The JMU Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI) is a program dedicated to enriching the lives of adult learners by offering non-credit, university-level courses taught by highly qualified instructors and guest lecturers. In addition to courses, LLI also provides opportunities for socialization, volunteer engagement, leadership and travel specifically designed for adults.

LLI offers a wide variety of intellectually-stimulating, non-credit courses that are not
limited by a specific discipline. The typical class lasts five weeks. Each class meets
once per week for two hours.

Classes are also held during the summer, usually with a shorter time frame.

LLI currently hosts 4 sessions each academic year, consisting of individual lectures, five-week courses, and other experiential educational activities. Check out the catalog and the online registration portal for current programming dates and times.

LLI classes are held in the JMU Ice House and at various community sites throughout Rockingham County. These include area retirement communities and local churches and businesses. Please refer to the current catalog for exact locations. The office welcomes suggestions of new sites and public facilities available for community education.

Online classes are hosted via Zoom, an online video conferencing system. Zoom offers free software that provides students many ways to access lectures and classes.

LLI provides a self-help guide to help students prepare for Zoom meetings. Video tutorials are also available online.

You must also complete a Hiking/Walking Waiver before participating in Lifelong Striders:

Hiking/Walking Waiver

Katie Overfield-Zook, Director, at (540) 568-6402 or by email at overfikl@jmu.edu. 

General inquiries about the program may also be directed to lli@jmu.edu or by calling
(540) 568-2923.

Your safety is the most important thing, so JMU LLI encourages you not to take any unnecessary risks in travel. Only you can decide if you feel comfortable driving or traveling in certain conditions. 

That being said, LLI follows all JMU weather closures (including late openings and early closures). In addition to checking the JMU homepage for any weather-related announcements, LLI staff will send out email notifications to remind you what classes or events have been cancelled or are affected by late starts/early closures.  

You can read our full weather policy here. It is also included in your Member Handbook and the LLI Catalog.  

Please make it a habit to check your email on snow days!

Definitely not! While it does help to have some experience with developing a class plan and managing a classroom, at JMU LLI we believe in the power of peer-to-peer learning and that everyone has the potential to teach and share their passion for a subject.  

If you have an idea but are questioning whether you’re ready for a class, reach out the LLI staff. We’d be happy to talk through it with you! Our Curriculum Committee is also a great resource for suggestions and support for new LLI instructors.

Instructors come from a wide variety of disciplines and include university faculty, both active and retired, community educators and leaders, and LLI members. Guest lecturers who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields also teach in the program.

All proposals must be submitted online. Please visit our website and click on the
“Teach for Us!” link to submit a proposal.

A proposal is a course description suitable for publication in the LLI catalog and is generally about six sentences. Your lecture or course should be designed to reach a broad audience. Consider the fact that your audience may be comprised of both learners with no knowledge of your topic and learners with a strong passion and deep interest in your topic.

Instructors receive $350 per 5-week course. Courses that deviate from the 5-week (10 hour) format are pro-rated at $35 per instructional hour. If you are a retired JMU affiliate, this may not apply.

Login on the Instructor Login page. On your home screen you will be able to see all the classes you’re registered to teach. On the right-hand side, you will see “Roster”. Click on the link directly under it to see your full class roster including student emails. 

This is great news – we can’t wait to hear your idea! Please submit a class proposal.

You can submit a proposal any time for any semester. LLI staff will share it with our Curriculum Committee, and we’ll get in touch with you if we move forward with your class.  

Absolutely! Our Noontime Knowledge or Wine & Wisdom events are perfect fits for a 1-time lecture, workshop or event. These events are usually just an hour long and are a great way to share your passions without the pressure of a full class. It’s also a great way to test our interest in your subject and see if you might want to turn this 1-time presentation into a full class. 

We also offer other 1-time events, workshops and events at various times throughout the semester that are not linked directly to these events series. So we’ve got plenty of opportunities!  

Submit a proposal for either Noontime Knowledge or Wine & Wisdom.  

