Communities of Practice
The BUILD Program invites classified staff, professional staff, part-time faculty, and full-time faculty to join a Community of Practice. Communities of Practice (CoPs) are groups of people who regularly come together around a common concern or interest. They share ideas and strategies, learn alongside each other, create new knowledge, and build innovations that serve individual/community needs.
Regular interaction on an ongoing basis is an important part of this, as it allows for deeper engagement and the construction of a mutually supportive community. Accordingly, participating in a community of practice requires a commitment to meet together 6-8 times (about every 2-3 weeks) over the course of a semester. Between meetings, participants will typically read or watch materials, practice strategies and tools, and/or make progress on individual projects between meetings.
Learn more about our current CoP offerings and register below.
Being the Change:
A Trauma-Informed Community of Practice
Co-Facilitated by Alyssa Reynolds, L.C.S.W., & Jacoba Rock, Ph.D., L.C.S.W.
Meetings will take place on Zoom from 12:00pm MT to 1:00pm MT on the following Wednesdays:
- 9/11, 9/18, 10/2, 10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 12/4
There will be an 8th and final meeting during the Spring semester to check back in. We will schedule this final meeting in collaboration with participants to ensure everyone can attend.
We have been through a lot, individually and collectively. The impact of a pandemic, social unrest, change fatigue, and chronic stress and uncertainty pervade our lives, and the lives of our students, colleagues, and everyone with whom we are in community. Consequently, trauma-informed approaches to both education and leadership have been of increasing interest in recent years. Yet often they are perceived as yet another ‘to-do’ for our already busy lists of tasks and commitments. This Community of Practice aims to make trauma-informed approaches accessible and viable to everyone at Boise State, by creating a space for sharing and supporting simple strategies that can be realized in our day-to-day lives.
This community of educators and staff/administrators will meet online for one hour every other week throughout the Spring Semester. Throughout, principles of safety, choice and voice, collaboration, trust, and empowerment will guide our goals and discussions. Each meeting, facilitators will introduce specific tools and strategies they can practice throughout the weeks. Recognizing the impact of secondary and vicarious trauma in our work with students, colleagues, and university life, we will also center self and community care to help us attend to our own needs and authentically model this goal for others. Facilitators will share a short article or video clip (free access) via email with community members several days in advance of every meeting, to prompt our thinking about how we integrate these principles into our work.
To Sign Up
We still have open space for this Community of Practice! To apply, please register on the Being the Change event page on CampusGroups by Tuesday, September 10th at 6:00pm MT!
Community of Practice on Student Employment Practices
We’re always looking for potential topics to explore in community and student employment is one that has come up repeatedly. For instance, we know student employment can have a huge impact on students’ sense of belonging, academic success, retention, and self-efficacy. But we also know that experiences can vary dramatically across both student employees and supervisors. Let’s share knowledge, discuss challenges, and explore best practices for creating thriving communities through the student employment experience.
If this sounds interesting to you, please fill out the following Google form. If we have enough interest, we’ll organize a community of practice and share out the details!