Thanks to all of you for your patience and understanding as we worked to make decisions about holding College for Seniors courses during our recent adverse weather.  Note information in this newsletter about events we have been able to re-schedule; we will continue to work with our instructors to make up for missed days.

Please remember that we will send an email if we are postponing or canceling classes. We also put messages on our website and outgoing phone lines at 828-251-6140 and 828-251-6188.  We communicate as soon as we have adequate information but also wait until we are reasonably certain we can make a decision that is well-informed and that balances our members' enthusiasm for our courses with concerns for safety on the drive and on campus.  We sometimes send a message when we resume classes after missing more than a day, but for the most part, if you don't hear from us you can assume that we are operating on our regular schedule.

We want to remind our members that parking is available at 118 W. T. Weaver Boulevard (the former MAHEC building).  Tell the shuttle driver that you want to go to the Reuter Center, and then let an OLLI staff member know you want to be picked up when you are ready to leave.  We recognize that it is less convenient to park and take the shuttle (which takes 12 minutes to make a complete loop), but when campus is crowded, the shuttle is an option that will allow you to be certain of getting to class without managing the congestion that sometimes happens in our parking lots during class changes.

Finally, we want to thank Barbara Von Hauzen, members of the OLLI planning committee, steering council and staff for organizing and participating in a kick-off meeting to define our challenges and opportunities as we begin the process of creating a strategic plan that will take us from 2017-2022.  There will be opportunities for everyone to make suggestions for improvements to our current directions and for new directions.