Creating and Implementing Communities of Practice for Sharing, Collaboration, and Team Building

This session will illustrate the valuable and varied roles that communities of practice (CoPs) can play within higher education through three case studies from the UMass Amherst. These case studies include a cross-departmental CoP whose role is to foster a closer bond between disparate units that depend on each other but do not often work together directly; a CoP that brings together instructors from a variety of disciplines to learn from each other through discussing common issues in instruction and instructional technology; and a CoP that enables librarians to discuss experiences and issues in teaching in a library-specific context.

Outcomes: Understand what a CoP is and how it differs from other types of professional groups * Understand what roles CoPs can play in fostering collaboration, sharing, and support in professional environments * Learn how to create and implement 3 types of CoPs at your institution