Disciplinary Communities at Penn State

The Intra-University Relations Committee of the University Faculty Senate proposed creation of Disciplinary Communities at Penn State in its April 25, 2006, Informational Report, "Disciplinary Communities," to the Senate. The term Disciplinary Communities refers to a collective group that practices a particular branch of learning or body of knowledge. Some disciplines already have functioning communities that promote communication and collaboration among Penn State faculty in the discipline at different locations.

In April 2007, the Administrative Council on Undergraduate Education (ACUE) confirmed the need to establish and encourage disciplinary communities across University locations (http://www.psu.edu/dept/oue/aappm/P-12.html).

In August 2007, Vice Presidents Robert Pangborn and John Romano charged the Disciplinary Communities Implementation Team to establish processes and tools to help Disciplinary Communities organize. The team presented recommendations to the Senate in March 2008. In this report, the Team developed an initial list of disciplines, lists of faculty in each discipline, and outlined essential and optional functions for the communities.

Functions of discipline-based faculty communities:

• Curricular coordination and integration
• Curricular consultation and review of courses and degree programs
• Content coordination of courses across multiple locations and instructors
• Development of instructor qualification guidelines
• Review of course credit transfers and articulation agreements

Optional functions include (but are not limited to):

• Course and program assessment
• Recognition of teaching excellence
• Mentoring of faculty in teaching
• Repositories of model syllabi, assignment, exam or other instructional materials
• Organization of student interactions across locations

In April 2008, the Emerging Technologies group of Information Technology Services offered to develop and host a community hub for Penn State’s Disciplinary Communities. The Faculty Communities hub will launch in September 2009. It includes 215 foundational Disciplinary Communities divided into fifteen Scholarly Domains. College and campus administrators have approved the lists of faculty to be included in the communities. The platform allows faculty to search for communities, join additional communities, create new communities, and unsubscribe from a community.

April 25, 2006: "Disciplinary Communities"
April 5, 2007: "Disciplinary Communities: Implementation Procedure," P-12 Academic Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual (AAPPM), approved by Administrative Council for Undergraduate Education (ACUE).
March 18, 2008: "Implementing Disciplinary Communities: A Progress Report from the Disciplinary Communities Implementation Team," an Information Report sponsored by the Senate Committee on Intra-University Relations.

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