Meet-ups, Lunch-and-Learns Drawing Audience

While the fourth week of Monday Meet-ups and Thursday Lunch-and-Learns just concluded, the idea for these meetings go back much longer and can be traced to the Thomas Nelson Center for Teaching and Learning Committee.

"Over the past, about a year now, the committee has been meeting and thinking about how to build programming and what would good professional development on campus look like, just kind of brainstorming how we could do that," said geology instructor and committee member Lynsey LeMay.

That committee's work came in handy in the weeks after Gov. Ralph Northam's stay-at-home order and was spurred on when Dr. Susan English, vice president of Academic Affairs, hosted a faculty Zoom session one Sunday night in late March to update Thomas Nelson personnel regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

"Following that, a couple of us on the committee said … this is going to be something where we're going to get information constantly," LeMay said. "Policies are going to be changing, new information is going to be learned all the time. We thought one way to facilitate getting that information, in addition to the emails, would be to more formally host some sort of sessions."

And so the committee, also consisting of Hannah Powers, Sarah Linden-Brooks, Amy Anderson and Keisha Samuels, began Monday Meet-ups and Thursday Lunch-and-Learns, which have drawn anywhere from 15 to 60 attendees to their Zoom meetings.

"It took off very quickly, but started over spring break as we saw things were changing on campus and off campus," LeMay said." We wanted to facilitate something. We got it up and running within a week."

This past week, each meeting had its best turnout, with 60 for the Monday Meet-up and 30 for the Lunch-and-Learn. The meetings are recorded, and those numbers do not include faculty and staff who watched them at a later time.

"I would say we're getting really good attendance," LeMay said. "People are certainly watching it after the fact. And just in emails I've received from faculty, people have been appreciative of the opportunity to engage, to ask questions. It seems like it's been really positive, so I've been really encouraged by that."

The Monday meetings are scheduled for 3-4 p.m. The Thursday ones started at 11:30 a.m. the first two weeks and 1 p.m. the third and fourth weeks. LeMay is trying to be flexible, admitting there is no perfect time.

"Just trying to respond to the variety of schedules," LeMay said. "But we're going to move the lunch-and-learn around just a little bit, see if we can find a sweeter spot or maybe we just move it around so different people can go."

In general, the Monday events provide updates on policies set forth by VCCS, the College or the governor's office.

"Those are very much driven by what's happening right now and what information needs to be disseminated," LeMay said.

On Thursday, the topics are geared more toward helping faculty and staff at Thomas Nelson.

"The very first one was on using Zoom technology, knowing that everyone was transitioning," LeMay said. "The second one was about food insecurity."

The most recent Lunch-and-Learn discussed tips on keeping students engaged in an online environment.

In addition to providing much-needed updates and knowledge, the meetings help keep the Thomas Nelson community connected, which can be difficult in the current environment.

"I think it has been a big part of building community," English said. "I've been around more faculty and engaged in more faculty than I have any school year."

That was part of the plan.

"Something else that we really thought about is wanting to have this avenue of continued connection and being able to foster collegiality even though we're not on campus and we can't see each other and have these discussions," LeMay said. "I think it's been beneficial."

English noted a subtle, but important, benefit to Zoom meetings.

"For leadership, I operate in a team fashion," she said. "I'm not about a pecking order and I'm not about 'Well, administration said ...' What I really like about these Zoom meetings is … every square's the same size. We are all just a team."

With all the positive feedback LeMay and the team have received, there's a good chance these meetings will continue in some form even after everyone is back on campus.

"We've discussed that," she said. "The intent is to maintain them, and for them at least to be monthly to maintain and sustain this type of work."

If you have a topic to be discussed, or questions about policies, don't hesitate to contact English, LeMay or anyone else on the Center for Teaching and Learning Committee.

"Lynsey's done a great job," English said.