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Osher Learning Center Gets Infusion

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By LINDSAY PETERSON

lpeterson@tampatrib.com

Published: January 25, 2009

TAMPA - Less than a year after getting a $1 million grant, the University of South Florida's lifelong learning program has received another million.

Both sums came from the Bernard Osher Foundation, a San Francisco-based organization that gives money to colleges and universities with special attention to programs for older people returning to school.

The USF program adopted the Osher name in 2005, after receiving an initial $100,000 grant from the organization.

The most recent endowment "really solidifies our future," said Ara Rogers, director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at USF.

"We're living year-to-year in terms of the income we make on memberships and registration. ... This allows us to think for the long-term."

Since 1993, USF has offered SeniorNet computer education classes and study groups in the arts, sciences and humanities. It uses a peer-learning model in which members serve voluntarily as study group leaders.

Over the years, it's built an annual roster of more than 1,000 students. "We've grown by leaps and bounds. It's been a struggle to keep up," Rogers said. "This grant will allow us to continue to grow the program and offer it more people."

The winter term starts at the end of the month. Among the 70 classes being offered are "Introduction to Spreadsheets," "Judaism, Zionism and Israel in the Middle East," and "Self-Hypnosis."

What makes the Osher money so critical, Rogers said, is that the lifelong learning program supports itself without direct funding from USF. The combined $2 million is eligible for a 100 percent match through the state of Florida's Major Gifts Challenge Grants Program.

The USF Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is one of 123 across the country. For more information about the USF program, call (813) 974-5263 or go to www.usfseniors.org. Eckerd College in St. Petersburg also has an Osher institute, which can be reached at (727) 864-7600.

Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834.

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