Gerontology Students and Faculty Attend Minnesota Gerontological Society Conference

Gerontology Students and Faculty Attend Minnesota Gerontological Society Conference

Gerontology students Mercedes Eke, Dejlana Hodzic, and Violet Schroeder, along with Sue Humphers-Ginther, Professor of Sociology and Gerontology Program Coordinator, and Shawn Ginther, Professor of Social Work, attended the 39th Annual Meeting of the Minnesota Gerontological Society in Brooklyn Center, MN on April 24, 2015. This year’s conference theme was “Designing Our Destiny: Aging Ain’t for Sissies—Challenges, Opportunities & Affordability”. Keynote Speaker, David Durenburger, a retired U.S. Senator from Minnesota, spoke on the need for reform in health and long-term care financing. Humphers-Ginther, who is Co-President of MGS (with Phyllis Greenberg of St. Cloud State University) was a panelist (with Jim Tift of St. Catherine’s University, Phyllis Greenberg, and Missy Reichl, gerontology master’s student at St. Cloud State) for a session on “The Workforce for a Modern Society: Careers in Gerontology”. Panelists and participants discussed job trends in the field, types of careers available, how and when to network, stories of students who have obtained jobs, and some of the barriers to getting jobs.