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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!
Summer 2024 Communities of Practice Offerings
Communities of Practice are convened periodically around a variety of key topic areas relevant to higher education community engagement.
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Community of Care for BIPOC Community Engagement Professionals
This CoP invites BIPOC-identifying community engagement professionals to come together to focus on building relationships, finding ways to support each other, and discussing ways to encourage greater diversity in the field. -
The Role for Bridge Building on College Campuses During Times of Strife
Campuses across the country are dealing with rippling tensions from the Middle East conflict. There are a variety of ways that people are responding to these challenging times. This CoP series will invite guests to talk about specific localized campus examples and maintain a conflict management lens throughout the conversations. -
Working with Incarcerated and Decarcerated Students
This CoP is a space for discussing higher ed responses to mass incarceration and its collateral damage. We will share experiences with teaching incarcerated and decarcerated students, creating carceral studies curricula, and supporting prison-to-school pipelines.
About Communities of Practice
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?
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.
How can I get involved?
Calls for participants for the Communities of Practice are posted on this page periodically. 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
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