Edinburgh Napier University

  In 2006, a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) was set up at the University of Glasgow (Bell et al, 2006). Using the Miami model proposed by Cox (2004), the purpose of the FLC was two-fold; to bring together a group of University Teachers (UT), a new academic position at the University of Glasgow, introduced in 2002 to incorporate the merger of the university with St. Andrews College of Education, and to allow the UTs to develop their knowledge of the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL), which was itself a requirement of progression and promotion within the institution.
Twelve UTs from six faculties were chosen to form the FLC. Invitations were sent out to all UTs in the institution (137 in 10 faculties), and 22 applications from UTs in 7 faculties were received. Members of the FLC were selected on the basis of application statement and availability. Starting with a residential retreat which began the process of community building, and following with monthly meetings, each with a particular SoTL theme, the FLC flourished for the twelve months of its existence, and offered the members a community which offered support to them in their struggle with academic identity. The UTLC was the subject of two papers, Bell et al, 2006, which described the origins of the Learning Community, and a second paper (MacKenzie et al, in press) which sought to identify the benefits that came from the twelve months that the UTs spent together. Through interviews and focus groups it became apparent that the UTLC fostered a sense of community for the UTs, and helped them to define an academic identity for themselves, through mutual support and trust within the group. On a practical level, the UTLC also allowed the UTs the opportunity to work together with colleagues outwith their disciplines, and form relationships across faculties, which rarely happen in other situations. This has led to further academic collaborations between subgroups of the UTs that formed the UTLC. This presentation will look at the effect that the UTLC had on the individuals, and, in addition, will offer a personal reflection of the perception of teaching-only academics in a research-intensive institution.