Introduction
If you took an online class at Bard LLI or registered on ProClass over the past seven months, you may have wondered how Bard LLI pulled it all together to transition from in-person classes to Zoom classes in a matter of weeks, while also transitioning to ProClass. Bard LLI’s technology rollouts and online programs were the result of hours and hours of meetings, rehearsals, and planning sessions, with an all-volunteer workforce, and included some members who joined Bard LLI as recently as 2020! In Part 1 of this two-part series, we profile some of these members and ask why they volunteered to join us on this journey, devoting so much time for no pay. Here’s what they had to say.
Technology Called to Her
Robin Berger joined Bard LLI in September 2019 and took classes on the Bard campus. After attending a Council meeting as a guest, she spoke to Deborah Schwartz, chair of Administration/Infrastructure, and asked to volunteer on the Technology Team. Deborah, of course, was excited to have another team member and was willing to train Robin on any task that interested her. Robin started with MailChimp, which is used for sending mass emails to the Bard LLI community. Then the spring came and the pandemic took over everyone’s lives. Robin joined the Online Task Force and was willing to become a session manager to help facilitate online learning. Although she looks forward to resuming classes in person, she has found Zoom classes to be successful and has enjoyed learning about supporting the presenters. She says, “The volunteer work I have done has made me more integrated into the Bard LLI community and I would not have met the number of people had I not decided to become a volunteer.”
New Member and New Presenter!
Lisa Schwarzbaum is both a new member and a new presenter at Bard LLI. She was a film critic for Entertainment Weekly for 20 years and a weekender in the area for 15 years. When she relocated here full-time three years ago, Lisa applied to Bard LLI after attending Intersession but she wasn’t selected in the admissions lottery. However, while taking a carpentry course with Felice Gelman and Linda LeGendre, she mentioned that she could teach a course on criticism, and they encouraged her to go that route as that would help her application. Lisa promptly put a course together and presented it to the Curriculum Committee in March, right before it was decided that LLI couldn’t be on-campus.
Lisa, a socially active person (she sings with the Bard Symphonic Chorus and is on the Tivoli Planning Board), agreed to teach online on Zoom and acknowledged that this was her biggest challenge. “Doing the class in Zoom and not having the benefit of knowing anyone beforehand was a challenge and felt lonely sometimes,” Lisa admitted. However, teaching the class allowed her to put her experiences in perspective. She was able to think about what she learned and values in her career, and shares amongst her peers. She said it helped her build a “community of peers.”
A ProClass Security Expert
Michael Scudder, a Bard LLI member since 2019 and a resident of Rhinebeck for 15 years, was quickly recruited by Deborah Schwartz to join the LLI Tech Committee. Michael has a background in computers and information technology but says that his passion is in the arts. While Michael has worked on all kinds of information strategy and security projects during his career, he also journals every day, loves the visual arts, enjoys drawing, and has a design business.
Michael was part of the tech team that incorporated the incredibly helpful program ProClass into the Bard LLI platform. He set up the security structure for ProClass, the program that now allows members to register for classes online and, ultimately, at the push of a button via a wishlist. His efforts eliminated hours of copious hand tabulating by the LLI Registration Committee. When asked what he gets from volunteering, Michael responded that he “enjoys being of service and contributing to others.”
Automated Attendance and Data Analytics
While now semi-retired, Navin Sharma ran a tech-based data analytics consulting company in NYC for 30 years. Because of his computer and data management skills, Deborah Schwartz quickly swooped him up to join Susan Christoffersen, and Chuck Mishaan on the Tech Support Team after he joined in 2019. Navin then became part of the small seminal group with Carmela Gersbeck, Susan Christoffersen and Jeff Christensen that did an extensive crash course on the new technology necessary to master the switch over to Zoom instruction. Navin reflected that they learned a lot from each other. He enthusiastically asserted that he has never worked with a team that was so helpful, respectful, and cooperative! There were very few technical issues, he added, because, “There was always someone who had an answer for everything!”
While Navin is also a session manager, he made a major contribution by creating an automated attendance reporting system, which has saved hours of time. He also mentioned that it made a huge difference receiving valuable support from people like Jill Lundquist (chair of the Planning and Evaluation Committee) and Nanci Kryzak (president of Bard LLI) to better understand the nature and larger needs of our community while developing these new programs.
Consider Volunteering!
Thanks to all of the Bard LLI volunteers! Volunteering can be rewarding and a great way to meet new people. Bard LLI is always on the lookout for volunteers. If you have an interest in helping out on one of the many committees, please take a look at the Volunteer Opportunities website or send an email to Barbara Burns at [email protected] and let her know what you might be interested in doing.
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