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

Communities of Practice (CoPs) offer a powerful framework for advancing faculty collaboration, professional identity formation, and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in higher education. This article describes the design, implementation, and evolution of the Teaching, Learning, and Student Success (TLSS) Theme Team, a context-specific CoP established within the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy to promote innovation in teaching and educational scholarship. The TLSS Theme Team was created to enhance collaboration across departments and campuses, mentor junior faculty, and align SoTL initiatives with institutional priorities. Guided by the core CoP constructs of domain, community, and practice, the team functions through shared goals, structured meetings, and dissemination of scholarly work. Key features include voluntary membership, rotating leadership, and minimal resource requirements supported by modest institutional funding. Activities such as quarterly meetings, annual retreats, and internal seed grants foster engagement, accountability, and shared productivity. Outcomes include increased collaboration, development of educational research skills, and scholarly dissemination. Implementation of the theme team was associated with increased cross-disciplinary collaboration, new joint projects, and an increase in scholarly publications over five years. This model demonstrates a feasible, scalable, and cost-effective approach to fostering SoTL and faculty development within pharmacy education. The theme team framework may be adapted by other institutions seeking to strengthen scholarly collaboration, align faculty development with accreditation and institutional goals, and build enduring cultures of teaching excellence and innovation.