Absolutely! However, we ask that you give us at least 4 business days to do so. Copies can be picked up in our LLI Locker located right outside room 117 during normal business hours.

First step is to let the LLI staff know as soon as possible that you won’t be able to teach. We’ll notify your class, post notices on the doors at the Ice House or contact the off campus venue to let them know. If your class has already started, we encourage you to also reach out to them directly via email.  

After you’re feeling better, connect with the LLI staff to discuss the feasibility of a makeup session. Keep in mind this session may have to take place on a different day or be held at a different time than your normal class, due to space constraints.  

Absolutely! In fact, certain classes are so popular we might even ask you to teach again. But even if your class wasn’t completely full one session, go ahead and submit another proposal – sometimes folks couldn’t take a class because of conflict and will be happy to see it pop up again! 

The James Madison University Lifelong Learning Institute is only successful because of the success of our volunteers.  

This includes members who serve on our Advisory Board and our subcommittees.  

Subcommittees include: 

1. Curriculum 
2. Eduventures and Lectures 
3. Travel 
4. Nominations 
5. Membership 
6. Hospitality  

If you are interested in getting more involved with LLI, please reach out at LLI@jmu.edu. 

Our new Program Support Assistant will be in your class at the start of class to help guide you. If you find it more helpful to reserve time ahead of class. Feel free to do so, with the link below: 

Book Tech Support

Yes, you can book time using the link below 

Book Tech Support

Most JMU LLI classes take place at the Ice House (127 Bruce St, Harrisonburg, VA). You may either park in the Water Street Parking or the City Municipal Lot on Liberty St (both 1 block from the Ice House) for free, though those spots are first come first serve for many workers and visitors to downtown Harrisonburg and often filly quickly. 

As an LLI member, you can get access to the JMU Ice House Lot on West Bruce Street, directly across from the Ice House! However, you will need to register your car with JMU Parking Services. If you don’t, you will more than likely get a ticket – which can be very expensive. So please see directions below on how to register your car. 

You will no longer need a physical permit (hang tag). JMU Parking Services now uses technology to identify vehicles by their license plate. Your plate is your permit! 

Step by step directions to register your car are in our LLI Catalog. You can either use those directions or follow these instructions.

If you have any issues registering your car, please call parking services (not the LLI staff) at 540-568-3300 (M-F 7:00am-5:00pm) or email them at parkingservices@jmu.edu

It is free to register your car as an LLI member! And bonus – you can park there anytime during the semester your car is registered, even nights and weekends! 

Each member is allowed to register 1 car per semester. No exceptions are able to be made. This is a JMU Parking Services policy.

You need to register your car ONCE per semester (not per class or per session). If you register your car in January and again in August, you’re set for the year and all your on-campus LLI events! 

LLI picks off-campus locations for their ease of parking. You will not need to register your car for any classes held at Sunnyside, BRC or VMRC. Simply find a spot marked “visitor” or use your handicapped hang tag and you’re good to go! 

Any exceptions will be communicated on a case-by-case basis.

The JMU LLI launches their Fall and Spring curriculum at an open house event each August and January. Check your email, our Facebook page, and our website for announcements on those dates! 

JMU LLI offers two ways to register: 

1. In person 
2. Online 

Feel free to stop by the Ice House during our office hours to register and pay for classes in person.

Please note accepted payment methods are:

1. Check
2. Credit/ Debit card

You can reguster online using the following link: Class Registration 

Once your registration and payment have gone through, you will receive an email notification that confirms which classes you have signed up for. It will also include important information like the start time and classroom.

When instructors put in a class proposal, they tell us how many people they would like to have in their class. If the registration system says that a course is full, there are absolutely no spots available. The instructor does not have the authority to let people into their class who have not registered and paid for the class. 

If the instructor has changed their mind about the max number of students in their class and is willing to let more people into their class, they MUST contact the LLI staff directly. People will be let in off the wait list in the order they registered.  

So please put yourself on the wait list. We will contact you directly if a space becomes available.  

