Proposing an OLLI Course

DEADLINE FOR FALL 2024 SEMESTER COURSE PROPOSALS: FRIDAY, April 5,2024. Late submissions may be reviewed if received no later than Friday, April 26, 2024.


Thank you for your interest in teaching a course for OLLI at Illinois. Course proposals will be reviewed by the Curriculum Committee to assess appropriateness for the OLLI curriculum and level of interest in all proposed course topics. If approved, courses will be listed on the OLLI website and in our print materials, and will be open for registration by OLLI members. Course titles, descriptions, and instructor biographies may be edited for clarity, style, and length. (Please see the Current Courses page for examples of course descriptions and biographies - http://olli.illinois.edu/courses/current.html)

Deadlines

OLLI at Illinois is now accepting proposals for courses to be offered in the fall semester 2024. The 8-week fall semester will begin on Tuesday, September 3, 2024. OLLI also offers some 4-week courses, which can meet during the first or last 4 weeks of the semester.

Fall 2024 course proposals are due by Friday, April 7, 2024. Early submissions are encouraged. Late submissions may be reviewed if received no later than Friday, April 26. Only complete proposals will be considered, so please read the submission guidelines carefully.

About OLLI Courses

OLLI’s courses are scholarly in nature and most often involve lectures/presentations and in-class discussions. While almost all courses offer suggested readings, the typical OLLI course does not have out-of-class assignments or prerequisites. Instructors can expect an engaged and enthusiastic audience with varying levels of familiarity with the course topic – so it is strongly recommended that courses be tailored for an educated general audience.

OLLI course instructors are expected to have a combination of credentials and professional experience commensurate with teaching the topic to an educated general audience, and they must submit a current CV or resume as part of the application process. First-time instructors must also provide contact information for two teaching references.

Most courses meet once per week for 90 minutes. Class meetings (when they are conducted in person) are scheduled at OLLI’s facilities in the M2 building in downtown Champaign, with most classes meeting during Monday through Friday during business hours; early-evening and Saturday classes are also scheduled where appropriate. Online classes follow the same schedule. Following approval of the course, instructors will be contacted by the OLLI staff to discuss scheduling and other plans.

Stipend

Courses are taught by current and retired faculty from the U. of I. and other local colleges, or by members of the community with the qualifications and experience to offer the proposed topic; or team-taught by multiple instructors from a unit within the U. of I. or a relevant community organization (with one person serving as the coordinator and facilitator of the course). A stipend of $1000 is provided by OLLI ($500 for a 4-week course). In the case of a team-taught course, the stipend can be transferred to the coordinating unit.

Course Proposal Instructions

THE FOLLOWING MATERIALS ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL COURSE PROPOSALS, including those submitted by past instructors. Incomplete proposals will not be considered. ALL COURSE PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE ONLINE FORM.

  1. Name and contact information
  2. Course length (eight or four weeks)
  3. Course title that accurately describes the content of the course
  4. Brief course description (100 words)
  5. Course outline with a brief breakdown (2-4 sentences per week) of the week-by-week course structure and content
  6. Abbreviated research bibliography (max. 5 citations)
  7. Abbreviated Reading List for students (max. 5 citations)
  8. 100-word biographical statement of instructor.
    For team-taught course: provide names, professional titles, and two-sentence biographical statements for each presenter.
  9. Current CV or resume, including education and job history with employers, dates, degrees earned
  10. Will this course fulfill a requirement for outreach/broader impacts by your professional position or a grant? If yes, please indicate the position or grant for which this course will serve as an outreach project.

In addition to all of the materials above, first-time instructors must submit the following:
name, title, and contact information for two professional teaching references

Submission

All materials should be submitted to our OLLI Course Proposal website https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1139620491.

The deadline for Fall 2024 course proposals is Friday, April 7, 2024. Early submissions are encouraged. Late submissions may be reviewed if received no later than Friday, April 26, 2024. Proposals will be reviewed by the OLLI Curriculum Committee, and all applicants will be contacted by late May.

Questions

Please direct questions about courses and the proposal process to the OLLI Director at olli@illinois.edu or (217) 244-9141.