Who We Are

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Vermont

In January 2003, the University of Vermont received a generous grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation to establish Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes that provide courses and programs for Vermonters aged 50 and over. The University received three subsequent grants followed by a $1 million endowment in October, 2006 and a second $1 million endowment gift in 2016 to permanently establish the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UVM. Institutes now exist in seven Vermont communities in Central Vermont, Lamoille Valley, Rutland, Springfield, St. Johnsbury, St. Albans, and in Greater Burlington.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes offer new opportunities for serving the intellectual needs of Vermont’s older citizens through non-credit lectures, courses, and programs offered at an affordable cost in communities throughout the state. Local community members, in collaboration with UVM, design the curriculum and enroll in non-credit classes taught by active and retired UVM faculty or other area college faculty and experts.

Volunteer with OLLI

As a member-run program, OLLI at UVM relies on the talents, skills, and time of members to support its activities and to keep membership costs affordable. Volunteers can have a direct input into the decisions and direction of OLLI, while in turn OLLI benefits from members’ experience, expertise, skills and ideas. Participation as a volunteer deepens connections with other members and provides an opportunity to pursue interests and to develop new skills. Member and instructor volunteers are the heartbeat of OLLI at UVM and are the reason we continue to thrive as a dynamic organization.

Complete and submit this form to apply to volunteer.

Volunteer with OLLI

Why Donate?

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) of the University of Vermont (UVM) is funded in part by a partnership between the Bernard Osher Foundation, UVM, income from dues and fees, and donations from members like you. Your support will help to ensure OLLI can grow and expand program offerings, remain accessible and affordable to the Vermont community, and provide scholarship assistance to those in need.

Where Will My Money Go?

Your donation will only be used to support Vermont’s OLLI programs and will help reach the following goals:

  • Maintain low membership and class fees
  • Attract and retain quality instructors
  • Increase and enhance educational programs
  • Assure adequate staffing, space, equipment, and publicity for programming
  • Hold special events
  • Meet current expenses not covered by membership fees

“As an OLLI instructor and member, I have enjoyed numerous OLLI programs and made new friends through OLLI. I have come to realize that OLLI is us. We are fortunate to have a terrific team organizing programming in the office, but it is the members that give OLLI at UVM its vibrancy. I am committed to doing everything I can, including making a donation, to help our OLLI grow and thrive.”

Patsy Jamieson, OLLI Instructor and Member Volunteer

Have an idea for a course?

Send us a course proposal

Please click the button below to take a survey that will allow you to send us the details of your proposed course. Questions? Contact: Krista Hamel at uvmolli@uvm.edu or call 802-656-5817.

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We love our OLLI Community! Check out our February Newsletter to see a brief clip of Huck Gutman reading and analyzing “The Poems of our Climate” by Wallace Stevens, an original poem by OLLI Member Ann Grogan, and info about upcoming programs at OLLI-Central Vermont.

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FAQ

Yes, your OLLI membership entitles you to attend OLLI programs in any of the other VT statewide OLLI sites. As a statewide OLLI member, you are also eligible for the discounted member rate when you sign up for OLLI at UVM courses/programs.

Joining your statewide OLLI as a member is an easy and affordable way to support all the programs that are offered each term. As a member you will meet others who appreciate the opportunity to share in learning. Members also help determine the program topics and help shape the direction of the institute. Members receive regular OLLI enews emails and are invited to attend special events and travel programs.

Your OLLI has a volunteer program committee which works with the steering committee to select programs and speakers. Members are encouraged to provide input to the program committee about speakers and topics of interest to them

Yes, all the OLLI steering committees are volunteers who welcome others to share in the leadership of the institutes. The steering and program committees meet regularly. Assistance is encouraged in other areas including publicity, recruiting new members, and greeting members at program sessions.

The University of Vermont OLLI are part of a large network of OLLIs all over the country. The Bernard Osher Foundation has funded 125 colleges and universities to support lifelong learning programs for older adults throughout the United States. OLLI members in Vermont can share ideas with other OLLIs in other states.

