By Annalisa Purser

More than 50 researchers from across the University of Utah, as well as other universities throughout the state, recently connected through a joint project on Red Butte Creek. Unfortunately, collaborative efforts that connect faculty with those from other disciplines don’t happen every day. Luckily, there’s an easy way to network with faculty across campus every month – through the Faculty Club.

The University of Utah Faculty Club was organized in 1956 and boasts a number of benefits in addition to camaraderie and the potential for developing unlikely academic connections, including:

• Monthly social events at the Salt Lake City Marriott University Park
• Discounted hotel rooms at the Marriott University Park
• Discounted theatre and museum tickets with group gatherings before or after
• Discounted basketball and volleyball tickets with pre-game pizza parties
• A holiday party for all faculty and their children each December
• Access to the Faculty Club cabin (a.k.a. Demars Lodge), located on the Wolf Creek Pass road on the upper Provo River (the cabin is currently unavailable as it is undergoing renovations)

Faculty Club is open to all University of Utah faculty and emeritus faculty and costs just $5 per month ($50 per year for emeritus faculty and retired faculty club members)—when the club began nearly 60 years ago, it cost $1 per month. The application forms and payroll deduction form are available online.

Faculty Club Past President and President Elect Judith Warner is a clinical professor of ophthalmology and neurology who joined the club four years ago. As a Health Sciences faculty member, she was surprised to meet colleagues from the David Eccles School of Business who were also working with functional MRIs and brain imaging.

“I never would have expected to find colleagues who worked with the same people as I do, but who seemed to come from a completely different background,” she said. “My favorite thing about Faculty Club is meeting the people I would have never met otherwise.”

Jennifer Coombs, associate clinical professor in the Division of Physician Assistant Studies, recently went to her first Faculty Club social.

“I didn’t know anyone,” she said. “I was so pleased to sit with several people who work at the Marriott Library. I love the Marriott Library but very rarely get down there. I learned all about the library’s 3-D printer and some other innovative things they’re working on. Meeting the librarians made me feel much more connected to main campus.”

The first Faculty Club social of the fall will be held Sept. 11 at the Marriott University Park and will include a pre-football game “tailgate” party and croquet match. Interested faculty can join the club in-person at the event or online.

Did you know:

• In 1961-62, the Faculty Club helped raise $25,000 to install a second (east end) elevator in the new Oplin Union Building.
• In 1963-64, the Faculty Club had 550 members, which was a “large majority” of the faculty at the U at that time.

Annalisa Purser is a communications specialist at University Marketing and Communications. If you have an interesting story idea, email her at annalisa.purser@utah.edu.