Food for thought
Take Your Professor to Lunch program bridging faculty-student gap
Posted on January 22, 2008
The Take Your Professor to Lunch program is kicking off one of its biggest years yet, with over 60 lunches and coffee dates planned for this semester.
The program was started by faculty and the Student Government Association to give professors the opportunity to connect with their students on a more personal basis.
Professors apply to the program and are asked to give two dates when they are available for lunch. Once the professor is selected his or her class enters a raffle, and eight students are chosen to have lunch or coffee with their professor at Madison Grill or any Java City.
“In 2001, I took an educational leave and traveled around the country looking into teaching and learning centers and got a wide range of ideas,” said Karen Santos, executive director of the Center of Faculty Innovation. “We piloted the program in the spring of 2005 with large general education classes to try and break down barriers so that both groups could get to know each other.”
When the program began, only professors with classes of 90 or more students were invited to attend the luncheons, but that number was cut down to 25, allowing more people to get involved. Any class can participate on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“The announcement was made on Jan. 14 and in 24-hours we received 55 applications,” Santos said.
The lunches begin in late February, but in the meantime SGA officers have been visiting selected classes to make a presentation to explain the program.
“The committee for this coming semester will be comprised of nearly 50 individuals,” said junior Dan Stana, one of the SGA committee chairs for the program. “It has grown dramatically over the years, from having maybe 10-12 people making presentations to the nearly 50 for this upcoming semester.”
After the presentation students can apply for a spot at the luncheon. The university provost pays for everything so that students and professors can concentrate on getting to know each other.
“It is so well worth it, because we are here to support teaching and learning on campus,” Santos said. “There are no guidelines about anything, so the conversation can vary from the class to personal interests.”
Santos said these lunches are also important in that they motivate students to become more interested in class.
“After these lunches students are more comfortable with their professor, more apt to go to office hours, motivated to go to class, and just more interested in the subject because of the professor,” Santos said. “The only drawback is that everyone can’t go.”
Debra Warne, a professor in the math department, participated in the program.
“At JMU we do a better job than most schools, certainly those our size, of really interacting with students,” she said. “But there’s a limit to what you can accomplish in that respect in the classroom.”
Carol Hurney, a professor in the biology department, agreed, saying that she made unlikely connections with the students she went to lunch with.
“I like to hear about my students’ lives, she said. “One student lived not far from where I grew up in New Hampshire, so we automatically made a connection with each other.”
Both teachers say this program has helped them get to know students they wouldn’t have spoken with otherwise.
Warne also credits the program with helping her reconnect with her classes.
“We each identify more with each other – our strengths, our struggles, our motivations,” she said. “The net result is everyone striving, a little more in harmony, toward a common goal.”
