Ingredients of The Amazing Faculty Lunch

People from all over our campus often ask me how we manage to have what may be the most popular faculty lunch on campus. Beyond the effort we put into our Evites, a creative menu and monthly theme (with recorded music, decorations, hats) each month, we have also made it fast-paced and a pretty enjoyable learning experience. Now, this is a far cry from the regular old brown-bag lunch. This is a regular monthly meeting attended by 50 or more faculty who teach online courses from various departments all across campus. If it weren't for this lunch, many of these people would never know one another at all. We include menu cards that have monthly issues meant to prompt informal lunch discussions, and set up in a horsehoe arrangement that encourages conversations. The big highlight is the Seven-Minute Sizzle. This is a seven-minute presentation, delivered by one of the faculty member, about something interesting they are doing in their online courses. We usually wrap up with a drawing for some small prizes (decor such as a plant or books about online teaching). Although it would be challenging to measure, my sense is that a great deal of informal but critical learning about online teaching goes on during these meetings.