SCANS
​seniors' college association of nova scotia

Continue your life-long learning by joining the Seniors’ College Association of Nova Scotia, a volunteer-based registered non-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable non-credit academic courses to seniors (age 50+) in Nova Scotia.  Courses are for your learning enjoyment, without tests or assignments.  Membership entitles you to enrol in any number of the 60+ courses offered per year, subject to class size limitations.  It also allows you to participate in further developing this dynamic learning organization.  Classes are offered in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Chester, Liverpool, Mahone Bay, and Truro.
​ More about SCANS

newsletter - spring 2019

As you read this newsletter, many of you will have started Spring term classes.  We trust these are going well for you. The courses offerings have been very appealing to so many of our existing members, and certainly were a draw for new members to the Seniors’ College.  We welcome the 47 new members who joined this Spring, and look forward to your continued participation.
Read more of the newsletter
Spring 2019
Greetings to all our SCANS members,
 
As you read this newsletter, many of you will have started Spring term classes.  We trust these are going well for you. The courses offerings have been very appealing to so many of our existing members, and certainly were a draw for new members to the Seniors’ College.  We welcome the 47 new members who joined this Spring, and look forward to your continued participation.
 
Much has happened over the past few months.  Our winter term was very successful, both in terms of the number of members who took courses and in the feedback provided at the end of the term.  We also were very pleased with the results of our community outreach initiative with the Lower Sackville Library. Approximately 90 participants, both SCANS members and library patrons, attended Spy School 101 held next door to the library at Acadia Hall.  Our Public Lectures have also continued to draw a large audience. Most importantly, our membership keeps growing which tells us that we are doing things right!  It seems that you think so too since we know that word of mouth from you, our members, helps grow our organization. Thank you for all of the great work.
 
Our Annual General Meeting took place on March 9. The meeting was well attended, and members were very pleased as they listened to reports from the President, Curriculum Committee and Publicity Chairs and the Treasurer’s financial report and budget for the next year.  All reports indicated a very successful year for us, and we are well poised for continued success in the next year.  We said good bye and thanked outgoing Board members Valerie Latus, Shirley Lee and Heather MacMillan, and welcomed new Board members Peter Glenister, Marcos Zentilli, Carol MacAskill and Linda Rand.
 
The Annual General Meeting was also a celebration of our volunteers, all of whom contribute to the success of the Seniors’ College:  our dedicated Board and Curriculum Committee members, Class  Managers, Hospitality Committee and of course, our devoted Instructors.  We also honored longtime volunteer extraordinaire Johan Geldenhuys with a Life Membership.  He accepted the honor with a very warm and humorous response, once again endearing himself to all of us.  A lovely reception followed the meeting, and we all enjoyed the wonderful guitar playing provided by Vladimir Sitnikov.
 
The Board secured the services of a law firm experienced in drafting Anti-Harassment policies for non-profit organizations to draft such a policy for the Seniors’ College.  The Anti-Harassment Policy and Procedures was approved by the Board at our meeting on April 15, and is now posted on our website under Resources, then Documents. All volunteers will receive training on the policy in the next few months.
 
We want to remind everyone that we do have Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) on our website. There are questions and answers posted there pertaining to questions many members may have, but don’t know who to ask.  Of course, if you have questions that aren’t answered there, you are free to contact our Office Manager, Sue Hawkes, who will help you or direct you to the appropriate person who can answer your question.
 
We encourage you to check the website regularly as we post information about public lectures and any new information that concerns our members, including information about any of our instructors who are in the news.   Indeed, if you know of any lectures, book signings or the like being offered elsewhere by one of our instructors, or know of any instructors being honored by a university or by another organization, please let us know and we will be pleased to post it.

​Finally, as you know, we seek and welcome new volunteers on an ongoing basis.  If you are interested in helping out by serving in any our volunteer positions, or as a class manager, please contact Sue Hawkes. She will forward your information to our Volunteer Coordinator Donna Meagher-Stewart who will be pleased to follow up with you.
 
Enjoy your courses, and please don’t forget that receiving your feedback promptly at the end of each course is of utmost importance to both our faculty coordinators and to our instructors in the planning for and preparation of future courses.
 
Have a wonderful summer everyone, and please check us out in August for news about the fall information and registration sessions and class schedule.
 
Lois Block
President, SCANS Board of Directors

lifetime membership award

​​The Board of Directors of the Seniors’ College unanimously agreed to honour Johan Geldenhuys as the first recipient of a Lifetime Membership in SCANS. Below is the address given to Johan by Lois Block, Chair of the Board at the Annual General Meeting on March 18, 2019. (Photograph by Bill Oland)
johan geldenhuys - lifetime membership award
​I first heard the name Johan Geldenhuys several years ago, when we received feedback forms electronically from him and which were then to be completed and submitted electronically.  At the time I could not put his face to the name, not understanding then that this is a hallmark characteristic of Johan ... a quiet, unassuming man who does not seek the  glory or limelight but who has indeed been pulling our computer strings from behind the scenes- not just with feedback forms, but with just about every computerized program SCANS has!  He automated many of our processes, most noteworthy the on-line registration process, and continues to work on this to this day- most recently having worked with Bill Li to make modifications to the registration system that would allow us to indicate course preferences . He regularly met with Alison, our previous Office Manager to provide assistance with all of our computer programs, and continues to provide regular support to Sue our new office manager. He without a doubt has spent more time in the office working with the Office Manager than any one of us, and I know of no one who better understands the inner workings of SCANS.  If we give him a chance he could probably automate the whole office.  Perhaps then, Johan, you will turn your computer wizardry to creating a robotic Board of Directors!
 
