Building a Community of Care Across the University for Equity and Inclusion

Our institution has committed to inclusive teaching and learning. We have developed a sustainable and actionable Inclusive Teaching and Learning Strategic Plan that focuses on accountability, leadership development, aligning student and faculty demographics, curriculum design, and professional development for our faculty, staff, and students. These elements represent an intentional shift of systems changes to ensure we value the inherent worth, dignity, and humanity of all engaged in the learning process.

Just because this strategic plan exists does not necessarily mean its operationalization is automatic. It seems as if moments before the so-called 'culture wars' on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives erupted across the country, there was a pronounced concern that diversity efforts in general seemed to exist on paper and were difficult to bring to life. Anyone who has been involved with DEI initiatives knows this to be true – postsecondary institutions aim to elevate to social and economic mobility of their students – and historically, we have a litany of issues ranging from students who do not graduate and attain their degree, to incorporating systemic and exclusionary practices that inadvertently create unreasonable barriers for systemically marginalized students.

The presenters introduce how an institution can, at scale, build capacity and operationalize sustainable inclusion of student, faculty, and staff identities through a community of care in the online space. More than faculty development or a list of best practices, a community of care cascades throughout the institution and involves social-emotional learning, trauma-informed training, compassionate curiosity, and abundance mindset approaches to online teaching and learning that supports the well-being of students, faculty, and staff. 

Collaboration and interactivity include:

1. 8 minutes. Presenters will define and suggest how institutions can prioritize a community of care (Interaction: instructor-participants. Maps to Takeaway #1.)
   1. 6 minutes. In small groups, participants will list the different groups and communities within their own institutions, and consider if the presenter’s definition is adequate (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   2. 4 minutes. Groups will discuss the dimensions of the identified communities, and list verbs/actions that can support and nourish each identified group or community in the online setting (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   3. Notes:
      1. Participants will be able to bring a working definition of “community of care” to their institution after the workshop.
      2. Materials: For this part of the presentation, we will offer a digital presentation (PPT projected on screen) and create a printed booklet, including similar digital online collaboration spaces (Jamboard or a similar technology).
      3. Relevance: By collaborating with others, participants can begin to internalize what a community of care could mean for their institutions. This is an important bridge from theory and research to applied digital teaching and learning practices. This portion of the workshop will highlight the intra-institutional strategies and models for collaboration across units that support developing a community of care.
2. 8 minutes. Presenters identify key components of the unique communities within an institution (Interaction: instructor-participants. Maps to Takeaway #2).
   1. 5 minutes. Participants will discuss their specific institutions, and what they currently offer to support the unique student, faculty, and staff communities (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   2. 2 minutes. Participants will identify cross-functional spaces that exist or can be created to promote collaboration and creativity (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   3. 3 minutes. All will discuss what strategies are currently used, and what opportunities exist to improve them? What must be created to support multiple communities, and what must happen to sharpen a unified, institutional community? (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   4. Notes:
      1. In addition to a definition, participants will be able to identify the strategies their institution can mobilize to develop spaces where a community of care can be nurtured.
      2. Materials: Presenters will offer a digital presentation (PPT projected on screen). For participants’ conversations, we will create a booklet, and offer similar digital collaboration spaces that can track the cross-functional teams necessary to support participants’ communities.
      3. Relevance: By creating a space to further individualize the specific groups within each participants’ community of learners, we can collaborate on the possibilities. This extends theory to effective online teaching and learning practices. Participants consider the planning, alignment, and increased quality of academic initiatives, and how to engage key stakeholders around issues of disruption, change and growth.
3. 7 minutes. Mapping barriers and prioritize resources to mitigate their impacts (Interaction: instructor-participants. Maps to Takeaway #3).
   1. 6 minutes. Individual participants will be invited to spin a wheel of the “social determinants of changemakers” (patterned after the social determinants of health) to identify potential barriers, and those individuals will call on others to identify resources to mitigate the barriers’ impacts. (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   2. 6 minutes. Participants will explore a set of nine questions that can lead curriculum development and promote inclusion in online courses (as part of leading academic transformation), along with parts of an engagement series that can be used for leadership development and professional learning communities (as part of institutional approaches, strategies, or best practices for faculty development, professional development and support). (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   3. 6 minutes. All will vote on the solutions identified, after which we’ll break into small groups and discuss what works for each participant’s home institution, with emphasis on what is actionable immediately vs. six months from now (or what is not even a possibility at their institution). (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   4. Notes:
      1. This set of activities is intended to strengthen the possibility of participants developing a community of care in their home institution’s online spaces. Understanding the barriers, push-back, or other stumbling blocks could facilitate conversations at their institution and help them more clearly identify equity outcomes a community of care approach in their online environments could provide.
      2. Materials: Presenters will show (using a projected PPT) common barriers, with a copy of those barriers in the accompanying workshop booklet. We will include digital collaboration spaces for participants to identify their unique barriers. Lastly, we will provide the nine questions instructional designers and faculty can use to create inclusive online course environments.
      3. Relevance: This activity promotes creativity – usually we get stuck at the barriers in our online environments, and surrender to technology’s limitations or other issues. This moment encourages collaborative creativity and asks participants to identify how communities of care become force multipliers in the online space. This portion of the workshop will highlight the intra-institutional strategies and models for collaboration across units that support developing a community of care.
4. 9 minutes. Presenters will offer a plan that could inspire sustainable agility in online spaces to monitor and adjust community practices (Interaction: instructor-participants. Maps to Takeaway #4).
   1. 3 minutes. The presentation will be along the lines of “what do you think of this?” and participants will be asked to answer the questions (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   2. 2 minutes. Presenters will offer a range (from the moonshot to the easiest to attain action). (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   3. 2 minutes. Participants will ‘up-vote’ on what is presented. (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   4. 3 minutes. Presenters will ask to track updates – if participants are willing, to give contact information so we can provide an ongoing dialogue for what is and is not working in participants’ home institutions and online spaces. (Interaction: participant-to-participant).
   5. Notes:
      1. Workshop participants will (on a voluntary basis) engage in a year-long (quarterly) set of check-ins to continue the conversation around building a community of care in their online spaces. The hope is to develop a network of support and expand our understanding of communities of care.
      2. Materials: We will use PollEverywhere for the voting. We will offer a digital collaboration spaces for participants once the session ends.
      3. Relevance: This activity also promotes collaborative creativity – to imagine the long-term impacts of how communities of care become force multipliers in the online space. This activity will encourage external partnerships, engaging cross-functional teams, and offer a collaborative model. Additionally, participants can identify strategies to expand resources and opportunities to drive academic innovation.
5. 10 minutes. Q&A. Presenters will hold a drawing for a give-away. (Interaction: instructor-participants. Maps to Takeaway #5).
   1. Materials: We will offer a certificate of completion (digitally delivered to participants), will distribute a sign-in sheet to capture participants’ email addresses, and their interested in continuing the conversation after the conference.
   2. Relevance: This last section will reinforce both the collaboration and the creativity expressed in the session and encourage participants to continue the work after the conference. This activity will encourage external partnerships and offer a collaborative model and how to engage key stakeholders around issues of disruption, change and growth.

1. Define a community of care within online spaces
2. Identify components of the unique communities within an institution
3. Map barriers and prioritize resources to mitigate impacts
4. Consider sustainable agility practices to monitor and adjust community of care practices, goals, and efficacy in online spaces
5. Leave inspired to build a robust community of care within the home institution’s online environment