2023-2024

NAME	POSITION
Peggy Davies	Chair
Kathleen Weary	Past Chair
Karen Jensen	Vice Chair
Angela Schmidt	Treasurer
Joan Vyner	Secretary
Sue Botari	Registrar
Alan Deschner	Past Registrar
Veronica Duczek	Assistant Registrar
Vacant	Communications Coordinator
Margaret McSweeney	Outreach Coordinator
Margaret Johnson	ZOOM Squad Leader

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FIRST STEPS

In the early 1980s, the Government of Canada developed 'New Horizons', a program that provided financial assistance to community organizations that developed and operated programs of benefit to seniors. One such organization was Saskatoon New Horizons, an unincorporated not-for-profit community association.

The Saskatoon New Horizons Board took an interest in educational programs, and visited with the University of Regina, which was providing university classes for seniors. As a result of this visit and of its continued interest in education for seniors, Saskatoon New Horizons reorganized itself and incorporated in January 1983, as the Saskatoon Seniors Cultural and Creative Studies, Inc. (SSCCS), with the express purpose of providing or ensuring 'learning activities for seniors through university classes'

Shortly thereafter, the University of Saskatchewan's Extension Division agreed to co-sponsor a program of university classes for seniors with SSCCS. The organization and operation of the classes, and it would appear most of their financing, was borne by the University's Extension Division.

In 1989, SSCCS agreed to begin to take on a larger share of the program's costs. The Extension Division would continue to manage the program and invoice SSCCS for costs. SSCCS would advertise and promote the program and the individual classes.

GROWING AND MATURATION

The program continued to thrive, and the relationship between the Extension Division and the SSCCS continued to be positive and strong. Major changes in the program occurred in the late 1990s.

In 1995, SSCCS reorganized and reincorporated as Saskatoon Seniors Continued Learning Inc. The new organization and its articles of incorporation focused solely on university-level classes and excluded the possibility for direct government financial assistance; in other words, SSCL was established as a self-financing and stand-alone organization, the Extension Division continued to absorb much of the overhead costs of the program.

SSCL continued to grow, with more than 200 members, and its need for more classes grew as well. The number of courses that the SSCL-Extension Division program offered grew in number and in enrolment, to about twelve courses in an academic year with an average enrolment of between 20 and 25.

CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON

In 2006, the Extension Division became the Centre for Continuing and Distance Education (CCDE). SSCL's need for additional courses and larger spaces continued to grow.

Formal contracts between CCDE and SSCL began to clarify the relationship and to move the financial responsibility ever more toward SSCL, although the course development, hiring and paying of instructors, and provision of classroom space continued th be the exclusive purview of the University through CCDE.

Some dissatisfaction developed in both parties: CCDE was protective of its internal administrative practices and costs and of the methods and amounts paid to instructors in the program; SSCL, which was paying most of the costs of the program (or so it believed) more and more wanted to have significant input into the development of courses and the recruitment and hiring of instructors.

In 2013, the University of Saskatchewan went through a 16-month exercise of review, and reorganization, one result of which was a decision to dissolve CCDE. Part of this review suggested strongly that the SSCL program should be eliminated, as well, since it was a cost centre and not a revenue centre. The SSCL executive, Board, and membership lobbied successfully to prevent that from happening, and the expiry of the then-existing contract on June 30, 2015 marked the end of the relationship between SSCL and the University of Saskatchewan in its historical form.

A NEW LOOK

In the last year of the 2010-2015 contract, SSCL was informed that CCDE would no longer have a relationship with either the organization or the program, and that the responsibility for the relationship between the University and SSCL was being transferred to the College of Arts and Science. Both SSCL and the College of Arts and Science spent the following year (from June 2014 through June 2015) discussing the future of the relationship and the program and negotiating the administrative and financial arrangements for the program to continue.

On July 1, 2015, a new relationship, a new program, and a new financial structure emerged. The program, Non-Credit Courses for Seniors Program, a collaborative undertaking of the College of Arts and Science and the Saskatoon Seniors Continued Learning Inc., financed almost entirely by SSCL. The College of Arts and Science role included the provision of suitable classroom space and marketing assistance through the College's webpage. SSCL developed the courses, recruited, hired, and paid instructors, undertook public marketing campaigns, managed course registration, and collected tuition fees, and generally managed the program in its entirety. SSCL engaged a one-third time program manager who looked after the details of the organization's responsibilities and oversaw the operations of the courses and the relationship between SSCL and the University.

