The Campus Compact Affinity Networks bring members together around shared interests to advance common priorities. Affinity networks will convene to form ongoing, sustained collegial networks that will provide space to participate in professional development, network, build partnerships, share best practices, and support each other's work.
Active Affinity Networks
These groups are actively meeting & collaborating to move forward collective work.
The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN)
R1 institutions that share a fundamental commitment to leveraging their resources to address the most challenging issues in society.
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Community Colleges Network
Members will come together to discuss topics of mutual interest and ask questions, provide feedback, and help guide Campus Compact's community college work. Learn more →
Rural Serving Institutions Affinity Network
A new ongoing, collegial network of faculty, practitioners, and senior leaders at institutions serving rural communities.
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Affordable Housing Affinity Network
A community of higher education professionals that explores how higher education anchor institutions can positively contribute to addressing the affordable housing crisis in the U.S.
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Campus Compact's Vision for Affinity Networks
Affinity Networks are democratic
All affinity networks will be designed to be democratic and embrace the following equity-based principles: that (a) everyone has knowledge to share, (b) everyone has learning to do, and (c) participants bring many identities and ways of knowing and that such diverse expressions should be encouraged and incorporated into affinity group’s activities. In this way, all affinity groups will be structured and monitored to support the growth and learning of all members.
Affinity Networks are member-driven
Affinity networks are member-driven, so they may serve different purposes for different groups. The ways in which affinity groups are organized, the questions they consider, and the outcomes they seek will likely vary from group to group.
Affinity Networks are equity-centered
Given the current social and historical moment and Campus Compact’s commitment to move beyond words and into tangible action, all affinity networks will be designed to center equity. This means acknowledging multiple forms of knowledge, centering marginalized voices, and being inclusive of the multiple intersectional identities of participants. We also strive to make our institutions more equitable, inclusive, and just places and as such we ask that participants be reflective of institutions’ reputations of harm and strive to make a commitment towards the elimination of barriers that impact the participation of individuals in the life and well-being of the institution and the local community.
Affinity Networks bring theory, knowledge, and scholarship to practice
As new forms of knowledge and ways of knowing enter into and are acknowledged within the higher education community engagement space, it is important that we continue to work together to develop creative strategies that put our developing knowledge into transformative practice. Affinity networks are ideal places to collaboratively design, practice, and evaluate more inclusive, equity-focused approaches to engagement in our institutional contexts.
Structure & schedule
Affinity networks will meet quarterly at a minimum. Meetings will primarily be held virtually, with in-person gatherings scheduled depending on resources, availability, and relative access. Participants are encouraged to regularly attend group meetings. The kinds of activities that take place within individual affinity groups will be driven by (and responsive to) the desires of member institutions and may include the sharing of best practices, professional development, networking, and partnership building.