Copy

WISE President's Blog: March 2019

Dear Fellow WISE Members,

While I write this, C session is just ending and D session will begin March 25. During the break, 8 of our members and our Director are enjoying a Road Scholar trip where they are surrounded by the natural beauty of the American Southwest. Their adventure will end with a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas. WISE certainly does provide a plethora of learning opportunities, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, your Council continues to ensure that WISE runs smoothly and keeps its eye on the future. Our meeting on March 13 had such a pithy agenda that we met for nearly 2 ½ hours. Here are the highlights which are significant enhancements to WISE’s programming and functioning. Be prepared! 

Summer Courses. Final decisions have been made. The catalog content and format are nearly finished. The Council thanked Joe Corn and the Task Force for their excellent work in adding a new component to WISE’s panoply of educational offerings.

Approval for Establishing WISE Special Interest Groups (SIGs). A group of members created a proposal to establish SIGs within WISE. These are groups formed around a specific subject matter (often an extension of a WISE course), led by a paid expert with an unpaid assistant who represents the Council, a small group of advisers with relevant expertise, and 15+ charter members. We already have one SIG: Jack Ross’s Supreme Court Discussion Group. SIGs are quite popular at other leading New England lifelong learning institutes. For further information you can contact Mike Fishbein, (mike@fishbein.org 508-272-9794) who is the Council representative for SIGs.

Final Report from the Planning and Operations Task Force (POTF). Last September this task force began its work to analyze the effects of WISE’s growing membership on its educational and other programs; on the systems that support those programs (e.g., number of courses, number of volunteers, paid staff); and on future outreach activities. To our astonishment and delight, under the leadership of Pat Hurton the task force members completed their work and presented their findings in just 6 months. In sum, the conclusions are:

  • Expense and revenue projections indicate that WISE will remain financially stable and have enough class venues, group leaders, financial resources, etc., until membership headcount reaches 540. (Current headcount is 475.)
  • Currently we have 100 volunteers in 147 volunteer positions doing the work of running WISE. Attrition may require recruitment of 20 new volunteers/year.
  • Volunteer recruitment and recognition is a necessary component of member-driven organizations like WISE. WISE does not have such a program; a volunteer coordinator (who is a volunteer) would provide volunteer-related support.
  • Written descriptions for each leadership position (i.e., president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, committee chairs, and at-large members) would facilitate recruitment of members into these positions. (Note: Those position descriptions have since been written.)

Contact Pat Hurton (pjhyrton@yahoo.com, 508-839-2461) for more information about the POTF report.

Change in Leadership Effective FY 20. Regrettably, personal circumstances require me to resign the presidency of WISE effective June 1, 2019 (actually, at the June 4 annual meeting). Below is the letter I sent to Council on March 12 with details.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

Marsha Addis, President
maddiswise@gmail.com
land: 508-829-9383
cell: 626-422-6701

March 12, 2019

Dear Council Members,

I regret that I need to resign my position as President of WISE effective June 1, 2019.

As you know, I have significant medical challenges resulting from asthma and degenerative arthritis with its associated chronic pain. These are becoming worse and my energy level for managing other things is going down. I do not want my personal situation to interfere with WISE’s continued successes.

Fortunately, the rest of the leadership team, headed by Tej Meini with capable support from Susan Perschbacher and the rest of the WISE Council, is prepared to carry on quite effectively. Tej is very smart and has an excellent understanding of organizational leadership and dynamics from his professional career. Susan’s love for WISE and her strong connection with Assumption and how it functions are great benefits in support of smooth relations between WISE and its parent organization.

During my years as a Council member, Chair of the Communications Committee, 2nd Vice President, 1st Vice President, chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, and President, I have been privileged to work with you and other WISE members to

  • invigorate the communications program,
  • help jump start the Outreach Committee,
  • lead development of a fundraising plan,
  • coordinate the 25th Anniversary activities and create the 20th- and 25th-anniversary program books,
  • create the Planning and Operations Task Force that is helping to frame WISE’s future growth, and
  • update WISE’s bylaws to reflect current officer recruitment and electronic communications realities.
WISE is one of Worcester’s stars and I am proud to be part of it. I look forward to seeing its continued stability as it plans for inevitable challenges in the future. In that regard, I will continue participating in WISE by going to classes and helping the leadership whenever I am needed.

With every good wish,
Marsha
Marsha Addis, President

Mission Statement

The Worcester Institute for Senior Education (WISE) at Assumption College is a member-directed organization providing lifelong learning opportunities for older adults.

Copyright © 2019 Worcester Institute for Senior Education at Assumption University, All rights reserved.


unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences 

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp