Worcester, MA - The Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc. announces the appointment of Kelly Niles-Yokum, Ph.D. as the new director of its Gerontology Studies Program.
As director, Dr. Niles-Yokum is responsible for the overall administration and day-to-day operations of the Consortium Gerontology Studies Program (CGSP). Along with faculty from the participating institutions, she provides leadership and strategic planning in the areas of aging-related curricula, faculty development and student advising. In addition, she assists with grant-writing and serves as managing editor for Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, the official journal of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE).
Dr. Niles-Yokum holds a doctorate in gerontology from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Portland State University. She also received a Certificate in Gerontology with a specialty in ageing policy at the Institute on Aging at Portland State. Her doctoral training and professional experience have provided her with extensive experience in multidisciplinary collaboration, consensus-building and working with diverse groups. During the last five years, she was actively involved in the start-up of the new Erickson School of Aging Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
The CGSP, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, is a cooperative, academic program among four Consortium member institutions. Its mission is to develop an interest among undergraduate students in the field of aging and to provide these students with a basic understanding of the spectrum of needs, concerns and issues facing the elderly population today and in the years to come.
The main elements of the Program are courses, internships, academic advising, career planning and a gerontology certificate. The Certificate can be earned by students at any one of the participating colleges: Assumption College Day and Evening Programs, Clark University, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester State College.
“My goal is to develop the Program into a vital resource for all of the Consortium academic partners and the Worcester community,” says Dr. Niles-Yokum. “Aging is our future as are our students; and the Consortium is well positioned to provide leadership in planning for this future from a community perspective as well as from an educational perspective. I see an increasing interest in gerontology as a result of expanded outreach efforts and community-based initiatives that bring together key stakeholders interested in addressing the opportunities and challenges of the graying of the region. Through strategic partnerships, the Consortium can provide a model for other areas of the country and become a recognized leader in positive change in the area of planning and preparing for our aging future.”
“The Consortium’s Gerontology Studies Program represents a unique and highly successful academic collaboration among our participating colleges,” says Consortium Vice President Dr. Susan Wyckoff. “Collectively, each institution can offer its students a high quality program of study which enhances the existing curricular offerings to students. Our institutions and their students are all the beneficiaries of this fine program in Gerontology studies.”
Dr. Niles-Yokum, who lives in Sutton with her husband and two sons, succeeds Judy Gardner Ainlay, M.S.W. who led the CGSP for 12 years.
The Consortium, founded in 1968, is a not-for-profit association, which represents 13 public and private accredited colleges and universities located in central Massachusetts and oversees millions of dollars in federal and state funds for access to postsecondary education programs.
The Colleges of Worcester Consortium, founded in 1968, is a not-for-profit association of 13 public and private accredited colleges and universities located in central Massachusetts, which is committed to working cooperatively both to further the missions of the member institutions individually and to advancing higher education regionally.
Colleges of Worcester Consortium member institutions are: Anna Maria College, Assumption College, Atlantic Union College, Becker College, Clark University, College of the Holy Cross, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Quinsigamond Community College, Nichols College, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Worcester State College.