By Michelle Hines, University Relations
Jan Wassel.
Dr. Janice Wassel, director of UNCG’s gerontology program, has been appointed to the national advisory committee for AARP’s Aging and Business Education Initiative.
Wassel’s committee appointment runs through 2007. As part of the committee, she will work to further understanding of the increasingly complex relationship between business and aging.
According to the Social Security Administration, more than 48 million Americans will receive approximately $539 billion in Social Security benefits during 2006. As the population gets older and as demand on the Social Security system increases, Wassel points to two major economic issues facing aging Baby Boomers and the nation as a whole. First, the U.S. will see more older workers, she explained. Second, businesses will be pushed to meet the demands of an aging market that defies any stereotypes.
“The vast majority of older adults lead rich, robust lives, and they have financial resources,” she said. “They’re going to want products and services, and they will have money to purchase them.”
Through its Office of Academic Affairs, AARP aspires to develop business education through promotion of aging content in both academic and professional business education. The new Aging and Business Education Initiative will:
• Build a national network of business educators whose teaching and research interests are related to concepts and issues of aging and gerontology.
• Develop gerontology-oriented instructional materials in a format most likely to be incorporated into business courses and degree programs.
• Publish a quarterly newsletter, occasional papers and substantive articles in business education journals.
• Organize conferences, workshops, symposia and interest groups on aging and business education in both business and university settings.
UNCG’s gerontology program joined forces with the university’s Bryan School of Business and Economics to develop a Master of Science in Gerontology/Master of Business Administration dual degree. The program’s goal is to produce business professionals who are educated on aging issues and ready to face the markets and demands of our changing society in areas such as marketing, residential options, home care markets, human resource management and financial advice.
Wassel earned a PhD in sociology and demography at Pennsylvania State University. Prior to coming to UNCG, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow and research associate at Duke University. Her professional memberships include the American Sociological Association; the Gerontological Society of America; the Population Association of America; Sigma Phi Omega; and the Southern Gerontological Society, where she is currently serving a board term. In 2005 she earned the Registered Financial Gerontologist designation from the American Institute of Financial Gerontology.
