Get Involved in a Forum Community of Practice

As part of The Forum Council’s efforts to respond to member feedback for a broader array of engagement opportunities that foster learning, networking and peer learning among professionals, educators, and scholars over their careers, The Forum Council is piloting communities of practice (CoP) beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.

What is a Community of Practice(CoP)?

Communities of practice (CoPs) refer to groups of people that come together and engage in a structured process that enables participants to investigate, reflect and provide solutions for or about significant issues, questions, problems or opportunities within a field or area of practice. Forum Council sponsored CoPs focus on topics that relate to or intersect with the theory and practices of education abroad in higher education.

• CoPs are focused on process, reflection, and dialogue – a key product of a CoP is individual and collective learning. A CoP’s joint work may result in a product, (e.g., gaps analysis, white paper, recommended reading list, etc.). However, this decision is driven by CoP members rather than The Forum Council.
• CoPs are not working groups or committees. They are not laser-focused on completing a deliverable or a specific project. Those seeking that type of engagement opportunity should check out The Forum’s volunteer opportunities.
• CoPs are not efforts to speak on behalf of The Forum or The Forum Council. Topics are generated based on member interest and willingness to serve as a convener. Not every CoP will speak to everyone but as the Council seeks to build out CoPs, we expect that anyone that wants to participate in a CoP can find one.

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Council-Sponsored CoPs 2024-25

The following communities launch in fall 2024. 

ConScience AmiD Crisis 

Co-chair:

About: This community is for practitioners who are struggling with a sense of crisis and injustice in the world and have been yearning to share conscience with others.  This is as much a community of care as it is a community of practice. At its heart is whether decolonization of our work in EA is truly possible. Those drawn to EA feel called to the field by a desire to do good. For some members of our field, however, our day-to-day practices shaped by organizational, institutional, national, and other contexts may make us feel that the nature of our work conspires to trap us within unjust systems that we seek to transform, positioning us as enablers and beneficiaries in their perpetuation.  For some, this situation may leave us discouraged or worse, feeling hypocritical.  How can we care for ourselves and for one another [including host communities, students, etc.]? 

Drawing on interests and suggestions by co-chairs and members, we will use readings and other resources to discuss critical issues in our field and their inseparability from considerations like neoliberalism, ethnonationalism, fascism, ethnic cleansing, genocide, war, civil conflicts, asymmetrical conflicts, and related aspects of law.
 

Purpose: To support colleagues seeking to process contradictions we see in our field and in the world, to support each other, to build ways that we as people of conscience can both talk about and cope, as individuals and in our roles EA practitioners, with big, existential issues.    

Who: Any staff, student, faculty, administrator connected to education abroad with whom this topic resonates and is struggling with the issues outlined and seeks a supportive space to reflect and contribute to the support of others.

Meeting Dates: All meetings are proposed for 11 a.m. Eastern (UTC –4) on either Mondays or Wednesdays: 

• Wednesday, September 25th, 2024
  
• Monday, October 21st, 2024
• Wednesday, November 13th (post-U.S. election support edition)
• Monday, January 27, 2025
• Monday, February 24, 2025
• Optional: social meetup at The Forum Annual conference in Toronto for those who can make – Wednesday, March 18-20, 2025
• Wednesday, April 30th, 2025

NOTE: If applying to this CoP, place a hold on your calendar for all listed dates and times; you can provide more information on your availability in the application; the chair(s) will finalize the schedule and send out a notification of the final schedule once the application window closes.

Seeking a co-chair: Yes.  This community seeks a co-chair of any background and interest, but preferably with experience in the intersection of education abroad and critical global issues or decolonization (i.e. based on context as a practitioner, a background in advocacy, an academic background, etc.).

​Strategically & Collaboratively Engaging Faculty in Education Abroad

Co-Chair:

About: Faculty engagement is critical to the success of education abroad, from diversifying programming and expanding access, supporting curriculum integration, improving teaching and learning, advocating for student participation, leading programs to increasing institutional support for education abroad. This Community of Practice provides a structured space for administrators and faculty to:

• discuss best practices for collaboration;
• consider new models for supporting faculty involvement and increasing diversity of EA faculty;
• examine structural barriers and opportunities for advocacy;
• design faculty programming;
• build strategies for effectively engaging faculty in education abroad.

 
Purpose: This community seeks to broaden the conversation not only in our field but within our own institutional and organizational contexts. Topics for discussion will include: opportunities for and barriers to faculty engagement; collaboration between EA practitioners and faculty; outreach, recruitment, and relationship building; professional and program development for faculty; compensation, rewards, funding, and advocacy; professional development and support for faculty leading EA programs. 
 