Class registrations are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrange to register at approximately the same time to ensure acceptance into the class due to space limitations in some classes. No guarantees.

LLI staff checks waitlists weekly! If a space opens and you’re next on the list, you will be contacted via email to see if you would like to register.  

Until then, the best thing to do is just be patient. Contacting the LLI office will unfortunately only slow down our ability to stay on top of waitlists and class openings. Thanks for your understanding! 

LLI reserves the right to cancel any courses due to conditions beyond reasonable control, including, but not limited to, low enrollment, disaster, inclement weather, health emergency, unavailability of supplies, acts of God or any other circumstance. In the case of course cancellations, full or partial annual membership fees will not be refunded. Any course-specific fees for cancelled courses not already in session will be refunded. Refund requests for bus trips must be made at least 15 days prior to the date of the event, as the rental cost of the bus is dependent on the number of attendees, and LLI must often purchase tickets in advance.

No, your membership must be up to date to register for classes. 

Noontime Knowledge and Wine & Wisdom events are open to the public, however, and are a great way to “test out” JMU LLI to see if it might be a good fit for you before committing to a membership. 

Your first year of membership is FREE! To get the discount code for your first free year, please contact the LLI staff at 540-568-2923 or email LLI@jmu.edu.  

After your first year, membership is $50 and is valid July 1-June 30.

The membership fee helps to cover costs of running LLI including the LLI staff, instructor fees, class supplies, travel expenses (like buses), and event costs for free events. It also ensures that folks who are joining LLI are committed to their membership and will be an active presence within the organization.  

That will depend on what class you’re taking. But it’s best to plan to have the following for every class, regardless of the topic: 

1. Pen and paper to take notes 

1. Your glasses or any other assistance tools that will allow to you see the board and hear the instructor 

1. Your LLI nametag or name plate so your instructor and fellow classmates know who you are! 

Act as you would in person.

Think of a Zoom meeting as any other classroom and conduct yourself as you would if all were present in the same room. This includes arriving up to 5 minutes before the start time, avoiding talking over others, and being fully present and engaged. 

Minimize distractions.

Minimizing distractions helps keep everyone focused and the meeting free from interruption. Find a quiet place and silence and put away phones, close unrelated programs on your computer, and avoid multi-tasking. If something requires your immediate attention, please turn off your audio and video as a courtesy to others.

Mute your microphone.

To help keep background noise to a minimum, make sure you mute your microphone when not speaking. A red line appears over the microphone icon when muted. Many Zoom setups include a feature that allows you to hold the space bar on your keyboard to momentarily unmute yourself. Press and hold when speaking; release to return to mute.

Use video when possible and look into the camera.

Being able to see others helps create a sense of engagement with other participants. If you use a web camera, be sure it is in a stable position and focused at eye level to avoid distorting your facial features. Looking directly into the camera instead of at your video screen also gives the appearance of eye contact with others. 

More light is better, just not from behind.

Video quality is dramatically improved with more lighting. Just make sure that the light is in front of you. Being backlit makes you harder to see.

Avoid mobile devices when possible.

Laptop or desktop computers provide a better Zoom experience than tablets or smartphones. A computer’s larger screen and steady position enhance the experience and full computers offer access to additional Zoom features and controls. 

Come prepared.

If you haven’t used Zoom before, download the application the day prior to the meeting and familiarize yourself with basic features – mute/unmute microphone and start/stop video at the very minimum.

Zoom also provides a test feature to adjust your audio and video settings before meetings. Just go to www.zoom.us/test. 

Zoom can be used on laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones, and even landline telephones, giving students many ways to access lectures, classes and meetings. We encourage the use of web cameras when available as the sense of community presence is enhanced when everyone shows their face.

Installing the desktop version of Zoom will give you the best results and functionality. Students who plan to join Zoom meetings from a mobile device should download the Zoom mobile application.

• Download and follow our self-help guide (PDF)
• Watch a video about Getting to Know Basic Controls

WATCH MORE VIDEOS ABOUT HOW TO ZOOM!