The Mahoning Valley is aging fast. Is YSU planning to axe one of Ohio’s only gerontology programs?

YOUNGSTOWN — Before landing a job at Direction Home of Eastern Ohio, Cassandra Valentini, the agency's community liaison, interned at the non-profit, which provides services to older people and people with disabilities in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties.

Valentini was a student in Youngstown State University's undergraduate gerontology program, a four-year degree focused on the study of aging.

"It's been a wealth of knowledge," said Valentini. "I learned so much about the area agencies on aging. I learned about all the different federal rules and how the funding works. They really set me up for success at Direction Home of Eastern Ohio."

She credits the program with "helping me become who I am today."

And the feeling is mutual. For years, Direction Home has relied on the gerontology program for talent and research.

This past year, Direction Home interns who are YSU gerontology students conducted a survey of the new Get Out and Dine program, which encouraged seniors to get meals at restaurants and ended up supporting the struggling food industry during the pandemic.

But, if proposed academic changes at YSU are implemented, the gerontology program, along with 12 other undergraduate programs, will sunset due to lacking "a strong market" and "efficiency" — despite the Mahoning Valley's quickly aging populace.

What is gerontology?

In addition to studying the biological, psychological and social processes of aging, gerontology students "work through ageist assumptions" and learn about benefits and programs available to older Americans, said YSU gerontology program director Dr. Daniel Van Dussen.

YSU is one of only three public universities in Ohio that offers an undergraduate level gerontology major, according to the Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education.

Given its specialized nature, gerontology is prime for mid-career professional pivots, especially for health care workers.

"I can picture maybe nurses with worn-out knees or burned out on COVID can come get a master's in long-term care or gerontology and still work in health care but more in an administrative role," said Van Dussen.

The tri-county area is already home to at least 100 long-term care facilities.

Currently the program shares a department with long-term care administration. The degree specifically trains future administrators of nursing homes and assisted living centers.

While housed in the same department, the programs are distinct. Long-term care administration is more business-oriented in nature, Van Dussen explained.

If the gerontology program at YSU does end, he hopes some of the elements of the nixed program can be infused into the long-term care administration degree.

The 'graying' of America

In 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated Americans 65 years old and older will outnumber children by 2034. By 2060, the median age of the U.S. population will grow to 43 years old, from 38 in 2018.

The Mahoning Valley already surpassed these national predictions.

In 2020, the median age of Mahoning County residents was 43.5 years, 44 years in Columbiana County and 44.2 years in Trumbull County.

In terms of highest median age, Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties rank 16th, 13th and 12th of Ohio's 88 counties.

"Our area is growing like crazy for older adults," said Van Dussen, and services to care for the Valley's elderly reflect that.

In fact, demographic shifts in western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio, he added, are "why the [gerontology] program existed."

In 2000, the median age of county residents was 40, with 17.8 percent of residents 65 years or older. By 2010, the median age had risen to 42.9 with 17.9 percent of residents 65 years or older. In 2020, 21.4 percent of Mahoning County residents were 65 years of age or older.

Direction Home CEO Joseph Rossi called gerontology "an excellent skill set to have when you're working with older adults and when you look at population demographics."

"You see, we're all getting older, especially in this area," he added.

As a result of the program's regional relevance, "Students are getting very strong jobs," said Van Dussen.

YSU's decision

During the 2020-2021 school year, YSU hired Pittsburgh-based higher education consulting firm Gray Associates to launch the Academic Program Enhancement and Effectiveness Initiative.

The review was conducted to establish "a process for continuous academic program enhancement," and because a general programmatic evaluation has not been conducted in several years, according to a June 23 memo from Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Brien Smith.

To the memo, Smith attached a list of academic programs put into five categories: sunset, adjust, sustain, grow and grow plus.

"Programs in the Sunset category lack a strong market and lack efficiency in delivery and thus should be discontinued," Brien Smith wrote.

Programs in the adjust and sustain categories have one or more areas of concern. Programs in the grow and grow plus categories "exhibit the greatest potential to increase enrollment and revenue."

Twelve Bachelor's degree programs are in the sunset category: gerontology, Italian, Italian education, manufacturing engineering, religious studies, music theory, music history and literature, family and consumer studies, computer information systems (b), dance management, French and art history.

In the faculty memo, Smith described the review as "a process that gives the faculty the ultimate responsibility for curricular improvement and innovation."

Van Dussen maintains enrollment in the program has been "fairly steady." But, given the declining enrollment at YSU in general, the gerontology program's numbers are down, "like everyone else."

The administration said tenured faculty would not be affected amid the programmatic changes, but part-time faculty will likely be impacted, Van Dussen said.

Smith did not respond to Mahoning Matters' request for comment.

Response

Since the list of potential programmatic changes was released, local stakeholders in elder care publicly voiced support for the program.

"It is a value to our community and a value to the state of Ohio," said Rossi. For many students he's encountered, it's not just a degree, "it's a passion."

The existence of the program enables him to hire gerontology majors from the Mahoning Valley "instead of having to go to Pennsylvania" for people with appropriate academic backgrounds who aren't familiar with elder care in Northeast Ohio.

But the best praise Rossi can give the program is admiration for his colleagues, like Valentini.

"She understands aging, because she went through the program," he said.

Rossi is hopeful the program can be saved. So is Van Dussen, who would like to see YSU more effectively market the program in the future so prospective and enrolled students "can discover it exists."

Cutting the program could result in a "shortage of people out there who understand the aging process," Van Dussen fears.

"It's disappointing," said Van Dussen. "I don't know what the future will bring."

This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 4:11 AM with the headline "The Mahoning Valley is aging fast. Is YSU planning to axe one of Ohio’s only gerontology programs?."