Gustavus eyes a different senior class

By Dylan Thomas
The Free Press

ST PETER November 20, 2005 11:08 pm

— Gustavus Adolphus College administrators are in the earliest stages of looking at housing seniors on their campus —not fourth-year students, but those who may have graduated decades ago.
On-campus retirement communities are a growing trend on college and university campuses nationwide, one that caught the attention of Gustavus Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Ken Westphal.
For about a year, Westphal has explored the idea of partnering with a development group that would build and manage housing for faculty, staff and alumni 55 years old and older on the St. Peter campus.
“For some, the best years of their lives may have been their college experience, so the thought of returning to that near the end of their working career ... is something they would be interested in,” Westphal said.
For retirees or older working adults, a campus can be a mentally and physically stimulating environment, where they can sit in on a lecture or play on the campus tennis court.
For schools, bringing retirees or older working people into the campus mix offers both academic and financial opportunities.
“We’re always looking at ways to broaden our revenue base (and) we’re looking at ways to establish different links with alumni,” Westphal said.
‘Very involved’
Some retirees retreat to warmer climates to live out their later years, but Elizabeth Dexter never considered it.
“That doesn’t appeal to me at all,” Dexter said by phone Thursday from her home in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Dexter has lived in University Commons — a mix of townhomes and duplexes on the University of Michigan campus — since construction was completed in 2001. The retirement community is restricted to adults 55 years old or older (an age Dexter said she is “well past”).
“It has been just right for me,” she said.
Like most residents, Dexter is an alumnus of the university, having earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in social work. She has continued her studies since returning to campus, and is currently enrolled in history, music and creative writing classes.
University Commons is located on land purchased from the University of Michigan, but far from the center of campus.
“If you lived right next to student housing, that would be a hazard,” Dexter said.
Still, there are close ties between the community and campus.
Some residents are professors, still actively teaching classes. Campus faculty give weekly lectures at University Commons. Graduate students in music perform regularly in the center’s recital hall.
“I feel very involved in one way or another,” Dexter said, adding the activity could be a health benefit.
Mutual benefits
When Campus Continuum announces its first project before the end of the year, it may look something like University Commons.
One of a number of firms that have sprung up in recent years to bring schools, alumni and developers together, its focus is “55-plus active adult communities” — the same model Gustavus is considering.
Managing director Gerard Badler said the communities encourage interaction between students and adults, to mutual benefit.
Like University Commons, the communities tend to attract faculty and staff who are still active on campus. Some seniors serve as mentors or advisors to students, or even a source for a term paper.
“A professor can give an assignment on World War II and then say, ‘Trot across the street and interview somebody who actually lived through World War II,’” he said.
Schools benefit financially from the sale or lease of unused property, as well as the fees adult residents pay for access to campus programs and facilities.
“If the school treats these people in a warm, welcoming way — given that most of them will be hanging around for a longer period of time than most undergraduates — they will think well of the school and give additional donations,” Badler added.
Unknowns
Groups like Campus Continuum target schools like Gustavus, where Westphal said about 120 acres of farmland are available for development. But the land-rich school is poor in some areas that attract retirees.
One issue is the lack of summer programming. Gustavus does not offer summer classes.
“A certain segment of this population might be in Arizona or Florida for part of the winter,” he said. “When they’re here in the summer time, this population is going to want to be active, and there is going to need to be some programming.”
Recreation and exercise opportunities are also key to drawing retirees, and Gustavus’ athletic center is already filled to capacity.
“We’re already tight for our students, and the thought of bringing in another 200 retirees, or whatever, would push that facility beyond what we currently have space for,” Westphal said.
There are plans to address both issues at Gustavus, independent of the retirement community discussion. But beyond those hurdles, there is still one major unknown for Gustavus: If they build it, will anyone come?
“The little bit of data that we’ve heard so far is that, at least in this climate, people are more likely to return who are already several hours away,” he said. “They are not going to move from Portland to St. Peter.”
Westphal’s next move is to work with a marketing firm on a study of Gustavus alumni within about 100 miles who would be likely to return to campus.
A positive response could spark a process that would change the look of Gustavus’ campus, and its student body.
“It could be very exciting, from a life-learning standpoint, for our current students as well as people coming to campus,” he said.

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