CAREERS IN AGING WEEK (April 1st - 7th, 2012)
Event Summaries

Careers in Aging Week 2012 was a success! Students attended a number of University sponsored discussion panels, career fairs, and film screenings. The Geriatric Social Work Initiative thanks the colleges and universities below who planned and shared the successes from their CIAW events. Below is some of the feedback sent to us from the different award winners, as well as some of the resources they provided to students.

Bethany College, Department of Social Work
Mansfield University, Department of Applied Social and Behavioral Science
St. Catherine University, Department of Nursing and OT
St. Cloud State University, Gerontology Program
UCLA, Multicampus Programs in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology
Xavier University, Department of Psychology and Social Work

Continue to check this page for updates on the other events that were funded by GSWI.
To view a list of 2012 Careers in Aging Week (CIAW) award recipients, click here.

Click here to view a gallery of pictures from the 2012 CIAW events described below.

CIAW Event Summaries

Bethany College, Department of Social Work
Bethany College's event, The Wheel of Aging, was held in the college cafeteria on Wednesday, March 28, from 11:00-12:30, during the lunch session. Approximately 40 students participated in the event as volunteers, participants, or audience members. Twenty-four of the students were actual participants in the game. Each participant was given a 'game name' representative of those generally shared by older adults in our region. The Pat Sajak and Vanna White roles were played respectively by a theatre and social work major.

In addition to guessing the names of opportunities for employment in a variety of professional disciplines, students were given booklets summarizing information about career opportunities and educational programs in gerontology.

Mansfield University, Department of Applied Social and Behavioral Science
Mansfield University hosted its eighth Careers in Aging week. The week began with a presentation from guest speaker Dr. Mary Ann Erickson, Chair of Ithaca College Gerontology Program. The presentation was attended by 55 students and community members. A presentation on careers in aging was held and Dr. Erickson addressed the issues of housing in aging. Her talk was entitled "There's No Place Like Home:  Aging in Place", it covered a wide variety of themes, including the meaning of home, aging in place, age-friendly communities, and issues in senior housing. She shared current statistics as well as stories of older adults and video presentations. The program closed with a question answer session and snacks. Funding for the program came from The GSA award for CIAW and Pi Gamma Mu international honor society for the social sciences.

Information from The GSA was shared as well as information on the MU minor in gerontology. To advertise for Careers in Aging posters were placed throughout the campus for two weeks prior and email announcements were sent to all students. The careers in aging notice appeared in four local newspapers to reach the local community. Sociology and Social Work classes that week also addressed aging issues to tie the presentation into the classroom.

St. Catherine University, Department of Nursing and Occupational Therapy
St. Catherine University hosted Careers in Aging Week from April 2 to April 4, 2012. By collaborating with faculty, students and the community, the University hosted a variety of events to honor the week. The celebration kicked off with a research poster session and a singing/dancing performance by a group of dynamic seniors.  Other events included an Interprofessional Skills/Learning Lab that involved faculty and students from six different disciplines.  The week concluded with a conversation with faculty and students about careers in aging and a screening of “Calendar Girls.” Over 200 participants attended the events this year.

St. Cloud State University, Gerontology Program
The Saint Cloud State University Gerontology Program hosted a series of events for Careers in Aging Week 2012, including a colloquium “Don’t Be a Target of Healthcare & Consumer Fraud” (Tuesday, March 27th); an “Aging Services Panel” with representatives from the  Area Agency on Aging, Senior Center, Ombudsman Office, and Faith in Action (Tuesday, April 3rd ); an “Aging Careers Panel” with alumni, community partners, and a representative from SCSU’s Career Services Office (April 5th ); and a “Gerontology Open House” (April 5th).  Students also collected “personal care items for older adults in need” as part of the week’s events.

UCLA, Multicampus Programs in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology
UCLA's Multicampus Programs in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology initiative invited its incoming class to meet with geriatricians, gerontologists, and other non-faculty to discuss their career paths and how essential the study of gerontology is. The initiative included a partnership with UCLA's Academic Geriatric Resource Center and included a presentation by Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary, Administration on Aging. Greenlee also sat down with staff and students for a casual Q&A session, where she talked about her career path and her role as a politician, an advocate and as a daughter to her aging parents.  The following day, she presented at the UCLA medical grand rounds regarding “Health Care Reform: Implications for the Care of Older Adults.” The faculty, medical students and graduate students from Social Welfare and Public Health who attended received information on the impact of past and present policies that have increased momentum for person-centered services in different settings.

Xavier University, Department of Psychology and Social Work
Xavier University hosted two events for this year’s Careers in Aging Week. On Thursday, 3/29/12 a viewing of the documentary, Young @ Heart was held. On Monday, 4/2/12 a Career Panel Presentation was hosted, featuring local professionals who are employed in the field of aging. Panelists held the following professions: attorney, geriatrician, social worker, occupational therapist, psychology, health care administration/marketing. Both events were held in the Kennedy Auditorium, which is the university's newest campus auditorium. Snacks and water were provided at the movie viewing and light refreshments at the panel presentation.

Both events were well attended. The attendees represented a variety of undergraduate constituent groups. Female and male students attended, as well as students across class standing. After the documentary viewing, we briefly processed the content of the movie. For the Career Panel Presentation, each panelist briefly (i.e., 5-10 minutes) described her professional background and her path to a career working with older adults. A question and answer period followed the formal presentations; students also had the opportunity to speak with individual panelists after the question and answer period.