Communities of Practice Conveners

2017-2018 NIRSA Headquarters Appointed Committee Charges

Communities of Practice

Description: NIRSA Communities of Practice are online professional networks designed to focus discussion surrounding a given topic and accumulate knowledge and resources that become intellectual assets for NIRSA members while simultaneously increase the connection points between members and the volunteer leadership of the Association.

Individual NIRSA Communities of Practice are distinguished by a common interest that binds each community’s respective members, a shared set of issues related to that common interest, and a commitment to developing and sharing best practices and solutions to effectively address those shared issues.

Focused discussion forums and dedicated resource libraries are the primary tools for community members; however, individual communities may also include information about upcoming professional development opportunities, or links to other related groups within or outside of the Association.

The NIRSA Board endorsed transitioning the Communities of Practice volunteer leadership structure from a work team model to a single convener format at the beginning of the 2015-2016 leadership year.  The Conveners will use their Community of Practice as a vehicle to accomplish the following charges:

Strategic Goal & Objective(s)

Goal I, Objective 1: Increase opportunities for communication and networking among members.

Goal III, Objective 4: Improve online presence, accessibility and resources.

2016-2017 Communities of Practice Convener Charges:

1. Initiate and encourage member discussions in your Community of Practice
2. Respond to discussions to keep the community vibrant and engaged
3. Assist with recruiting members to provide input on the topic area when needed.
4. If an issue is surfaced through the discussion posts that requires action or review, surface that to your NIRSA HQ liaison for advice of next steps (BOD Exhibit, Formal Member Communication, etc)
5. Create/maintain a plan to develop a robust and relevant resource library
   1. Engage Members to create and post resources to the Community of Practice Library
6. Be the “go-to” group should the NIRSA HQ, BOD or other leadership group need to ask advice, solicit volunteers, etc., related to a specific Community of Practice (moderate a roundtable at conference, provide recommendations for appointments to institute/symposia planning committees, assist with relevant conference program proposal reviews, etc).