The first two years of the project have been an incredible experience for many of us, seeing the community of practice move from theory to actuality – with shared faculty development and networking across faculty and information services staff, as well as students and community partners.

We have built a strong foundation for future work in this area, and we are seeing benefits in terms of culture and capacity for innovative pedagogy, including creative use of digital technologies and academic engagement in Memphis.

The second year was a successful one, with the addition of the talents and energies of our post-doctoral fellows and the integration of the student fellows into our community of practice. We saw several new courses across multiple departments, extended learning communities, and new networks of faculty and IT/Library staff. We also saw projects from the first year continue to develop and evolve, and leadership from that first faculty cohort around culture change and innovation.

We are looking forward to learning together and extending our community of practice this next academic year with a Mellon grant focused on community partnerships, civil rights, and social justice.