Johan also served as Technical Support Coordinator for several years, and initiated the process of meeting with instructors prior to their delivering courses to ensure they could correctly hook up.  He or members on his team were on hand in every class to provide technical support, a practice which continues under the capable direction of John Stewart, our current Tech Support Coordinator.  And when John is away, Johan is still the go-to person, even as recently as this past November.
 
In 2017, Johan together with his granddaughter worked for the better part of the year to create a new Website for SCANS.  I don’t think any of us will ever know the time and effort, and of course the knowledge, skill and expertise  that went into that initiative, and for that alone, we could be honouring Johan.
 
Johan served on the Finance Committee from 2016 till 2018.  In 2016,  at a time when we were in serious financial difficulty and worrying about how to sustain our organization, Johan together with his wife Carol, who was SCANS treasurer, did a feasibility study and demonstrated through charts and graphs various scenarios which ultimately pointed to the way out of our financial difficulty.
 
Over the years, I have become better acquainted with Johan, and have worked with him on several projects.  He still impresses me with his quiet, unassuming ways, but I also understand this about him... ask him if he can do something, and he has two stock answers 1: “Sure, that’s easy” or 2:  “No problem”.
 
Johan, we are pleased to ask you to accept this lifetime membership certificate, and know that it is with great affection and heartfelt appreciation and gratitude that we bestow this honour upon you.

scans in the news

SALLY ROSS - instructor
  • Sally Ross, instructor for SCANS in 2017, will be given an Honorary Doctorate in History by Universite Sainte Anne on May 11 in recognition of her research, publications and advocacy for the Acadian community. With a BSc and MA from Dalhousie and a doctorate in French literature from the University of Tours (France), her career became concentrated on the history and culture of Quebec and Acadie.
  • She has written about Acadian schools (Acadian Schools of Nova Scotia, 1758-2000) and with Alphonse Deveau, co-authored The Acadians of Nova Scotia, which is used as a textbook for the Acadian studies curriculum in Acadian (CSAP) schools. She has written about Acadian dykes and aboiteaux, researched and documented Acadian cemeteries for the Nova Scotia Museum, and served on several committees related to the Grand Pre National Historic Site.
  • SCANS congratulates Sally Ross on this recognition of her contributions as a writer, translator and historian of Nova Scotia’s Acadians.
Lois Block - President
​LOIS BLOCK - PRESIDENT
from the Star Metro Halifax, April 24, 2019
A passion for later-in-life learning
by Jason Menard
 
At the Seniors' College Association of Nova Scotia (SCANS), lifelong learning is at the heart of everything they do – and it's fuelled by the passion for learning.

"The beauty of it is that no one's working anymore," explained Lois Block, president of the Seniors' College Association of Nova Scotia. "These are topics that they've been curious about, but have never had time during their careers to explore."

The organization started in 2007 with a chapter in Halifax. It has since expanded to Chester, Liverpool, Mahone Bay and Truro, with nearly 800 members.

"Our mandate is to offer affordable courses of an academic nature," Block said. "Membership entitles you to take as many courses as you want in all three terms."

At a membership rate of $150 plus HST, the organization is committed to offering low-cost academic opportunities for adults aged 50 and up. And as some seniors are on fixed incomes, there are support options available.

"We do have limited bursaries available," she said.

The majority of members are in their 60s and 70s, with many in their 80s. One active member is 93 year old.

Beyond [one full-time and]* one part-time employee, SCANS is run by volunteers including its board of directors and a curriculum committee. In Halifax, the organization will be offering 15 courses this spring, with two to three courses available at the other locations.

"We canvass our members to see what they're interested in," Block said. "We've offered courses in a variety of disciplines: history, literature, political science, economics, geology, art history, statistics, history of music and psychology."

The year is broken down into three six-week terms. Courses are offered in fall, winter and spring. Beyond the academics, there's an important social benefit that the program offers.

"There is a social element, of course. People get to know other people in the courses, meet people where they have things in common," Block added.  "That's always important - especially for seniors. It gets you out and helps you meet like-minded people."

For more information, visit thescans.org.
 
This special feature was produced by SMM Content Solutions with support from The Berkeley. This content was not subject to advertiser approval.​

* Web editor's note: SCANS has one part-time employee, and does not have a full-time employee in addition to that.