BEHIND THE SCENES
By Debbie Halverson, President
SOON, THE OLLI CAMPUS WILL BECOME A QUIETER PLACE with our students back in their warm homes, snuggling in until the onset of the spring term.
     But this doesn’t mean that activity at Tallwood will cease. Many of the clubs will continue to meet, and like "Ol' Man River," the committee work will just keep rolling along. Many committee chairs have ongoing projects that can’t stop at winter break, because time lost is progress lost.

The planning committee, concerned about OLLI’s future, focuses on matters like the impact of the UBRC (University-Based Retirement Community), Mason's projected site for us when they take back the Tallwood land for their own purposes. The committee is considering other options depending upon how well the UBRC might work out. They evaluate the Loudoun project within the broader context of our future and our reaching out to a larger community of OLLI members. The various program resource groups begin their brainstorming for summer and fall term ideas and the publications committee sighs relief as it sends the spring catalog to press … only to start planning for the next. Membership recruitment has a few irons on the fire; for one, a subcommittee of recruitment will be making presentations to retirees from the CIA in Reston on a monthly basis, with two ex-CIA members speaking to those groups. The membership committee is also the sponsor of the mini-town meetings that will be scheduled once a month at Tallwood on specific subjects, the first today at 11:30. Bring your lunch; it will be very informal. Ad hoc committees will step lively too: The newly appointed nominating committee will be developing a slate of director candidates to present to you in the spring; another ad hoc committee is overseeing the revamping of the registration system so that before long you will be able to register for classes online; an executive handbook revision committee is busily preparing a compilation of changes to the all-important handbook that includes policy decisions that govern Board action. And finally, the executive director and a board member are about to launch an e-questionnaire for your responses that will help us learn more about your interests and needs, how OLLI membership identifies itself and what makes us all tick.

     You will receive notification of activities that are specially scheduled during the break and, of course, you can come to the board meetings that occur the third Friday of each month, no matter what. Keep an eye on your OLLI E-News that rarely goes on vacation and open your email "blasts" from the office or messages from me to keep on top of things.
     We’ll still keep the light on; the staff in the office, albeit with shorter hours, and our full-time executive director working through the stack of work on his desk, will keep Tallwood warm while the gardens outside rest quietly until spring and your return.

RESTON-AREA MEMBERS MEET ON DUES ISSUE
By Carol Henderson, Secretary
THIRTY-FOUR OLLI MEMBERS ATTENDED THE TWO-HOUR OPEN MEETING sponsored by the Reston Support Committee at the Reston church site on Friday, February 2. This was the first of two OLLI meetings to hear from members on the dues increase to $350 effective with the spring 2007 term.
     Chair Abbie Edwards opened the meeting by saying she intended to recommend a change in the name of the committee to the more accurate Reston Advisory Committee. She also noted she will be serving on this year’s Nominating Committee. She is looking for Board candidates from the Reston area, and would like to help a potential successor to assume chairmanship of the Reston Advisory Committee when she leaves the Board in May 2008.

Abbie turned the meeting over to president Debbie Halverson, who provided remarks describing the context in which the Board came to its decision on the dues level. She noted the growth of the Institute, both in numbers and in the complexity of its operations on two campuses and several off-campus sites, as well as to a third campus in Loudoun County in a pilot project this spring. OLLI now has 756 members, with 54 new members this winter term, although only four of the new members are from the Reston area.      Treasurer Charles Duggan provided details about the OLLI budget, the grants from the Osher Foundation, and the $1 million endowment from the Osher Foundation, housed at the George Mason University Foundation. OLLI has not yet received income from the endowment, but will, in steps over three years, receive an estimated four percent interest income as the endowment funds are invested. Charles also compared OLLI dues with dues and fees at other comparable LLIs.      Debbie provided information from the executive director’s job description on the ED’s duties, and clarified that his salary is not $100,000. That amount represents the total cost to OLLI including the package of benefits provided by GMU to persons at the Administrative Faculty rank. The ED is the only OLLI employee on a full-time basis with a benefits package; other staff are part-time hourly employees without a benefits package.      Debbie, Charles and other Board members present described the upcoming courses at Mason’s Loudoun County classrooms not far from Reston. Points made were that the OLLI presence was requested by the University, that these classes will be open on a space-available basis to current OLLI members without extra charge, and that following the pilot project, Loudoun County registrants would pay the same dues as all other OLLI members, with a credit for any fees paid during the pilot period.

     There was a lively question and answer period, with some members clearly critical of the amount of the dues increase, the need for an ED, and the pay package for the ED. Others said OLLI was still a bargain and expressed appreciation for the work of staff, board and committee members. There seemed a general consensus that the OLLI program was excellent, that the expansion to Loudoun County was welcomed, and that worsening traffic made it more difficult to get from either the Reston area or Loudoun locations to Tallwood, especially for 9:30 classes.

ART IN PHILADELPHIA?

By Dick Chobot, Executive Director

PEOPLE WHO WENT ON THE JAMESTOWN TRIP ASKED FOR MORE … and here it is … three days and two nights in Philadelphia! The dates: May 23-25, 2007. Once again we will be staying at an Embassy Suites property, this time in Center City. The rate includes an evening happy hour and breakfast.
     The bus will leave Tallwood at 10:00 am on Wed, May 23. Our first stop in Philadelphia is the Franklin Institute where you will have time to tour. We have reservations for the Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at 3:00. Hotel check-in is at approximately 5:00. Dinner will be on your own, with many fine restaurants within walking distance of the hotel.
      On Thursday, after breakfast, we will begin with a docent-guided tour of the Rodin Museum. Following lunch at the nearby Philadelphia Museum of Art, you will have a choice of one of three docent-led tours followed by time to tour the many other attractions of the Museum on your own. Dinner is again on your own. For those interested, we may be able to arrange theater tickets.
      On Friday, following breakfast and checkout, a visit is planned to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. I am working with the National Park Service to arrange a group tour of Independence Hall as an after-lunch activity, following which we will depart for OLLI.
     The cost, including bus, driver tip, two nights room (double occupancy), breakfast on the 24th and 25th, and admission for all museums and docent-led tours, is $410. The single supplement is an additional $220 for both nights. Lunches and dinners are on your own.
      We have firm reservations on a 47-passenger bus, so space is limited. We must lock in numbers for hotel rooms and the King Tut Tour by the end of February or risk incurring penalties.
     If you are interested in going, please pick up a reservation form in the office or email me, requesting that a form be emailed to you. Reservations must be accompanied by a $100 deposit, which is non-refundable. We are asking that all reservation forms be returned by Wed, Feb 28. If the trip is over subscribed, a wait list will be created. The balance of the fee will be due on or before Fri, May 4. The trip may have to be canceled if we do not get at least 40 sign-ups.
     This is going to be a great trip. I hope you will be able to join us.

WHAT ARE "FRIENDS" FOR?

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OFFICE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

By Mona Smith, Office Volunteers coordinator

THE OLLI OFFICE NEEDS MORE VOLUNTEERS to work one morning per month from 9:00 to 12:00 (or more if you have the time). While staff works in the back office, a person is needed up front to answer the telephone, address catalogs, assist with adding or dropping courses and perform other duties that may arise. It’s a good chance to get to know OLLI members that you haven’t met and to learn more about the workings of the organization. It is also a very valuable contribution to OLLI.

     Please contact either Elizabeth Osborn or me about signing up for the morning of your choice. You may also sign up in the OLLI Office on the calendar on the left-hand wall in front of the desk.

     You will be richly rewarded for your efforts (coffee or tea and free cookies and smiles from those you help while working).

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