In the 2018-2019 academic year, the program operated 23 eight-week courses with enrolments for more than 1200 classes. The SSCL membership had grown to more than 600 seniors in the City of Saskatoon area and immediate area, and the relationship between SSCL and the College of Arts and Science and the University of Saskatchewan reached its highest.

One of the innovative additions to the program began in the Fall term of 2014. The "President's Lecture Series" presents a series of lectures given by highly qualified academics and practitioners over an 8- to 10-week period. The first Lecture Series included eight lecturers, each of whom presented a two-hour lecture. The 2019 Series featured a total of 22 presenters who gave their lectures over a period of 10 weeks.  The 2024 Series will include 18 presenters speaking on the theme “Curing the World’s Ills”.

The 2020 Spring Term began with a full slate of courses committed and scheduled, advertising launched, and registrations were complete . . . when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The University of Saskatchewan abruptly cancelled all its on-campus learning and locked down all campus facilities. 'Regular' university courses in the Spring Term could be taught only online, and all examinations including final examinations, could be done only online. SSCL was asked to cancel its Spring Term program, and did so, refunding all tuitions that had been paid, cancelling all teaching arrangements, although an ex-gratia payment of 25% of the full payment to instructors was made.

When the University announced that the 2020 Fall Term would not include on-campus in classroom instruction, SSCL made the decision to undertake the development of online learning capability. It was decided to begin by offering the annual President's Lecture Series online, and arrangements that had been begun with the President's Office prior to the shutdown of on-campus instruction continued, with the understanding that the lectures would be presented online.

To introduce SSCL's new approach to learning, the 2020 President's Lecture Series Online would be made available to SSCL members free of charge.Following a successful online 2020 President's Lecture series for which more than 400 SSCL members enrolled, a decision was made to pilot a regular non-credit course online in the 2021 Winter Term. Again, the response was significant: 306 SSCL members enrolled and paid fees. In the 2021 Spring Term, three online non-credit courses were offered, this time to an average of more than 150 members.

September 2021 - SSCL ONLINE

The 2021 Fall Term again was completely online for SSCL.

In 2021, the SSCL Board and members had learned much about safely offering online courses. We hoped that we could meet the challenges which COVID-19 presented, and it is apparent that we did so. In the academic year of Fall 2020 through Spring 2021, SSCL started with just one online course and increased the number of online courses as we became more confident with the skills of volunteers and the acceptance by SSCL members. SSCL membership remained high and the evaluations for each of the courses offered online were positive. SSCL Board and members are grateful to the instructors who came forward to offer their coursesonline via Zoom.

Fall 2021 courses continued to be delivered online and registration remained high. The four courses offered covered various disciplines, and again we are grateful to the instructors who taught them. President Stoicheff hosted the Eighth President’s Lecture Series. The topic was“Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” and the presenters covered a wide range of topics that touched many of today’s major issues.

Because of continuing concerns about the pandemic, Winter 2022 and Spring 2022 courses were presented online only. The high quality of instructors and interesting courses attracted attendance as high as had been the norm for on-campus courses.

The Fall 2022 Term saw another first for SSCL. Five courses plus the President’s Lecture Series were delivered face-to-face on campus. In addition, three courses were delivered exclusively online. For the first time, the President’s Lecture Series, entitled "Imagining a Post-Pandemic World", was delivered simultaneously in-person on-campus and online. This mix of in-person, online, and hybrid courses, may be the future design for SSCL programming.

2023 and Beyond – Moving to Hybrid

SSCL members have spoken by enrolments that they want and a mix of in-person, online, and hybrid courses! Hybrid courses deliver to both in-person and online simultaneously.

The 2023 Winter Term brought SSCL programming into this new era of teaching, featuring three in-person courses and three hybrid courses. Although registrations for the in-person courses/components were somewhat lower than anticipated, the numbers for the online components more than made up the difference.

A “New Hybrid Option” has been introduced in 2024.  This option allows members who have registered for an in-person course to also attend via ZOOM, if they are ill or away.

Our 2024 Fall Term features EIGHT courses, including the hybrid PRESIDENT’S LECTURE SERIES, one online course and all other courses hybrid.

The SSCL 2024 Annual General Meeting will take place on September 16^th, and will be presented in hybrid mode, with the in-person component in 202 Arts and broadcast from there to other SSCL members through ZOOM.