The Brief History of an Award Winning Online Gerontology Program

Posted on November 20, 2007 by Jennifer Brady

UMass Boston’s online Management of Aging Services track of the M.S. in Gerontology won the University Continuing Education (UCEA) New England’s 2007 Innovative and Creative Programming Award which was presented on October 24^th, 2007, in Westbrook, Connecticut, at UCEA New England’s annual conference.

To explain the genesis of this unique and increasingly popular program, Burton Holmes, Assistant Dean, Corporate Continuing and Distance Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston, agreed sit down with us for this brief interview.

Q: First of all, congratulations to you and everyone at UMass Boston for this great regional recognition from UCEA. Maybe it would be best to start by making sure we have a good understanding of the Management of Aging Services track and what it offers students?

Assistant Dean Holmes: Certainly. UMass Boston’s Management of Aging Services track of the M.S. degree in Gerontology is a new program that offers students an advanced degree in the growing field of aging services. This includes long-term care, service supported housing, community-based services, marketing to an aging population, and health services for those requiring chronic care.

The program affords professionals in the aging services network the opportunity to broaden their perspectives and develop skills in policy development and analysis, program management, administration, and finance with a focus on the aging population.

The program is designed primarily for mid-career professionals in the aging field, but it is also appropriate for persons who wish to enter the field for the first time. Its courses are delivered in both face-to-face and online formats which attract students from throughout the country.

Q: Clearly there is a set of national trends driving the need for continuing education on the implications of aging and the management of services to the elderly…

Assistant Dean Holmes: With the aging of the American population, especially the baby boom generation, and the concomitant demand for aging services in Massachusetts and throughout the United States, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and governmental agencies require persons trained to administer and manage these services. But I hasten to add UMass Boston isn’t new to this field. We have been a national leader in the academic study of social gerontology for more than two decades.

Q: A little background on UMass Boston’s leadership in this field is probably in order then?

Assistant Dean Holmes: I’m so glad you asked. For the record, UMass Boston’s Gerontology Department, located in our McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, along with the Gerontology Institute founded in 1984, form a strong core of gerontology studies and research on campus. The University developed the first-on-the-east-coast… and second in the nation… Ph.D. in Gerontology which was introduced in 1990. Our Master of Science program in Gerontology trains students in research and policy issues that assist the city of Boston, the state of Massachusetts, and the nation to address a number of issues surrounding a diverse aging population.

Q: It’s my understanding that the Managing of Aging Services track filled a growing demand for a practitioners program at a time when these were not easy to find. How and when was the program developed?

Assistant Dean Holmes: In 2003, the leaders of the Gerontology program approached the Division of Corporate, Continuing and Distance Education (CCDE) about developing a new track in the M.S. program designed for practitioners in the field.

You are quite right, by the way, about the need. At the time, our research revealed that practitioner programs in the field were extremely rare yet the number of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, senior centers, councils on aging, home care agencies, and numerous government agencies and other organizations–all needing qualified managers–were growing rapidly. Focus groups were organized with aging services management personnel. These discussions yielded valuable information about the strong need for such a program and also about specific content issues. Surveys administered to directors of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home health agencies confirmed that a graduate program focusing on the intersection of gerontology and management was needed to support the growing industry.

CCDE hired Massachusetts‘ former Secretary of Elder Affairs Dr. Lillian Glickman, and Assistant Secretary of Elder Affairs, Ellen Birchander, to work with gerontology faculty of the McCormack Graduate School to develop a curriculum for the new track and co-direct the new program. Topics covering service delivery issues, chronic disease management, aging services organization and financing, marketing, and human resources were developed into courses which complemented existing courses in the MS curriculum.

Q: When was the new track finished and first offered to students and, since then have enrollments grown?

Assistant Dean Holmes: The first full cohort of seven students began taking courses in the program in fall 2004. A marketing campaign which leveraged the Co-Directors vast array of contacts in the field has led to increasing numbers of new students each semester. The program now serves 48 matriculated students and generates 176 enrollments annually.

Of key importance, of course, is that instruction is delivered by full-time University faculty, the Co-Directors of the program, and qualified professionals in the field who have part-time status. And, the curriculum is organized so that students can complete the 30-credit program in a two year time period. The Co-Directors maintain significant contact with all students in the program and even students just taking classes on a non-matriculated basis. These communications are offered in person if proximity allows, but are frequently by telephone, email, and other electronic media.

Academic oversight is provided by the McCormack Graduate School and the Department of Gerontology while administrative services in the form of budgeting, marketing, purchasing and payroll, scheduling, registration and recordkeeping are provided by CCDE.

A total of 21 students have now received their MS in Gerontology following the Management of Aging Services track. Some of the positions they hold include director of an adult day care center, nursing home administrator, program coordinator for a state agency on aging, and program manager for an elder service agency. The Co-Directors also assist program graduates in finding employment in the field and monitor their success. The positive reputation of the program continues to grow; the Co-Directors regularly receive communications from the aging network regarding job availability for graduates of the MAS program.

Q: And the students themselves… how do they rate the program?

Assistant Dean Holmes: Student evaluations are uniformly positive, with instructors receiving an average score of 9.5 on a 10 point scale. Typical statements are: “This program has provided me with a better understanding of aging issues as well as the management skills that will position me to move up the career ladder.” “This program has opened the door to a new career in gerontology for me and made it possible to move from a high tech to an elder service career; I am excited about my new options.” “I learned so much and enjoyed the interaction with my classmates and the personal attention from the instructors.”

Demand for the Management of Aging Services program, especially in an online format, has grown dramatically since the program’s inception. The number of inquiries now exceeds 40 per month, with a growing number coming from outside Massachusetts.