What PLLI is
The Porter Lifelong Learning Institute (everyone says “P-L-L-I”) is a member-run program for adults 50 and over. It is housed in Continuing Education. Courses usually meet once a week for 90 minutes over a seven-week session, in campus classrooms during the quieter mid-morning and early-afternoon hours. There is no homework unless the instructor is very enthusiastic. Nobody gets a grade.
Most instructors are members themselves: retired teachers, engineers, nurses and farmers, plus a few emeritus Porter faculty. They teach for free. A volunteer curriculum committee of twelve members picks the courses each session from proposals. The university supplies the rooms, a part-time coordinator and the parking. PLLI had 642 members in 2025–26. The youngest was 50 and the oldest was 96.
Membership and cost
- Annual membership: $70 (August 1 to July 31). This covers every PLLI course you have time for in fall, winter/spring and the June mini-session.
- Half-year membership: $40 (January 1 to July 31), for people who join late.
- Materials fees on a few hands-on courses, $15–$40, listed in the table below.
- Fee waivers: tick the box on the form. Nobody asks for documentation.
- Spouses and partners of members may join at any age.
Members also get free parking in the Founders Ramp during their class times (your license plate is registered when you join), a 15% discount on a Forge Recreation Center 62-plus membership, and invitations to the monthly Brown Bag Lectures in Halvorsen Library. A library borrower card is free to any Wesconsin resident, so that one isn't really a perk.
Fall 2026 courses
The fall session runs Monday, October 19 through Friday, December 4, 2026. There are no classes the week of November 23. Courses marked “lottery” had more requests than seats, and the draw was held October 2. Any seats still open are first-come until October 16.
| Course | Instructor | When | Room | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Millrace and the Mill Town, 1856–1911 | Arlene Sletten, retired Porter Falls High School history teacher | Mon 10:00–11:30 | Halvorsen Library 210 | 40 (lottery) |
| How Things Are Made: A Factory-Floor Tour in Seven Weeks | Walt Kerkhoff, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering | Mon 1:00–2:30 | Founders Hall 146 (Forge Innovation Hub) | 18 (lottery) |
| Smartphone Without Swearing | Bev Truttmann, retired school-district technology coordinator | Tue 10:00–11:30 | Jarvis Technology Center 118 | 20 |
| Great Decisions: Foreign Policy Discussion Group | Ron Gilbertson, retired county administrator | Tue 1:00–2:30 | Commerce Hall 118 | 30 |
| Watercolor for the Terrified ($35 materials) | Mavis Odegaard, painter | Wed 9:30–11:30 | Applied Arts Building 104 | 14 (lottery) |
| Medicare, Medications and Asking Better Questions | Judith Ekstrom, RN, retired clinic nurse manager | Wed 1:00–2:30 | Health Sciences Center 215 | 35 |
| Putting the Garden to Bed: Soil, Garlic and Cover Crops ($15 materials) | Lloyd Pederson, retired dairy farmer, with University Farm staff | Thu 10:00–11:30 | University Farm barn classroom | 24 |
| Reading the Night Sky (the last session meets at the observatory) | Harold Venne, amateur astronomer | Thu 1:00–2:30 | Halvorsen Library 210 | 30 |
| Short Stories of the Upper Midwest | Sue Kolb, retired English teacher | Fri 10:00–11:30 | Welcome Center community room | 22 |
| Writing Your Family’s Story | Judith Ekstrom and Arlene Sletten | Fri 1:00–2:30 | Halvorsen Library 210 | 18 (lottery) |
Every room listed is wheelchair accessible. The farm barn classroom is reached by the Porter Loop farm stop or by a short gravel path from the east lot.
How to register
- Join. Use the online form, or pick up a paper form at the PLLI office in Commerce Hall 116 or at the Porter Falls Public Library desk.
- Choose courses. List them in order of preference. For lottery courses, your first choice gets the extra weight in the draw.
- Pay by card, by check made out to “UW–Porter Falls – PLLI,” or in cash at the office.
- Get your confirmation by email or by mail (your choice) with your rooms and the parking instructions.
Registration for the winter/spring 2027 session (February 8 to April 2) opens Monday, January 11, 2027. Members who want to audit a regular credit course should read Non-degree and guest students. Wesconsin residents 60 and over can audit tuition-free when seats are open. If you would rather teach than take a course, proposals for spring are due November 20. The form is short, and the committee is friendly about first-time instructors. Many PLLI members also volunteer on campus or join the community band.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. The Porter Lifelong Learning Institute, its courses, instructors, fees and rooms are invented. No one can join, and no watercolor class is waiting for you.