Penn State Intercom......February 22, 2001
Make friends, reach out to
someone new at the Faculty Staff Club
By Julie A. Brink
Public Information
Tucked away in the ground floor of The Nittany Lion Inn, the Penn State Faculty Staff Club quietly goes about its business.
On this day, between 20 and 30 people are chatting and eating their lunch in the club room, a spacious, welcoming area decorated with warm cherry paneling, molded ceilings and French doors. A conversation nook with comfortable chairs and an overstuffed sofa separates the eating area from the entrance.
Club members filter in and out. The dress ranges from casual to professional. Laughter erupts from a large table near the back of the room where a couple of raconteurs hold court. This is an "open" table, meaning that new folks and others without dining companions are ushered there to enjoy the conversation. Bob Koehler, associate professor of accounting, joked to his lunchmates that he comes here for the food, but actually it is the company. "I run into all sorts of people here," he said.
Now in its seventh year, the Faculty Staff Club is celebrating its first anniversary in its new digs, what was once the inn's Colonial Room. Growing pains forced the club out of its old meeting place, the Penn State Room at the Inn, which was home to the group for about six years. Today the club is about 800 strong and growing.
"It's about more than food," said club president Karen Wagner, although the discounted meal does draw some people out to the daily lunches. "The Faculty Staff Club promotes collegiality across the University."
The club, born in 1992, aims to give faculty, staff and retirees a sense of belonging, of a community that is University-wide. "It's worked very well," said Al Turgeon, who was the first club president. "Initially, it was a hard-sell getting people to buy into a club where people could come together" as a community, but "we've grown both in terms of acceptance and level of activities."
This incarnation of the Faculty Staff Club replaces an earlier faculty group which disbanded in the '60s or '70s, according to George Bugyi, a charter member and past president of this organization. This time around, the group was established to be more inclusive. "Many more staff members are comfortable with the fact it's a faculty/staff club," he said.
The club offers a variety of year-round programs beyond lunchtime conversation. Faculty are the host for lunchtime discussions aimed at appealing to a broad base beyond the traditional membership. During College Week, top administrators are hosts and invite their faculty and staff to the dining room to sample the atmosphere and the events.
Most folks associate the club with The Penn State Forum, which is part of the club's broader mission to incorporate more educational programming. The club invites prominent and interesting individuals to talk during a noonday presentation. Allan Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education, recently gave a thought-provoking speech about global economics and its relationship to education.
"(The Forum) has been phenomenally successful," Wagner said. "Seven years later people come to us with names of speakers and topics."
The club is averaging six to eight Forum speakers a semester, which is double or triple what it used to be, she said. The speakers, mostly sell-outs this year, can draw as many as 460 folks from across the campus.
Right now, the club is in the middle of a membership drive. It hopes to recruit a wider, more diverse audience. To spark interest, each new hire at the University is given a copy of the club's monthly newspaper and an invitation to join the club. Every fall, the club is host to a "Hi, Neighbor" mixer where all new faculty and staff are welcomed to the University.
To help foster that welcoming sense of community, a club member volunteers daily to greet people at the door of the club room and help them get settled. Even President Graham B. Spanier takes a turn at the door.
"Any day you come there with the expectation of meeting interesting people," Wagner said. She's been involved with the club since its beginning and calls it the best personal/professional development experience she's had the University. "It's been a fantastic experience in terms of the number of people I've gotten to know," she said.
Zi-Kui Liu, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, has been a member for a couple of years, stopping by the club room for lunch about three times a week. "I got to meet a lot of people this way," he said.
Bill Hessert, manager of college grant relations for Commonwealth College, said he joined because "it was a nice opportunity to meet other people who work at the University because I had come from outside the University setting. I wanted to become better acquainted with what they do."
Wagner says programming for the club will only continue to grow. She wants to see more varied topics and discussions planned for coffee hours and cocktails to broaden appeal to all ages and backgrounds.
"For retirees, it becomes a very integral part of post-retirement life," Wagner said.
Herbert Wheeler retired from the University about 20 years ago as professor of architectural engineering. He and his wife Cicely are among the regulars at the "open" table in the back. "The club brings people together," he said.
"It's great for us to come and be with the young people," Cicely chimed in.
Tammy Homan is the club manager and she plans the special monthly luncheons. "We couldn't do without Tammy," Cicely Wheeler said. "She keeps things going."
Homan said Mondays are the quiet day at the club, but that by Wednesday, things are really jumping with 50 or 60 people lining up at the buffet or crowding around tables.
Other programs coming up this semester include the Spring Fling Dinner on April 19, a wine tasting on May 4 and themed luncheons such as "A Taste of Ireland" in March, Homan said.
"The evening dinner specials held at regular intervals during the academic year have expanded greatly and give us a chance to meet both current members of the University community and many of the retirees who like to come back and renew old acquaintance," said Barton Browning, associate professor of German, who is one of the club's founding members, adding that the club expresses "something of Penn State's concern for members of the Penn State community."
About the club
History:
The Faculty Staff Club held its first luncheon Sept. 14, 1992. It had
been a year in the planning stages. The first slate of officers were:
Al Turgeon, president; Sally Kalin, vice president; Nancy Sassano, secretary;
and Dan Sieminski, treasurer. The first board of directors included: Barton
Browning, George Bugyi, John Cahir, Sandy Edwards, Bill
McKinnon and Jim Purdum.
To join the club: Dues are $25 a year. Members receive a discount on The Nittany Lion Inn's lunch buffet, $6.50 or $4.50 for soup and sandwich buffet as well as discounted tickets to Forum events and other benefits.
For information: Call (814) 865-7590, e-mail fsclub@psu.edu or check the Web at http://www.psu.edu/dept/fsc/.