This case investigates a set of empowerment concerns in the context of transforming classes of student and teacher learners (considered as department-wide learning units in higher education) into professional learning communities (PLCs). In particular, we are interested in enhancing student learning through designing a collaborative learning environment in support of problem-based learning, based on the concept of virtual organizing the various PLCs distributed throughout a higher educational institute. Of specific interest in our exploration is the generative potential of a servant-leader model of student-centered education in support of the PLCs nurtured by the development practice of appreciative coaching adapted from the established positive change paradigm of appreciative inquiry.