An Arizona continuing care retirement / life plan community has been awarded the nation’s first certification as a University Based Retirement Community for meeting all eligibility criteria for senior living communities that partner with universities to provide intergenerational opportunities.
Mirabella at ASU met all five criteria for the certification established by Andrew Carle, founder of UniversityRetirementCommunities.com. The site launched last year as a directory, information and development resource for colleges and universities located on or near the campuses of institutions of higher education. The website lists more than 80 such communities nationwide.
Mirabella representatives said they were “incredibly proud” to become the first certified UBRC in the nation.
“UBRCs are cross-sector innovations that have the power to reimagine retirement to be more active, learning centered and intergenerational, which we know are associated with healthy, resilient aging,” Lindsey Beagley, Mirabella at ASU’s senior director of lifelong university engagement, said in a statement. “Students also benefit tremendously from the opportunity to learn with and for the most experienced people in our society. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
Beagley recently shared the benefits of partnerships between senior living communities and universities during a recent virtual roundtable hosted by senior living marketing group Varsity.
Progression of a model
The certification program essentially completes the third and final phase of the UniversityRetirementCommunities.com strategic plan, Carle told McKnight’s Senior Living. Phase one was establishing the website as a directory and information resource for consumers, and phase two was the addition of resource partners — including LCS Development, Greystone Communities, Kendal, Love & Co., Perkins Eastman and RLPS architects — targeted to academic institutions, alumni groups, investors and others interested in developing new or expanding existing retirement communities or or near educational institutions.
The certification program will, for the first time, provide differentiation between various types of retirement communities that are the most highly integrated with a host academic institution from those only loosely or informally connected, said Carle, who is the lead faculty member for the graduate curricula in senior living administration at Georgetown University, and defined the five-criteria model used as a basis for creating the certification program.
“This is important because while rapidly growing in consumer demand and in interests among senior living and academic organizations, URCs remain a still evolving model — including one that many draw residents from great distances,” Carle said. “So it’s important both in assisting consumers in identifying a community that may best meet their interests and needs, but also in accelerating the evolution of the model moving forward, based on criteria that consumers are seeking, as well as those that help establish the long-term success of the community/academic institution partnership.”
The certification program intentionally launched with Mirabella at ASU because of its “highly evolved, industry-leading model,” which was designed around the five-criteria model and served as the basis for the design of the certification program, Carle said. He called Mirabella a leader in the certification model, adding that multiple retirement communities located on or near college and university campuses have expressed interest in certification.
Meeting the criteria
Certification criteria include proximity of the retirement community to a university campus, documented resident-to-university and student-to-community programs, the offering of a continuum of senior living services, having a percentage of residents who are alumni or retired university faculty or staff members, and the existence of a relationship between the retirement community and university deemed to support long-term operational success.
Certification lasts for three years and includes an agreement establishing the parameters for achieving and maintaining certification, as well as a licensing agreement for use of the “certified” logo.
Retirement communities meeting three to four criteria can be certified as a University Linked Retirement Community, and those meeting one to two criteria can be certified as a University Affiliated Retirement Community. Carle said he developed the certification program to ensure that consumers have a better idea of what to expect from a retirement community, saying that the designations provide a “road map” to allow a community to move up to a higher-level category at any time.
Mirabella offers several opportunities for lifelong learning participation in university events and student-to-resident interactions, including an artists-in-residence cohousing of PhD music majors and community residents.
In addition to independent living and assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing services, approximately 30% of Mirabella’s residents have a past connection to the university. The community also holds a 99-year land lease through the university’s real estate division.
Mirabella’s Dolce Vita Bistro recently earned a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for its extensive wine list — the first CCRC to earn the recognition.
