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/

 

Spring 2025 Communities of Practice

This semester's retention-focused theme builds upon existing campus-wide efforts to promote students’ success and progress toward graduation. Within these CoPs, we aim to cultivate communities of colleagues who can address retention challenges from different angles and diverse perspectives. We hope participants will use their CoP to explore current practices, uncover new possibilities, and develop innovative ideas to facilitate students’ journeys to graduation.

• Reimagining High Impact Practices
  Reimagining High Impact Practices: High impact practices (HIPs) like first-year seminars, internships, and undergraduate research can have a lasting impact on the student experience and be integral to students' retention. This Community of Practice will explore existing HIPs and generate ideas to create and expand early access to high impact opportunities. By reimagining these high impact practices, we hope to promote greater involvement and build students' excitement about completing their education at Stony Brook.
• Building a Community of Seawolves
  Building a Community of Seawolves: Community and identity are key factors influencing student well-being and perseverance to graduation. In this Community of Practice we will examine what defines a Seawolf today – how spirit, pride, and shared values are communicated and cultivated among students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We will explore Stony Brook's history in order to look forward, and develop intentional community-crafting practices aimed at strengthening the Seawolf experience and supporting retention through a “Students First” approach.
• Celebrating and Promoting Care Focused Services
  Celebrating and Promoting Care Focused Services: Do students know we care? How do we demonstrate that we do? Student persistence goes far beyond routine administrative tasks—it thrives on intentional, compassionate efforts that resonate across our campus. This Community of Practice aims to spotlight this essential work across student service areas, and celebrate how various departments communicate care through their actions and intentions. Together we will share best practices, amplify our efforts, and brainstorm ways to enhance student persistence to support students across the finish line. This CoP will bring these actions to the forefront, encouraging others to recognize, emulate, and expand on these caring practices. We believe that true care goes beyond words—it’s woven into the very fabric of our campus life, creating a foundation on which students can not only persist but truly thrive.
• Think FAST: Flipping the Advising Script Together
  Think FAST: Flipping the Advising Script Together:Academic advising is rarely "scripted," but we do have common practices and strategies for advising students. Do these practices hold true for the newest generation of students? Now that Generation Z has arrived to college, are academic advisors’ existing practices adequately promoting students' academic success and retention? This CoP will explore Gen Z students' characteristics, strengths, and challenges, and investigate ways to adapt our current advising practices to better meet their needs and promote their retention. Let’s “Think FAST” and Flip the Advising Script Together.

 

Past Communities of Practice/"First Friday" Topics

Fall 2024 Communities of Practice

• Engaging Education with AI
• Crafting Your Personal Narrative
• The SSTAR Lab Experience: Research in Higher Education

 

Spring 2024 Communities of Practice

• Supervision for Student Success
• Leading Change
• Cohort Advising as a Practice

 

Fall 2023 "First Fridays"

Asset-Based Advising & Messaging Workshop

• 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

 

Spring 2023 "First Fridays"

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 

Building Equity

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