Twice a month, UT faculty gather for drinks, appetizers and entertainment — all in the name of Top 25.
Faculty Pub began in 2010 under former Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Sarah Gardial in order to address the need for increased faculty relationship and collaboration under UT’s “Vol Vision” to become a Top 25 Institution.
John Zomchick, current vice provost for faculty affairs who was on the committee for planning faculty events with Gardial, said the pubs began at the request of university employees.
“Faculty wanted more opportunity outside of the regular workplace to get together and meet one another, more social activities,” Zomchick said.
When UT’s faculty lounge was re-purposed as the university’s visitor center in 2006, members of UT’s staff no longer had a general space to congregate and mingle between departments. Zomchick said the Faculty Pub has substituted the lounge and serves the same function.
“When I’m over there, I notice that tables have people from departments that you wouldn’t normally see together, theater people sitting with nuclear engineers and things like that,” Zomchick said.
Attendance at Faculty Pubs can vary as widely as 80 faculty members at one event and 20 at the next. In 2012, the Office of the Provost considered discontinuing the pubs. However, when word got out that the pubs might cease to exist, Zomchick received multiple appeals from faculty.
“Sometimes the attendance isn’t what we would like it to be, but there are some really strong supporters of the faculty pub and they want us to keep it,” Zomchick said. “The people who do go and can take advantage of it really like it and the opportunity to mix.”
Jeffrey Kovac, a regular at Faculty Pubs and professor in chemistry, said that increased stress on faculty in recent years could be the cause for declining participation.
“Everybody seems to be so busy, there’s so much pressure to publish and get grants that people tend not to just take the time,” Kovac said. “A lot of people just bring a sack lunch and eat in their office or run out and get a sandwich … It’s just not good for collegiality if we are all in our own narrow niches, where chemists only see chemists and English professors only see English professors.”
To encourage more faculty participation, the university has begun to provide free appetizers and door prizes along with a cash bar. Coordinators also ask faculty members who play in bands to provide entertainment. Air Supply Chain, a cover band from the college of business administration, plays at least once or twice a year.
However, Faculty Pubs are not the only opportunity for displaying faculty creativity.
Another goal of the 2010 committee was to facilitate an environment where faculty members could showcase their scholarship and creative activity to the entire campus outside of typical venues like conferences and lectures. They created “Mic/Nite,” an event that invites 12 to 13 faculty members to give a Pecha-Kucha presentation at the Relix Variety Theater once a semester.
In Pecha-Kucha presentations, participants are only allowed to use 20 PowerPoint slides and spend 20 seconds explaining each, for a total of 400 seconds. Afterwards there is no conversation or time for questions.
“It’s a funky little thing,” Kovac said, who has never missed a “Mic/Nite.” “There have been several that have been quite remarkable.”
Kovac recalled the time Harry “Hap” McSween, professor of earth and planetary sciences, gave his presentation on NASA’s 2007 Dawn mission.
“What was remarkable about it is that he wrote 20 metrically correct, humorous, but scientifically accurate limericks,” Kovac said. “I can’t imagine how long it took him to write those 20 limericks.”
Kenton Yeager, a professor in the theater department, was the first faculty member to ever present at “Mic/Nite.” He talked about his creation of the Yeager Lab company that markets and sells miniature theater labs around the world, particularly on college campuses. He noted the difficulty of coming up with an entire presentation in just 400 seconds.
“I’m a teacher, I can get up and talk about something for two hours,” Yeager said. “But nobody wants to hear about Yeager Labs for two hours – and that’s the genius of the Pecha-Kucha method.”
Kovac said he values Faculty Pubs and “Mic/Nite” as opportunities to unwind in an uncommon setting with academic colleagues.
“It’s at least a space where people can get to know each other in a relaxed, non-threatening environment,” Kovac said. “Certainly, having a bar helps a little bit. People have a beer or something else to drink they tend to relax a little bit. There’s no agenda, and everybody is on the same foot.”
