A CLIP is a Community of Learning, Inquiry, and Practice. It is a group that is informal and dynamic and made up of faculty and staff at a community college.

A CLIP sometimes includes administrators, students, or other stakeholders too. Together, CLIP members learn about their professional practice by conducting an inquiry about a topic of importance to them.

CLIPs complement the formal structures of a college. The inquiry conducted by a CLIP creatively enriches the formal practices of establishing student learning outcomes, student assessment, program review, and related topics. CLIPs provide a way for small groups to test out ideas that then may be brought into the regular practices within the college.

CLIPs are a particular approach within the more general concept of Communities of Practice. CLIP members choose to share certain norms, roles, and responsibilities and are supported by the college within which they operate.