Silos to synergy: Developing collaborative scholarship theme teams for pharmacy faculty

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Faculty Development
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

Background:

• Communities of Practice (CoPs) are vital for faculty collaboration and professional growth in higher education.
• The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy established a specific CoP, the TLSS Theme Team, to enhance teaching and educational scholarship.
• The TLSS Theme Team aimed to improve interdepartmental collaboration, mentor junior faculty, and align SoTL with institutional goals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the design, implementation, and evolution of the TLSS Theme Team, a context-specific CoP.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the CoP model in fostering faculty collaboration and SoTL within pharmacy education.
• To present a feasible and scalable framework for other institutions to enhance faculty development and teaching excellence.

Main Methods:

• The TLSS Theme Team was structured around CoP constructs: domain, community, and practice.
• Key features included voluntary membership, rotating leadership, and modest institutional funding.
• Activities comprised quarterly meetings, annual retreats, and internal seed grants to promote engagement and productivity.

Main Results:

• The implementation of the theme team led to increased cross-disciplinary collaboration and new joint projects.
• A significant increase in scholarly publications was observed over a five-year period.
• Participants reported enhanced educational research skills and improved scholarly dissemination.

Conclusions:

• The TLSS Theme Team model is a feasible, scalable, and cost-effective approach to fostering SoTL and faculty development in pharmacy education.
• This CoP framework can be adapted by other institutions to strengthen scholarly collaboration and build cultures of teaching excellence.
• Aligning faculty development with institutional goals and accreditation requirements is achievable through such collaborative models.