Communities of Practice

The SSTAR Lab team seeks to engage the broader campus community in regular dialogue on important topics in higher education. In the lab's early stages, we hosted topic-based conversations on the "First Friday" of select months, using current literature, research, or online discourse to guide the discussion. The latest iteration of this work transforms these efforts to elevate professional development and ongoing learning among colleagues through communities of practice. 

What is a Community of Practice?

Communities of practice (CoP) bring colleagues together around common interests to work toward a shared goal of learning. A CoP is not a committee, working group, or task force! Rather, a CoP includes educators and practitioners in higher education who come together to leverage each other's expertise, exchange knowledge and ideas, and serve as interdependent resources to strengthen their professional practice. 

Interested in learning more about CoPs?

• Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems.Organization, 7(2), 225-246.
• Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). An introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concept and its uses.https://www.wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

 

Fall 2024 Communities of Practice

• Engaging Education with AI: Experiment with different forms of AI and investigate its uses in student success. Explore AI’s use in communication, its applications at Stony Brook, and how we can implement its benefits here on campus.
• Crafting Your Personal Narrative: Our decisions and actions are important elements of a broader story that led us to where we are today. In this interactive and thought-provoking CoP, explore your professional decision-making and focus on what's next in your story.
• The SSTAR Lab Experience: Research in Higher Education: Engaging in research activities can help higher education professionals drive meaningful improvements. Together we will break down the research and experimental process to make evidence-based decision-making more accessible and actionable for everyone.

 

Past Communities of Practice/"First Friday" Topics

Spring 2024 Communities of Practice

• Supervision for Student Success: Explore practices, tools, and resources in supervision (of students and/or professional staff) to support institutional student success goals.
• Leading Change: Engage with colleagues on effective strategies for navigating change in the workplace and discuss approaches for advancing new ideas and initiatives in your department.
• Cohort Advising as a Practice: Examine different models and best practices for cohort advising as a strategy to improve student outcomes.

Friday, February 3, 2023: Understanding Gen Z

• Johnson, D. B., & Sveen, L. W. (2020). Three key values of Generation Z: Equitably serving the next generation of students. College & University, 95(1), 37–40.
• Blog Post: Generation Z college students have arrived. Here’s how colleges can adapt 

Friday, March 3, 2023: Building Equity

• The Boyer 2030 Commission Report: The Equity/Excellence Imperative
• The Student Experience Project: Conveying effective social belonging messages

Friday, October 6, 2023: Asset-Based Advising

• Patton Davis, L. & Museus, S. (2019). What is deficit thinking? An analysis of conceptualizations of deficit thinking and implications for scholarly research. Currents, 1(1), 117-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/currents.17387731.0001.110  
• Buchanan, T. M., Brown, A., Chirco, P., Klein, D., Purgason, A. M. (2022). Messaging matters: The impact of advising micromessages on student affect and behavior across diverse university campuses. NACADA Journal, 42(2), 45–61. https://doi.org/10.12930/NACADA-22-04

Friday, December 1, 2023: Asset-Based Messaging Workshop

• Small Group Workshops
• Opportunity to revise, rewrite, and rework existing communication