The Association for
Gerontology in
Higher Education
Brings You ...

The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), now an educational unit of The Gerontological Society of America, was established in 1974 to advance gerontology as a field of study in institutions of higher learning. It is the only national membership organization devoted primarily to gerontological and geriatrics education. The objectives are to foster research, instructional, and service programs to enhance the capacities of institutions of higher education in the field of aging and to help make their resources available to benefit the wider community and society. Its membership consists of over 300 colleges, universities, and other organizations interested in gerontological education and research and providing aging-related instructional and research programs. The academic institutions range from junior and community colleges to large universities. They include schools that only offer limited coursework in gerontology or geriatrics, as well as those with small developing programs in gerontology, and the major aging centers.

Resources available through the Association include:

- The Directory of Educational Programs in Gerontology and Geriatrics, 7th edition
- Standards and Guidelines for Gerontology Programs, 3rd edition
- Sample Course Syllabi
- A Brief Bibliography Series for gerontology instruction
- A quarterly newsletter, the AGHExchange

A three-year grant from the National Corporation for Service Learning has enabled AGHE, along with Generations Together at the University of Pittsburgh, to offer students across 30 different college campuses throughout the country an opportunity for intergenerational service learning.

Through AGHE's Program of Merit, institutions offering academic degrees, minors, or certificates focusing on aging can be recognized and evaluated for abiding by national standards and guidelines and for meeting their own goals and objectives. The Program of Merit designation essentially provides gerontology programs with an AGHE "stamp of approval" which can be used to verify program quality to administrators, to lobby for additional resources to maintain a quality program, to market the program, and to recruit prospective students into the program.

Along with the above resources and programs, AGHE sponsors an annual Educational Leadership Conference. The 33rd Annual Meeting will be held in Portland, Oregon, March 1 - March 4, 2007. AGHE's annual meetings are known for their informative presentations and sessions as well as offering a tremendous opportunity for networking.

For more information about the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, please visit its web site: http://www.aghe.org