What is a 'Community of Practice'?
Ginsberg Center Communities of Practice (CoP) offer faculty and staff a semester-long cohort experience focused on interdisciplinary exchange and deeper discussion of community engagement (CE) in practice. Through discussion, activities, building relationships, and sharing resources, participants develop skills, knowledge and connections to advance their CE work at U-M and beyond.
Participants commit to attend all scheduled meetings and complete light preparation in advance of each meeting. Participants are welcome to apply for a CoP in concurrent semesters to continue their cohort experience across the academic year. The CoP focus varies each term.
2024-2025 Communities of Practice
This community of practice is designed for faculty and staff who are interested in discussing and addressing issues related to equitable compensation for community partners in the context of community-engaged research, teaching, and university-community partnerships. Participants will have the opportunity to share experiences, exchange ideas, and gain insights that can be applied to their own community-engaged work. This community is a space to:
- Learn about models and frameworks from various institutions that support equitable compensation for community partners.
- Discuss strategies for advocating for institutional policies that promote equitable compensation practices.
- Examine the meanings of ‘equitable’ compensation
- Explore funding sources and sustainability strategies to support equitable compensation practices
We’ll be joined by guest co-facilitator Dr. Amanda Healy, Ginsberg Center’s Assistant Director of University-Community Partnerships at Ginsberg Center, who will help us think about a range of compensation practices and their implications for local partners. We’ll also be joined for a session by a panel of national community engagement experts who will discuss community partner compensation practices across R1 universities.
- Application Deadline: Friday, January 17, 2025
- Open to faculty (tenured, tenure-track, lecturers), admin/staff, post-docs
- Meeting Dates (four Fridays from 10am-11:30am EST):
- Friday, January 31, 2025 - in person
- Friday, February 21, 2025 - on Zoom w/ R1 expert panel
- Friday, March 21, 2025 - on Zoom
- Friday, April 11, 2025 - in person
- Dedicated time to reflect, learn and further develop your community-engaged pedagogy, program planning and research practices
- Develop interdisciplinary connections with community-engaged colleagues
- Share resources, address challenges, receive feedback & offer strategies
- Prepare for and deepen your community partnerships with Ginsberg Center support
- Discuss critical issues in the practice of community-engagement at Michigan, including the dynamics between U-M and communities in SE Michigan, Washtenaw County and Detroit.
- Access support from Ginsberg staff around community-match-making, course or program design, data and evaluation, and publishing CE scholarship
- Join a cohort community for participants to develop connections and to build off of prior discussions in meaningful ways.
- Become a Ginsberg affiliate, a trusted Ginsberg partner with opportunities to advise and participate in future Ginsberg programming and gain recognition through awards and storytelling.
Read about faculty and staff from across the university who have participated in our community of practice cohorts.
How to Join
- To apply for our Winter 2025 cohort, complete the application by Friday January 17th, 2025
- For questions about this program or the application, [email protected]
Fall 2023: Power & Partnerships
This community of practice focuses on building a robust consciousness of power relationships in university-community partnerships. Participants will encounter foundational concepts in equity-focused community engagement and share perspectives on the ways that power relationships share community engaged research, teaching, and partnerships.
This cohort experience is designed especially for those new to community engagement and early career practitioners. Experienced participants may also join to build relationships and share perspectives.
Winter 2024: Preparing Students for Community Engagement
This community of practice explores critical issues in the preparation of undergraduate and graduate students for community engagement (CE). What skills and competencies might we be responsible for developing in our students before they interact with communities through our teaching, research, and programs? How will we support our students in developing skills through CE experiences while honoring the priorities, labor, and knowledge of local communities?
Participants will explore key principles for preparing students for CE and share strategies for making your commitments to community partners legible to your students and in your plans.
