Inspired by our observations of the transformative moments that can happen when faculty from different disciplines break down silos and collaborate on pedagogical strategies, we found ourselves asking what would happen if educational developers did the same. At times, educational developers, both novices and more experienced developers, can feel on the margins, situated in an in-between space straddling both instructional and administrative worlds (Little & Green, 2011). In an effort to come in from those margins, what if we resisted institutional barriers and collaborated across institutions to develop programs and initiatives, all the while growing our capacity as educational developers? What sort of projects would we or could we collaborate on? What stories would we share? What research could we produce or what directions might we go in? And how would all of this affect us, the faculty we serve, the students they teach and our profession?
This session seeks to engage participants in a conversation around cross-institutional collaboration in order to hear how educational developers are or could be collaborating locally, regionally and nationally. We hope that participants will walk away inspired, connected, and ready to continue to, or start, moving beyond borders within the field of educational development. Furthermore, we hope to disrupt this sense of being on the margins. We intend this session to be mainly participant-driven, and a lively exchange of experiences and ideas.