Communities of Practice (CoPs) provide a unique opportunity for Campus Compact members to join peers across the country to dig deeper into specific areas of engagement practice. Through discussions, joint activities, resource sharing, and relationship building, participants develop a repertoire of resources, skills, and knowledge to use in their practice. Above all, the CoPs provide a great space to communicate and share strategies with like-minded individuals from all across the country!

Fall 2023 Communities of Practice Offerings

Communities of Practice are convened on a quarterly basis (fall, spring, summer, and winter) around a variety of key topic areas relevant to higher education community engagement.
  • Collaboration for Better Practice: Creating Synergy Across all Sectors to Better Impact the Field
    This CoP will focus on building collaborative relationships with industry, government and academia to achieve "glocal" sustainable development goals.

  • Student Success and Civic Engagement
    Participate in this CoP to discuss how to best support students' experiential learning and civic and community engagement using Federal Work-Study, fellowship funds, and internal and external grants.

  • We're All In This Together: Building a Network of Mutualism among Young Community-Engaged Professionals
    Join this CoP to participate in discussions about labor, advocacy, compensation, and values when it comes to young professionals working in the higher education civic and community engagement field.

 

 

About Communities of Practice

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What is a Community of Practice?

A CoP is a learning community—or collegial network—that we define as “a group of people who share interest in an area of inquiry and engage in collective learning about that issue as it relates to their work or practice. Through discussions, joint activities, and relationship building, the community of practice develops a shared and individual repertoire of resources, skills, and knowledge to use in their practice.” (MN Campus Compact).

Communities of Practice provide community engagement professionals an opportunity to dig deeper into specific areas of engagement practice by sharing experiences and models, networking, and exchanging resources.

Communities of Practice also can support individuals wishing to earn credentials in community engagement by offering: (a) space to share, reflect on, and build knowledge around the key competencies that practitioners are expected to demonstrate to earn credentials and (b) a valued cohort that supports each other with reflection on professional practice and preparation of portfolios to submit as part of the credentialing application process.

Campus Compact-led CoPs are free of charge for participants. They are designed to be democratic and embrace the following equity-based principles: (a) that everyone has knowledge to share, (b) that 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 CoP activities.

How often do Communities of Practice meet?

Communities of Practice are convened quarterly.

Typically, participants commit to attend six regularly-scheduled, 60-90 minute virtual group sessions. There is no fee to participate in a CoP. CoPs are only open to individuals from Campus Compact member institutions.

Who facilitates the Communities of Practice?

Each quarter, we publish an open call for community engagement professionals to propose topics and serve as co-facilitators for the Communities of Practice. Co-facilitators commit to hosting six, 60-90 minute virtual sessions over a limited time period. Campus Compact offers design and technical support to co-facilitators as well as helps “pair” individuals to co-facilitate offerings together.

This is a great opportunity for those who are seeking national leadership opportunities in the field of civic and community engagement. 

If you have specific questions about co-facilitating a Campus Compact’s CoP, contact us at campus@compact.org.

How can I get involved?

Calls for participants for the Communities of Practice are posted on this page on a quarterly basis. To get the latest information about openings, be sure to subscribe to the Campus Compact mailing list. Communities of Practice are a benefit of Campus Compact membership and are only open to active members.

Reflections from Co-Facilitators

It was enjoyable, informative, and gratifying. The level of interest, engagement, and knowledge of the participants was impressive.
- David Potash, President of Wilbur Wright College-City Colleges of Chicago
It was so inspiring to learn practical ways that faculty, staff, administrators, and others were committing to creating equitable learning environments.
- Nairuti Shastry, Researcher, Beloved Economies
It was heartening to see such quality work being shared so we aren’t all individually re-creating the wheel.
- Victoria Vogelgesang, Director of Academic Engagement, Kentucky Campus Compact
Being among self-selected colleagues allowed us to structure our discussions and create a generous community that shared resources, ideas, and support.
- Kathy Sikes, Senior Fellow-Civic Engagement, DukeEngage, Duke University