09/29/2022
By Ramraj Gautam
UMass Lowell Emeriti Professors:
We are reaching out to invite you to participate in an Intergenerational Team Talk.
In a 2021 survey conducted with 315 UMass Lowell Emeriti Professors (28% response rate; n=86) about 60% of Emeriti Professors reported interest in guest lecturing about once a semester or annually, and 48% expressed interest in sharing retirement and other experiences or serving as a panelist/discussant in courses. In analyzing the qualitative interviews (n=19), Emeriti Professors described their interest in being involved in some type of intergenerational activities with students.
Thus, we are designing and implementing an online intergenerational activity. We will recruit and pair an emeritus professor with four to five UMass Lowell undergraduate HSCI Introduction to Gerontology students for the purpose of exchanging experiences related to life, academic and careers trajectories. We invite you to participate.
If you agree to participate in this project, you will speak on Zoom (two, one-hour meetings), with a team of four to five undergraduate students (Intergenerational Team Talk) during October 2022. Students will take notes during the meeting, but the Zoom meeting will not be recorded. Students will not reveal your identity when writing a reflection paper assignment for the course.
If you are interested in participating in this novel Intergenerational Team Talk, please share your name, email address and preferred days/times when you would be available to speak with the students in this Qualtrics Survey Link.
Ramraj Gautam, Ph.D.
Associate Teaching Professor, Solomont School of Nursing
Karen Devereaux Melillo, Ph.D., A-GNP-C, FAANP, FGSA Professor Emerita
Solomont School of Nursing
Lisa M. Abdallah, Ph.D., RN, CNE
Professor, Solomont School of Nursing
Natthapan Phianthanyakam, MNS
Ph.D. student, Solomont School of Nursing