[GuidedPathways] Review: Developing a Community of Practice in Support of the Community and Technical Colleges Voices

[Claudine Richardson]

Dear Colleagues Who Create and Facilitate Professional Learning Opportunities,


Over the last few quarters, and especially around this time of year, many of you have taken the time to reach out to the Student Success Center.


A consistent request: you wish to have access to spaces that allow you to collaborate with other like-minded individuals across our 34 colleges who have the same passion and/or job responsibilities as you.

I'm In! How Do I Sign Up?

For those of you who know right now that this is for you, here is a google form to fill out: https://bit.ly/3EAcnvq

I'm Not Sure (Yet). Tell Me More!

We hear that you want to access collective and collaborative expertise, be it ...



  *   Offering Insight: Share your lived experiences and learning from wins and challenges;
  *   Receiving Wisdom: Hear and learn about others' experiences;
  *   Elevating Scholarship: The voices of research and paradigm-shifting thinkers in the field;
  *   Developing Strategies: Support your campus community in their efforts to lead with racial equity with significant learning experiences.



Our team is very excited to be able to reach out to you at this moment, as many of us are looking ahead to the fall quarter of 2022 when we experience that beautiful resurgence of energy and imagination.


In the spirit of building together and that everything is better when done collectively, we invite you to take the beginning steps with us to form a Community of Practice Around Professional Development dedicated to supporting your work.

Is this Community for Me?

We want to work with our colleagues who offer/have offered/could offer ANY kind of learning opportunity for your colleagues! Here are a few ideas ...



  *   You have insights from practice or your training about how professional learning could be improved at any level (classroom, department, program, campus, system);
  *   You hold a position charged with professional development for faculty and/or staff
     *   Direct a teaching and learning center for a campus or district
     *   Offer professional development through a program or department
  *   You are passionate about outcomes assessment as it relates to higher education: perhaps you serve or chair the outcomes assessment committee (or do any kind of assessment work)
  *   You possess knowledge or expertise about using evidence for improvement, for example, coding and theming qualitative data



Of course, this list is not exhaustive. If your heart is called, join us!

What is My Next Step?

Please help us to begin shaping who we can become by filling out this form (link: https://bit.ly/3EAcnvq). The purpose is to create a space for your voice. We hope you will share with us more about who you are and what you want/need/desire at this moment as you think about getting ready for fall.

What Are Our Next Steps?

We hope to hold at least 2 gatherings before June 30th (the last day of the fiscal year!) so we can not only start to get to know each other, but also identify shared interests, needs, resources, and potential areas for collaboration. Our goal is to develop a plan so we can build together over the summer to prepare for the fall. The details and cadence of our gatherings are something we are hoping to clarify with your answers to the form (link: https://bit.ly/3EAcnvq) and in our first gatherings.


We are interested in exploring what a truly distributed leadership model looks like, with the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) Student Success Center being the convener and all of us together dreaming about what our work can look like in service of our community while centering on racial and economic justice.

Gratitude

We wish to thank the Director of the Student Success Center, Monica Wilson, who supports and champions this work.


We are also grateful to the many practitioners who expressed to us their desire and need for this kind of collective movement: you inspire us and this endeavor!

Questions?

Please feel free to reach out to one (or all) of us. Our e-mail addresses are below.


With excitement and hope for our collective work,


Ambar Martinez, ambar.mtz.e at gmail.com<mailto:ambar.mtz.e at gmail.com>, Equity Consultant to SBCTC

Claudine Richardson, crichardson at sbctc.edu<mailto:crichardson at sbctc.edu>, Policy Associate for Equity and Assessment in Guided Pathways

Jen Whetham, jwhetham at sbctc.edu<mailto:jwhetham at sbctc.edu>, Policy Associate for Faculty Development

The value of your personal time is priceless, please feel obliged to not reply to this email outside of your working hours.

Respectfully and Humbly,

[signature_198601869]Claudine Richardson, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.A.
Pronouns: they |them |theirs
Policy Associate | Student Success Center
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
PO Box 42495 | 1300 Quince Street SE | Olympia | WA | 98504
crichardson at sbctc.edu<mailto:crichardson at sbctc.edu> | c. 509.230.3690
sbctc.edu * Twitter: @SBCTCWashington * Facebook: @WASBCTC

Spring 2022 Guided Pathway Student Success Institute Condensed Agenda: https://bit.ly/34IiSPD

The Strategic Initiatives and Student Success Center Team is working remotely. We are always enthused to support and be of assistance.

SBCTC Vision: "Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities."