Oakland University Continuum Center records

The Continuum Center at Oakland University was a successful department within the Division of Continuing Education that provided innovative services to the university’s surrounding community. It officially began operations in October 1965 with a $150,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation. Its first director was Priscilla Jackson.

It offered a four-part life-planning counseling service to adult women in South East Michigan, to help them find a more creative and satisfying place in the contemporary home and community. Initially the program, called “Testing and Counseling for Women,” relied on psychological tests and included interviews with a psychologist and an advisor. The program was later renamed “Investigation Into Identity” and included more self-exploration and study of interpersonal relations with the help of alumnae as volunteer discussion leaders. It was a pioneer program and a model for preventative mental health care delivery for mature, middle-class women - a population that had until then not been considered as needing such services. The program received wide acclaim across the United States and beyond for its pioneering services to women, long before the 1970s women’s rights movement.

As the program expanded, the Continuum Center sought a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for an Adult Counseling and Leadership Training program that lasted from 1973 to 1978. New programs were also added for a broader clientele, from high school students to seniors: Growing Older Bolder, Communication for Couples, Alternative Career Options for Teachers are examples. During 1978-1981 another NIMH grant enabled the Continuum Center to develop a program for people who work in gerontology.

In 1996, the Division of Continuing Education was disbanded and its component programs distributed to the College of Arts and Sciences and relevant schools. The Continuum Center became part of the School of Education and Human Services.

For more information: Seay, Ruth, Ed. The Continuum Center for Women: Education Volunteerism Employment (1973). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED085619