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Ackland Art Museum

The Ackland Art Museum, UNC-Chapel Hill’s local art museum with a global outlook, is seeking RFPA members to join the Ackland as a museum member. Member events allow you to meet new and longstanding friends of the museum who share your commitment to arts in our community.

Retired faculty can receive a 20% discount off Basic Membership levels (the individual, household, patron, benefactor levels of membership). Those who are interested can sign up in the museum store at the discounted price or contact Anna Mathews at acklandmembership@unc.edu. The link for the discounted membership prices does not live on the Ackland website and must be sent.

Another opportunity to engage with the Ackland and the public is to become an Ackland Docent. Docents participate in specialized training that equips them to lead lively and interactive tours for K-12 school groups and community groups. Training sessions focus on both art and effective teaching strategies for the Ackland’s diverse audiences. To find out more about the Docent program, visit https://ackland.org/support/get-involved/docent-program/.

For more information about the museum’s collection, current and upcoming exhibitions, and programs, visit www.ackland.org.

Carolina Center for Public Service

The Carolina Center for Public Service invites retired Carolina faculty and professionals to join in its work of connecting the energy and expertise of both the University and the community to provide students, faculty and staff with deep and transformative experiences and to create collaborative and interdisciplinary solutions to local and global challenges.

Retired faculty and professionals support this work by reviewing applications and nominations for scholarships, awards and fellowships, offering their expertise in guest lectures for service-learning courses or community engagement programs, and offering non-academic skills trainings that help equip students with the capacity to become more effective in their service work.

Contact ccps@unc.edu if you are interested in getting involved with the Center in any of these ways. Or sign up for the Public Service News here to stay updated on its programs as well as opportunities promoted by community partner organizations.

Habitat For Humanity

The Orange County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity is trying to expand its stable of “Regular Volunteers” who work with others in building new affordable-homeownership units. Several current regulars are retired UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and professionals, and they are hoping to recruit others. No construction training is needed; the paid staff train the new volunteers. Habitat for Humanity provides affordable homeownership to families who might not otherwise have the opportunity to have a home of their own.

Habitat relies on volunteers to keep the cost of housing low. Volunteering is flexible and fun, and no prior construction experience is necessary. Volunteer opportunities are available every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon or 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. To signup online, go to  https://orangehabitat.volunteerhub.com. If you have questions or problems signing up, contact Ansel Prichard, Volunteer Engagement Manager, at aprichard@orangehabitat.org or 919-932-7077 ext. 220. Also available for information is Professor Emeritus Jim Yankaskas (james_yankaskas@med.unc.edu).

Institutional Review Boards

The UNC-Chapel Hill Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are looking for additional members. For those not familiar with the IRB system, review its website which explains that these Boards are responsible for ethical and regulatory oversight of research at UNC-Chapel Hill that involves human subjects. Any research involving human subjects proposed by faculty, staff or students must be reviewed and approved by an IRB before research may begin, and before related grants may be funded.

IRBs are critical components of the coordinated Human Research Protection Program, which serves to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects.

They seek those with scientific backgrounds as well as non-scientists and welcome applicants who are both not formally affiliated with UNC and those who are UNC affiliated (*i.e., full time and part-time employees; immediate family of employee, retiree, current students; members of any governing panel or board of the institution; paid or unpaid consultants; healthcare providers holding credentials to practice at the institution; and volunteers working at the institution on business unrelated to the IRB).

To learn more, visit the IRB website at: https://research.unc.edu/human-research-ethics/

Applications for membership can be found here.

If you have any questions, please contact Laura Munn at  lmunn@unc.edu  or 919-966-5817.

Intergenerational Philosophy 

The Philosophy Department and Parr Center for Ethics have partnered with the Retired Faculty and Professionals Association for several years to create intergenerational spaces for learning and discussion about life’s most pressing questions. At its core, philosophy is about asking questions and critically reflecting on our beliefs and values, and we believe it is best practiced in the company of others. Our hope is that by drawing on the rich and varied experiences represented across generations, we can promote lifelong learning and strengthen the ties of the Carolina community.

This year, the main opportunity for involvement will be the next iteration of Intergenerational Philosophy class (Spring 2025). From early February through late April, RFPA members are invited to participate in regular philosophical discussions with UNC-CH undergraduates at the Seymour Center, discussing a range of topics and questions curated both by students and discussion participants. Contact Philosophy Teaching Assistant Professor & Director of Outreach Michael Vazquez (michael.vazquez@unc.edu) with any questions about this program, or with ideas for future programming.

International Student and Scholar Services

International Student and Scholar Services is partnering with RFPA for roundtable discussions on topics that benefit international scholars at UNC-Chapel Hill and retired faculty. Each event is an hour-long discussion followed by lunch and networking.
Please contact Lynne at lynnevf@email.unc.edu or Connie Eble at connieceble@gmail.com if you are interested. Roundtable discussion times will be posted on the RFPA website and shared in the newsletter.

