Transforming departmental culture: Empowering a department through Appreciative Inquiry

Abstract

This article outlines an appreciative inquiry (AI) into a departmental professional development process and describes the resulting implementation of an appreciative peer evaluation meeting as one part of the new professional development process. Using AI, a departmental faculty development committee sought to re-envision the professional development process. Also, the authors discuss how using AI can result in positive impacts for culture change and the model for peer evaluation can promote both individual and collective development of faculty.