice when service aligns with individual passions. Stevens has devoted significant blocks of time to the area\u2019s Frozen River Film Festival each winter and Great River Shakespeare Festival programs on WSU\u2019s campus each summer, allowing him to screen films, visit with actors, and work behind the scenes in countless ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always interested in broadening the reach of the university,\u201d Stevens says. \u201cEvents like these bring people on to campus \u2013 often for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The volunteer veteran also advises a number of Winona State\u2019s undecided majors. \u201cThis is the perfect way to stay connected with WSU students and programs, plus it\u2019s a service that\u2019s needed, greatly appreciated by students, and enjoyable to me. It\u2019s a win-win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n

GOING FORWARD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creating mutually beneficial situations is Kohner\u2019s greatest aim. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly thinking of new ways to keep our retirees connected through education, service, and social outreach,\u201d says Kohner, who worked in WSU\u2019s Office of University Advancement for more than a decade before taking on her current role at the Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many retirees who do so much within the university, within the community, and really all over the world,\u201d she says. \u201cIn terms of time and monetary equivalences,\u201d adds Stevens, \u201cretirees do things for the university that are far beyond what most people probably realize. They\u2019re giving back in countless ways! If you think about how much their time is worth, it\u2019s considerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the truth is, most retirees believe they gain as much as they give. \u201cSo often,\u201d Leicester says of her efforts, \u201cIt\u2019s hard to know who gets the most benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shari Kiple For many of Winona State University\u2019s 400-plus retirees, their years as employees may have ended, but their service to the institution is far from over. The WSU Retiree Center is re- engaging former employees in exciting new ways. \u201cSometimes there\u2019s a mistaken assumption that when people retire, they don\u2019t do anything,\u201d says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,7,8],"class_list":["post-81","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wsu-magazine","tag-ann-kohner","tag-comfort-choir","tag-frozen-river-film-festival","tag-grandparents-university","tag-great-river-shakespeare-festival","tag-mayo-clinic","tag-retiree-center","tag-retirees","tag-rochester-public-schools","tag-winona-state-university","tag-wsu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/09\/retiree21.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PQMT-1j","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}