Teaching in higher education can be a lonely endeavor. Oftentimes, professors find themselves alone trying to work out solutions to emerging issues of student engagement or academic struggles. As colleagues, Kristin and David came together to talk about the ways in which our experiences in leadership, coaching, and instructional design and effective teaching could support our colleagues in their development as instructors. What if we designed an opportunity and invited faculty to participate in a peer coaching community? We could provide the group with professional development about teaching and coaching, as well as space, partners and a learning community for debriefing and ongoing support. Who knew that four years ago, this small idea would turn into a university-wide initiative with 42 continuously engaged faculty participants and a growing waiting list?

In this article, we walk readers through the intentional design of our faculty designed peer-coaching initiative at Sacred Heart University and share emerging findings about the impact of this initiative.