As a means of supporting faculty as they create community around the issues that matter to them, we offer Pratt faculty a way of engaging in communities of practice or communities of inquiry (CoPI).
These one-semester long faculty communities form webs of support for new and continuing faculty alike. To that end, all CoPI groups have a mix of faculty––some with institutional memory at Pratt and some new to teaching and/or new to teaching at Pratt.
The basic features of a CoPI include the following:
- A group of no more than 6 Pratt faculty;
- A practice or inquiry topic that connects the group;
- A budget plan, including participant stipends, specific to the group;
- A meeting schedule, as determined by the group;
- Commitment to two additional meetings over the course of the semester with the CTL and other active CoPIs;
- Before and after surveys for all participants using the Diener flourishing scale.
The most important feature of a CoPI is that it’s based on practice or inquiries important to those in the group, usually initiated by one or two faculty who then act as facilitators.