Who:

• Any faculty, practitioner or administrator active in education abroad or that supports/advocates for faculty engagement in education abroad. 
• We seek broad representation across:
  • Individuals with experience that extends beyond EA (e.g. academic and faculty affairs, teaching and learning centers, department chairs, etc.)
  • Lived experience
  • Faculty and staff rank /position types
  • Disciplinary/Professions
  • Onsite faculty
  • Regions (inside and outside the U.S. are encouraged to apply; rural versus urban institutions, etc.)
  • Institutional/organizational types

 
Meeting Dates: Thursdays 10 a.m. Eastern (UTC -4), except where noted

• September19
• October 31
• December 5
• January 23
• Friday, February 28th
• April 24

 
Place a hold on your calendar for these dates and times.
 

• Seeking a co-chair: YES, would value having an individual with past or current faculty experience; indicate your interest in the application.

Transnational dialogues: Exploring opportunities and tensions among sending and onsite practitioners​

Co-chair: 

​About: Policies and initiatives intent to foster justice and well-being in international education have increased as a priority in the U.S., however, these discussions often lack the voices and perspectives of practitioners outside the U.S.  The result can undermine our collective work directed to fostering learning and success for all students; it can also erode the well-being of educators.  U.S. students are increasingly aware of their social identities as understood within a U.S. cultural context which surfaces as expectations for their experiences abroad. However, colleagues abroad may not always be prepared for negotiating student expectations and may question the rationales for why.  Similarly, U.S. based colleagues vary in their familiarity with onsite contexts and may fall short of helping students set expectations that are sensitive the local onsite context.
 
This community seeks to encourage and increase the dialogue and collaboration among international educators working to support our learners through all phases of study abroad. To this end, we will define topics together.  Some questions we might explore together include:

• What are the needs, interests and histories of host communities and onsite professionals in supporting sojourning students?
• What are common challenges shared among EA colleagues in the U.S. and onsite when U.S. students' expectations come into conflict with the onsite context(s)?  Where do they differ and why?
• In what ways do U.S. based understandings of inclusion and diversity translate into cross-border settings? When are they in conflict/tensions (e.g. legally, an expression of necoloniality, etc.)?
• How can U.S. and onsite educators work together more effectively?

 

Purpose: To foster a space for dialogue to explore cross-border understandings and impacts of education abroad and to help members improve their direct with work learners and the quality of collaboration with partners.
 
 
Who: We seek to develop a community represents a balance of  U.S. based colleagues and onsite colleagues) including:

• Education abroad professionals at any career stage
• Those that seek to enhance their understanding of inclusive practice as it looks not only from the U.S. perspective but beyond.
• Those that seek to effectively prepare and support students.
• Individuals with/in diverse perspectives and roles,
• Those working with students outside of the U.S. borders.
  
  

 Meeting Dates: Wednesdays, 8:30am Mountain (UTC –7)

• Wednesday, October 2
• Wednesday, November 6
• Wednesday, January 8
• Wednesday, February 12
• Wednesday, April 2
• Wednesday, April 21

 
 
Seeking a co-chair: YES, actively seeking an individual to serve as co-chair, An Individually that work onsite outside the U.S.  Indicate your interest in the online application.

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Features

Forum Council-sponsored CoPs:

• Address a specific issue or domain with education abroad.
• Are proposed and (co-)led by at least one Forum Council member.
• Are time-bound within a single academic year but may be extended by request.
• Are process not product-driven.
• Are focused on community building and learning through collective reflection, deliberation, dialogue, inquiry.
• Are intentionally small – maximum of 15 members.
• Meet 6-8 times over the year. 
• Lengths of meetings 1- 2 hours depending on the community.
• Average monthly participant time commitment 2-3 hours, including community meetings.

Sign-up

Thank you for your interest. The application deadline for The Forum Councils Communities of Practice has passed. Check back in 2025 for the next callout!​​

HoW members are selected

To join a CoP, interested individuals should complete the application form within the allotted period.

Individuals can apply to one CoP in any given year and slots are awarded based on the following:

• Date application submitted
• Ability to meet during the posted CoP meeting schedule (refer to the CoP descriptions).
• Interest/Fit:
  • Articulation of expressed interest in the topic,
  • How the individual sees their participation and contributions aligning with their own learning and development.
  • Some CoPs may have additional recruitment criteria given their topic and selected audiences (e.g., balance of representation between U.S. based on non-US based voices; faculty and staff voices; graduate students; Global North/Global South voices, seeking a co-chair/convener).  This information is listed in the CoP descriptions.
• Interest in serving as co-chair/co-facilitator for the community. Indicate your interest in the application form. 

Expectations - Co-CHAIRS/Conveners

Roles and Responsibilities:
Individuals that serve as community (co)chairs:

• Attend Chair’s orientation 
• Attend Chair's peer mentoring meetings [3 meetings during the year]​
• Organize, convene and coordinate meetings​
• Coordinate community communications and manage the community's resource area.​
• Report out on the community's activities to Forum Council​
• Learn and build/deepen connections​

Expected Time Commitment: 3-4 hours per month​

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