Join your OLLI each semester. Your membership dues are what sustain your local OLLI. You are also invited to make a tax deductible contribution to OLLI to support the ongoing costs of running the OLLI Program that are not covered by the endowment funds. Your contribution will assure that our OLLI will be sustainable long into the future.

Make a tax deductible contribution to OLLI by donating now.

Any other questions that should be here? Please contact us by email with your suggestion.

Contact Us

OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) of the University of Vermont
Phone: 802-656-5817

Email: uvmolli@uvm.edu


Krista Hamel, OLLI Director

Professional and Continuing Education
23 Mansfield Ave
Burlington, VT 05405

OLLI Team

Krista Hamel

Krista Hamel

OLLI Director

With 25 years of experience in Continuing Education Program Management in higher education, Krista has cultivated a wealth of knowledge and expertise in delivering learning opportunities to students of all ages and backgrounds. In the summer of ’23, Krista accepted the role of Director of UVM OLLI, and for the prior 10 years Krista learned the landscape as OLLI’s Assistant Director wherein she managed and oversaw over 100 campus OLLI programs annually in the greater Burlington area. In addition to her responsibilities as Assistant Director, Krista served for six years as the event coordinator for UVM’s Aiken Lecture series, drawing great speakers and luminaries – such as Preet Bharara, Shoshana Zuboff, Jonathan Safran Foer, Michael Moss and Tan Le – to the University campus.

A native Vermonter, Krista also spent 15 years in Annapolis, Maryland managing continuing education programs for youth and older adults and teaching weekly yoga classes.

Krista received her Master’s in education from the University of Vermont in 2015. As an undergraduate, she studied classical voice New Hampshire and Antioch University in Seattle, WA, where she earned her degree.

Outside of her career as an educator, Krista enjoys tending to her 16 elderberry bushes, making elderberry syrup for friends and family, and going on long walks with her 10-year-old mini goldendoodle, Liila.

Hannah Day

Hannah Day

OLLI Program Coordinator

Hannah has served as a Program Coordinator for Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) and OLLI at UVM since June 2023. Previously, she worked as a Program Coordinator and Researcher in the Institute of European Studies at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. While she was writing her master’s thesis, she organized and led a seminar on multiculturalism in Europe and created teaching material on the cultural heritage of Europe. She has worked in educational programming for a total of 5 years.

Hannah received a Bachelor of Arts with Highest Honor’s in Global Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received an International Master’s with Distinction in Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow (Scotland), a Master of Arts with Distinction in Social Sciences from the University of Tartu (Estonia), and a Magister with Distinction in European Studies from Jagiellonian University (Poland) in 2022.

In her free time, Hannah enjoys listening to music, spending time with her family and exploring new places in Vermont.

Geri Amori

Geri Amori

Lead Ambassador for OLLI

Geri Amori brings more than 30 years’ experience in healthcare Risk Management, nine years in mental health care delivery, and more than 40 years as an educator. Now in the Refocused stage of life, she is the principle of Amori Associates, through which she plans to continue her work bringing understanding and application of the uniquely human implications of communication to support healthcare delivery, risk management/patient safety. She served Coverys/Med-IQ as Director of Education, then Vice President for Academic Affair for 15 years. She is a dedicated member of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, receiving the Distinguished Service, the Presidential Citation, and the Journal Author Awards as well as the designation of Distinguished Fellow.

Geri is most recognized for her work in furthering knowledge and awareness of communication in healthcare. She has taught these skills in 49 of the United States and believes there is much still to be done.

Geri has a PhD in Counseling from the University of Florida, and a Master’s in Counseling and Human Systems from Florida State University. As a member of the UVM PFAC, she serves on multiple committees. In addition, she serves as vice-chair of the Vermont Ethics Network Board, a state board dedicated to supporting healthcare organizations seeking to provide ethical care to patients in all phases of life.

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