This session presents a peer-led, scalable Communities of Practice model for higher education, demonstrating enhanced professional growth, collaboration, and scholarly output through systematic evaluation, cross-disciplinary engagement, and adaptable strategies for sustaining impactful faculty development.

[Session Overview]

Faculty and staff in higher education are increasingly expected to innovate in their teaching while balancing scholarship, leadership, and collaboration. However, many professional development initiatives remain fragmented, short-lived, or overly theoretical. This session introduces the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Collective, a peer-led and scalable model that fosters long-term professional growth through Communities of Practice (CoPs).

To address these challenges, our SOTL Collective launched in Fall 2024 is grounded in the theories and principles of CoPs (Wenger, 1998; Wenger et al., 2002). CoPs have been proved to foster continuous interaction, collective learning, and promoting a culture shift that aligns with evolving faculty needs in higher education (Brooks, 2010; Sherer et al., 2003).

The Collective now sustains multiple CoPs addressing five timely themes including artificial intelligence, high-impact practices, project management, pedagogical wellness, and preparation of emerging educators. The model combines monthly CoP meetings, cross-CoP collaborations, and an annual unconference. Drawing on two years of systematic evaluation—including surveys, after-action reviews, and strategic planning—the program demonstrates high levels of participant satisfaction, increased cross-disciplinary collaboration, and measurable scholarly outputs.

This session will highlight:
1. Program overview, structure, and design.
2. Evaluation findings, including participant impact, strengths, and opportunities for growth.
3. A three-year strategic plan for expanding scholarly outputs, achieving institutional alignment, and scaling regional collaboration.
4. Transferable lessons for adapting the CoP model across varied higher education contexts.

Attendees will actively engage in polling, small-group reflection, and a design-your-own-CoP activity to apply the framework to their own institutional environments. They will leave with practical, adaptable strategies for cultivating sustainable CoPs, embedding evaluation into program design, and scaling collaborative scholarship in teaching and learning.

[Relevance to the Conference Community]

The session addresses a pressing challenge in higher education: developing sustainable, collaborative, and scholarship-oriented professional development in resource-constrained environments. Traditional one-off workshops often lack continuity and impact, while faculty development centers are stretched thin. A peer-led, CoP-based structure provides a scalable and cost-effective alternative that emphasizes shared ownership, mutual support, and scholarly productivity.

Session participants—whether faculty developers, academic leaders, or faculty members—will gain insights into how a structured yet flexible model can strengthen teaching cultures, support innovation, and generate publishable scholarship. Program evaluation data illustrate that this approach not only enhances participant satisfaction and engagement but also fosters cross-institutional partnerships and research dissemination.

By presenting both the successes and challenges of the initiative, this session makes a direct contribution to ongoing conversations about building resilient communities of practice, advancing the scholarship of educational development, and establishing cultures of teaching excellence.

[Session Plan (45 minutes)]

1. Welcome & Framing (5 minutes)
• Overview of session goals
• Polling activity: “What is your institution’s greatest challenge in sustaining faculty development?”
2. Program Overview (10 minutes)
• Origins of the SoTL Collective
• Introduction to CoP model: five active CoPs, monthly meetings, cross-CoP collaborations, annual unconference
• Peer-led facilitation, inclusivity, collaborative scholarship emphasized
• Interactivity: Attendees share examples of CoPs from their contexts
3. Program Evaluation (10 minutes)
• Findings from surveys and after-action reviews
• Illustrative participant reflections: professional growth, support networks, applied practices
• Discussion prompt: “What evaluation metrics are most impactful for your institution’s development programs?”
4. Strategic Plan (10 minutes)
• Three-year priorities: institutional alignment, program growth, scholarly outputs
• Milestones: planning cycles, annual unconference, impact reporting
• Interactive small-group activity: design a three-year roadmap for participants’ institutions
5. Adaptability & Transferability (5 minutes)
• Why the model scales across contexts: flexible topics, lightweight structure, sustainability
• Key components: domain (focus), community (trust), and practice (tools and outputs)
• Adaptation examples: graduate student CoPs, AI ethics, wellness initiatives
• “Design-your-own-CoP” activity: participants sketch pilot designs for their home institutions
6. Wrap-Up & Q&A (5 minutes)
• Revisiting initial poll: reflecting on challenges addressed by the model
• Open discussion and audience questions

[Interactivity & Engagement]

The session emphasizes continuous engagement through:
• Polls to surface shared challenges
• Small-group prompts and strategy-building activities
• Collaborative design exercises for practical application
• Opportunities for reflection and audience contributions

[Learning Outcomes]

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
1. Explain the design and purpose of a peer-led SoTL Collective, including its CoPs and unconference.
2. Analyze evaluation findings to assess the effectiveness of professional development initiatives.
3. Identify strategic priorities for scaling and sustaining scholarly communities of practice.
4. Adapt the CoP model to their own institutional settings, regardless of size or resources.

[References]

Brooks, C. F. (2010). Toward ‘hybridised’ faculty development for the twenty‐first century: blending online communities of practice and face‐to‐face meetings in instructional and professional support programmes. Innovations in education and teaching international, 47(3), 261-270.
Sherer, P. D., Shea, T. P., & Kristensen, E. (2003). Online communities of practice: A catalyst for faculty development. Innovative Higher Education, 27, 183-194.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practices: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., Snyder, W. M. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Jiaqi Yu, Ph.D.

Assistant Director, Instructional Innovation and Project Management at University of North Texas Health Science Center