National High School Ethics Bowl

UNC’s Parr Center for Ethics invites community members to serve as judges for its award-winning National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB) program. The NHSEB is an educational outreach program designed to get thousands of students nationwide thinking, talking, and working together on tough moral and political issues. The program’s collaborative, yet competitive format (unlike speech and debate) is based on the idea of a conversational dialogue. The goal is to work together toward something true or reasonable rather than to subdue the opposing argument with superior rhetoric. Students are evaluated based on the clarity and quality of their reasoning, as well as the ways they engage with each other’s ideas: ideally, honestly, respectfully, and productively.

The two large on-campus events will be the regional competition on January 25, 2025, and the national event April 11-13, 2025. For more information about the NHSEB program, or to volunteer, please contact ethicsbowl@unc.edu.

For Fall 2024, there are opportunities to connect with the Parr Center by attending any of its public talks (during the day or in the evenings), and there may be opportunities for ad-hoc engagement with undergraduate students. Professor Vazquez is working with a team of undergraduate students who would welcome the opportunity to for intergenerational dialogue in Fall 2024.

 

Postdoctoral research presentations 

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs invites retired faculty and professionals to attend sessions of the postdocs’ Research Cafe. Postdoctoral scholars briefly present their research for questions and discussion to an audience of non-specialists. Its website here will contain information for upcoming talks as promotional materials ready as well as the link for folks to sign up for the listserv.

The fall schedule:

Data on Contemporary Authoritarianism in Context: Russia since the Invasion of Ukraine.

Tuesday, Oct. 1, co-sponsored with the Morehead Planetarium.

Venue: Haw River Taproom, Carrboro

The Future of Cancer. 

Tuesday, Nov. 19

Venue: Chapel Hill Public Library

Shared Learning

RFPA is developing an arrangement with Shared Learning of Chapel Hill to participate in a joint project for RFPA members to teach Shared Learning courses on topics about which they are well-versed and passionate.  Shared Learning presenters are termed moderators to emphasize that Shared Learning courses are collaborative. Shared Learning courses can be either zoom or face-to-face.

RFPA has agreed to help interested RFPA members develop course proposals and format them to Shared Learning standards and to circulate course descriptions among RFPA members to determine interest in signing up for the courses offered. RFPA moderators would teach the courses with a mix of RFPA and Shared Learning enrollees.

Those interested in moderating a shared learning can get an idea of the scope and teaching approaches being employed by examining the Shared Learning website  at https://sharedlearning.us/. If you continue to be interested, please contact Michael Salemi (michael_salemi@unc.edu) to discuss the next steps.

Tips for Retired Faculty and Professionals on Volunteer Opportunities

Don Stedman, Past President

When you retire, and if you have you probably know this, everyone thinks you have nothing to do now so you should be happy to work for them – and for free.  After all, “Retirees are the backbone of the volunteer industry.” And, they think you should be available on the spur of the moment for whatever needs doing.

True enough, now that you have retired, you do have more time to do what you want to do; even if, once in a while, it’s nothing. At least your time may be more flexible than it was with whatever you did before.

Maybe you didn’t retire on purpose. Maybe you would rather not be retired at all. In any event, you are someone marked as an available hand, for free, to do whatever. Well, you probably should volunteer anyway. It’s a good thing for you to do and people do need help, especially community non-profits with needs to fill and few resources to hire people to meet the needs. However, when you are asked to volunteer and you do consider it, it is very important for all concerned that you maintain control of what you volunteer to do, when you do it, and how long you keep it up. Let me explain.

Many people in the community with volunteer needs haven’t carefully planned what they really need from volunteers or how to describe to potential volunteers what they need and want. You can help the asking group and you can help yourself if you keep several guidelines and cautions in mind before you accept an invitation to volunteer.

Here are some GUIDELINES. Be able to answer “Yes” to all these questions or don’t take the job.

Is it clear what the organization asking for your help wants you, as a volunteer, to do?

Is the activity well planned?

Is it a need, an activity or goal that you personally support and admire?

Do you have the interest and the ability to do the tasks required of volunteers?

Do you have the amount and schedule of time to commit? Will you show up, stay for the duration and be reliable?

Can you be a good follower and not try to take over? (Unless asked.)

And, here are some Special Cautions:

The gig should not be open ended. Get and give time commitments.

Your work should mean something – i.e. somebody really needs the product of your efforts.

Don’t volunteer just because a friend is putting the bite on you. Sometimes urgent needs infringe on good friendships.

The Research Triangle region is full of non-profits, service agencies, schools, causes, and advocacy groups. In today’s economy, fund raising is especially tough.  So support for staff workers is at an all time low.  Volunteers are needed now more than ever and the pool of retirees is expanding.

Volunteering should be part of your new “work plan”.  I strongly encourage it. It’s healthier for you to be busy and feel needed. It’s good to be part of a team. Your “encore” period of development should help you grow, not age. It should add to your feelings of productivity and worth. Volunteering is a good thing, but plan it like you plan the rest of your life.

All of this is probably intuitive. But, I have found that if you don’t approach volunteering in a clear and planful way, you probably won’t turn out to be of much help to anybody, including yourself.

 

Last updated August 2024