GREENFIELD — Greenfield Community College has joined the Age-Friendly University Global Network, pledging its commitment to supporting learners of all ages.

In being designated as an Age-Friendly University, GCC joins 140 other colleges and universities around the world that have committed to the network’s 10 principles for supporting lifelong learning. Judy Raper, associate dean for community engagement at GCC, said the college has “always served older adults,” and that it pursued the designation in part to validate that GCC is taking the correct steps to support older learners.

“It felt important,” Raper said. “This is really the organization that recognizes if you’re doing a good job. … Older adults is one of the fastest-growing populations in the region; we have a unique opportunity to provide programming for that population.”

The Age-Friendly University Global Network was founded in 2012 at Dublin City University in Dublin, Ireland, and is now based at the University of Arizona. In addition to GCC, nine other Massachusetts colleges are members, including the University of Massachusetts system (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell).

In joining the Age-Friendly University Global Network, members agree to uphold the network’s 10 principles, which are:

  1. To encourage the participation of older adults in all of the university’s core activities, including educational and research programs.
  2. To promote personal and career development in the second half of life and to support those who wish to pursue second careers.
  3. To recognize the range of educational needs of older adults (from those who left school early to those who wish to pursue master’s degree or Ph.D. qualifications).
  4. To promote intergenerational learning to facilitate the reciprocal sharing of expertise between learners of all ages.
  5. To widen access to online educational opportunities for older adults to ensure a diversity of routes to participation.
  6. To ensure that the university’s research agenda is informed by the needs of an aging society and to promote public discourse on how higher education can better respond to the varied interests and needs of older adults.
  7. To increase students’ understanding of the increasing complexity and richness that aging brings to society.
  8. To enhance access for older adults to the university’s range of health and wellness programs and its arts and cultural activities.
  9. To engage actively with the university’s own retired community.
  10. To ensure regular dialogue with organizations representing the interests of the aging population.

Raper said earning the designation was not easy, requiring a more than 20-page application and a two-month review to prove GCC has been working to support education for people of all ages. She added that most of the members are four-year universities, and GCC is one of just a few community colleges to earn the designation.

At GCC, she said there is a lot of programming that is both accessible to and designed for older learners. Through the college’s OASIS (Older Adults Seeking, Inspiring and Serving) program, the Office of Community Engagement has offered approximately 100 workshops on topics such as technology, health and culture.

According to GCC enrollment data, the college saw 545 attendees across its Senior Symposia programs in fiscal year 2025, and older students make up a growing portion of enrolled students. In 2025, students over the age of 25 made up 49% of the GCC population.

Raper said the effort to join the Age-Friendly University Global Network was not necessarily because of the number of older students, but it grew out of a desire for the university to validate that the steps it has taken to support its current and future students align with best practices to be an age-friendly school.

In a statement, the college said that joining the network provides GCC with opportunities to share ideas and practices with colleges and universities around the world, and continue exploring ways to strengthen learning and engagement across generations.

“Being age-friendly means recognizing that education has value throughout our lives,” Raper said, “and creating a college where a student who is 18, 38 or 68 can belong, contribute and learn from others.”

Madison Schofield is the Greenfield beat reporter. She graduated from George Mason University, where she studied communications and journalism. She can be reached at 413-930-4429 or mschofield@recorder.com.