A Symphony of Voices Inspires an Adult Learner Symposium

Adult learners are prized for the insights they bring to the classroom. Their fellow learners often benefit from their real-word experience, diverse perspectives, and capacity for peer learning and mentorship. 

So do their teachers, as Dr. Inez Jones, an associate professor of biology at Gordon State College, is happy to confirm. Jones has taught at Gordon State College, a CAEL institutional member, since 2017. She teaches anatomy and physiology nearly every semester. In those classes, many of her students are adult learners who aspire to become nurses. 

Her willingness to listen to what adult learners shared about their lives outside of the classroom led to a eureka moment. Fittingly, it began during a day-long summer lab session she led but has transcended well beyond it, having led to a semiannual symposium dedicated to better serving adult learners.

Learning From Listening

During a summer semester a few years ago, Jones was teaching a hybrid offering of A&P that included an in-person lab component. "The lab was on Saturday, all day on Saturday, so I got a chance to really know my students," recalled Jones. 

During the downtime that occurred amid the long lab hours, Jones began to realize that her adult learners had many needs that differed from traditional students. "My students just kind of started talking to me, and I said, 'What is it that would help you?' As we went on with the semester, I was learning more and more."

Inez wanted to continue those conversations. She gave them a forum by creating an adult learner club, which has since grown to become the  Student Veteran and Adult Learner Association (SVAL) at GSC.

During the meetings, which occurred regularly, Inez asked veterans and other adult learners what they needed help with and what they wished more of their professors knew. "Our list just kind of got longer and longer. And so I said, 'You know what? I think other people need to hear this.'"

A Symposium Is Born

To ensure they did, Jones proposed that the college hold a symposium for student veterans and adult learners. One of her challenges was explaining that while the symposium was for the benefit of veterans and adult learners, they weren't its audience. "Once people understood what the symposium was, that it was for the support community for our students, that's really how the symposium got started," she said.

The symposium enjoyed key support from Dr. Ric Calhoun, assistant vice president of innovative education and strategic initiatives, and Ashley Travis, adult learner coordinator, said Jones. "They have been behind this symposium from the beginning."

The symposium, which debuted in 2023, was such a success that it was reprised this year. Given the intensive planning and other work that goes into the event, which has grown significantly since its debut, a semiannual cadence is the most feasible, said Jones. 

The second time around, bolstered by greater awareness, the symposium enjoyed expanded faculty and administration support, in terms of budgeting as well as participation. Representatives from other institutions were among the contributors, including CAEL members Dalton State College and the University System of Georgia. Subcommittees were formed to help plan elements, including one that reviewed proposals, which weren't even a feature at the first event. 

Tapping Talent To Find Timely Topics

In her quest to ensure the symposium boasted contemporary and relevant events, Jones was savvy enough to know that instead of relying strictly on submissions, she might have to do some recruiting. That was how she secured an engineering professor to lead a discussion on leveraging AI for adult learners. "He didn't volunteer, but I told him, 'I really need you to present on this.'"

Jones took the same approach to secure another top attraction, this one on applying principles of trauma-informed care. The session, led by Alicia Dorton, director of counseling and accessibility services, encouraged faculty and staff to approach their interactions with students in a trauma-informed fashion. "It's about keeping in mind that not just veteran students have trauma, we also have other students, especially our adult learners, who have gone through a lot and they're now saying, 'Look, this is my time and I'm coming back to school,'" said Jones.

The potential of trauma-informed approaches was central to another popular session, which featured a panel of student veterans. "The questions just kept coming from our audience," said Jones. "Because it's not that instructors, administration, and staff don't want to use trauma-informed care, it's just that sometimes they don't know how they should address this student or what could be bothering them."

“I’m grateful that Gordon State College hosted this impactful advocacy symposium,” said Travis, the GSC adult learner coordinator. “Every opportunity our team has to raise awareness and improve the lives of student veterans and adult learners is a privilege. One of the highlights for me was the afternoon panel, where veterans from diverse backgrounds and institutions shared valuable insights on how our staff and faculty can better support their unique needs. The event was well attended and featured outstanding guest speakers—most notably Joe Dan Banker—who equipped us with a wealth of practical tools and strategies to carry forward.”

Impact and lessons learned

Jones says the symposium has resulted in some real change--and even won some converts. "We had one attendee who came into it a little bit more like, 'You know, I'm not going to hold people's hands' kind of thing.' But toward the end of the symposium, he was like, 'Oh, okay, I get it.'"

He was far from the only participant to be swayed by the symposium. Participants learned to regard a seemingly lesser detail--the class syllabus--in a new light. "We all know sometimes you have to make changes, but if you try not to deviate from it, then they know what they're getting into from the beginning," said Jones, explaining how a small accommodation can have a large impact on adult learners: a clear syllabus that is faithfully followed. "When you come into a class where the professor has laid everything out, you know exactly what to expect. You know when that's going to be due. It's available so you can do it when you have the time to do it. Those are the kind of things that they appreciate."

The symposium also helped seal the deal on the need for a new student orientation dedicated to adult learners. It includes an online option, a feature that is also growing among academic programming thanks to the symposium. "We have added online classes, which our adult learners are always saying they need more of," said Jones. "One of the things that they really like is to be able to work at their own pace."

GSC's rural setting amplifies the impact online classes can have, said Jones. Not only do they make it easier for adult learners to fit their studies around their schedules, they free up time by eliminating commutes. In fact, for future iterations, Jones plans to apply that principle to the symposium itself. She intends to offer it on a hybrid basis to accommodate participants who want to be involved but can't make it in person.

The symposiums--and the ongoing improvements they are inspiring-- are coming at a time of opportune impact. GSC is seeing the highest enrollment of adult learners and veterans in its history. 

“The conversations at the symposium not only validated the challenges student veterans face but also highlighted ways to better connect with veteran students,” said Osvaldo Maldonado, who is the president of SVAL and an advisor. 

As she considers the growth trajectory the symposium is on, Jones has suggestions for anyone planning similar events. "Ask for help when you're going to do this, because it's a lot to try to take on by yourself. Having the committee this time just made things so much easier and so much smoother."

"If people are not volunteering fast enough, go to them and ask them if there's someone on your campus who's an expert at something that can somehow be leveraged into adult learners or veterans," she added. "Ask them, because most of the time they're going to say yes. It's just that they maybe they didn't feel like whatever they had to offer was important enough."

And of course, what would an adult learner symposium be without the voice of adult learners? "Talking to your veteran and adult learners is really, really helpful," said Jones. "If there is a veteran or adult learner club on campus, go to that advisor and ask about the things that you've been hearing. You can directly incorporate those into the symposium."

"And then, of course, start planning early. Yeah, that's a lesson I learned the hard way the first time."