OLLI Program is Growing USCB's Impact in the Lowcountry
Where would you go to learn how to sketch? To learn how to prepare and present delicious hors d'oeuvres for your next party? To learn more about alligators, bees and the ocean around us or about the Buffalo Soldiers and their part in American history.
To OLLI, of course! The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at USCB is headquartered on the Bluffton campus and also has classroom space on the Hilton Head Island and Beaufort campuses. The mission of OLLI is to provide quality, intellectually stimulating not-for-credit educational opportunities and experiences specifically developed for adults of the Lowcountry. With over 100 course offerings, field trips and workshops per term, OLLI is a community treasure for people 50 years old and older.
OLLI is growing and currently has about 1,700 members, who are residents of Beaufort and Jasper counties and beyond. Members can take classes in-person, by Zoom or through the OLLI digital library. Courses are offered year-round and members can pay for each class separately or join for unlimited classes. There is also an annual OLLI membership fee. Most classes are completed in one session, but a few have multiple sessions.
“Our classes are geared to the Lowcountry environment and what students want to learn,” said Andrea Sisino, Associate Vice Chancellor of Community Outreach and Director of the Osher Lifelong Institute (OLLI) . “Most area residents moved from elsewhere and classes serve as an intro to the Lowcountry, while providing a social time for members. OLLI connects members to the unique Lowcountry community and to their sense of self at this point in their lives.”
Classes are 1 ½-2 hours and are geared to older adults who have the time and desire to explore new topics.
One enthusiastic member is Mary Lepley, who has been taking OLLI classes for several years. She spoke of the quality of the teachers, the variety of classes, and opportunities for field trips and tours. “
They are well organized, very welcoming and make everyone comfortable,” she said. “I feel I have grown so much and am learning about things I would never have been interested in before.”
The dynamic and talented Lowcountry Community Concert Band is also sponsored by OLLI. It performs four free community concerts per year and provides an opportunity for musicians of all ages and abilities to play instrumental music together for enjoyment. OLLI supports the band through administrative tasks, marketing, practice space and development.
“Our concerts are enjoyable, and it’s our mission to present them through an educational lens,” said David Carbone, the Lowcountry Community Concert Band’s artistic director and principal conductor. Carbone has been in this role for six years of the ensemble's eleven-year history.
OLLI is a national organization represented on 125 college or university campuses from Maine to Hawaii to Alaska. The “Osher” behind all this is California businessman and community leader Bernard Osher, who is now 97 years old. He started the San Francisco-based Osher Foundation in 1977, which seeks to improve quality of life through support for higher education and the arts.
OLLI is volunteer-driven. Instructors are a dedicated group willing to share their expertise and time with members. Curriculum teams, office support and community ambassadors are all volunteers. OLLI is self-sustaining with an endowment from the Osher Foundation, registration and membership fees, and the generous in-kind support of USCB for IT, HR support and designated space for office and classes on all three of the university’s campuses.
For more information visit: www.olli.uscb.edu or call the OLLI office at 843-208-8247.
Story by Andrea Hoerner, Kathryn Tovar and Carol Weir. Based on an article that orginally appeared in The Bluffton Sun.
