Example Email: Invitation to Community Engagement Fellows

 

Subject: Invitation: Community Engagement Fellows

 

Dear Professor NAME,

 

You are invited to participate in Community Engagement Fellows (www.cefellows.org) during the YEAR academic year!

 

The Fellows support each other in developing campus-community partnerships that enhance teaching and research, and also seek out interdisciplinary collaborations that improve our collective impact. The fellowship is facilitated by NAME OF OFFICE(S).

 

Each Fellow joins a cohort of local educators that meet together eight times over the academic school year. Cohorts bring together higher ed faculty and staff and community leaders in public agencies, K-12 schools, and non-profit organizations.

 

In our meetings, we discuss multiple aspects of building healthy campus-community partnerships. Check out the Schedule Page to see the meeting topics.

 

During the program, each Fellow works to advance his or her campus-community collaborations. See our Project Reports Page to see examples of work completed last year.

 

The YEAR academic year will be the program’s NUMBER year, and so far over NUMBER faculty members and community-based educators from the region have participated. Profiles of this year’s group can be found on the Fellows Page. Some reflections from WWU faculty participants are included below.

 

Several of your colleagues in the NAME OF DEPARTMENT OR COLLEGE have been Fellows already, including NAME, NAME, NAME, NAME, ETC. I’m sure they would be happy to share a bit about their experiences in the program.

 

If you are interested in learning more, please contact me and we can set up a time to get together and talk.  

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

 

Bio and Scheduling Information Example Email

 

Subject: Request for Info: Community Engagement Fellows
 

Dear YEAR Community Engagement Fellows,

 

I’m excited to work with each of you in the coming year. We’re about a month away from our kickoff picnic and first round of meetings.  

 

We have an amazing group of over NUMBER new Fellows participating, representing a wide array of institutions.

 

I have two requests for information as we prepare for the fall. Please send me this info via email by DATE.

 

Request #1: To create your bio on the Fellows Page please send:

 

• A picture of yourself that you like, and in which your face is clearly visible :)

 

• A brief blurb describing your professional role(s) and highlights of local activities you’re involved in as a community member. View the blurbs from last year on the Fellows Page for guidance.

 

• Your professional institutional identity/identities (e.g. campus department(s), organization(s), office(s)

 

• Preferred email address

 

• Preferred phone

 

• The name (or a brief description) of a place you love in YOUR LOCAL REGION.

 

Next, each Fellow will be part of a cohort of 8-10 people that will meet at a regular day/time three times each quarter. We will have NUMBER cohorts, and we need to make cohorts of the right size with folks who can meet at those times. At this point, we will only assign cohorts for the fall, since many of you have significant schedule changes each quarter. So…

 

Request #2: Please let me know all of the cohorts meeting times that could fit in your schedule for the Fall among the below options. The more options you provide, the easier it will be for us to assign everyone to a cohort. Many thanks in advance for whatever schedule flexibility you indicate. See the Schedule Page if you need to know which weeks we have cohort meetings this fall:

 

COHORT MEETING TIMES

 

 

Thank you, and see you soon. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

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Example Email: Cohort Meeting Prompt

 

Subject: CE Fellows: First Cohort Meetings Next Week

 

Dear Community Engagement Fellows,

 

I’m looking forward to our first round of cohort meetings next week! You should have receive an Outlook invitation for your cohort meeting. Let me know if not.

 

During each cohort meeting, I’d like us to focus on accomplishing several things:

 

• Sharing an inspirational engaged learning experience

 

• Introducing ourselves, explaining why we chose to be part of the program, and sharing what we hope to get out of the experience

 

• Establishing group norms

 

• Reviewing and discussing “Ways to Engage” document (provided at the meeting)

 

• Discussing the goals for the Affinity Groups

 

Please do your best to arrive a few minutes before we’re scheduled to begin, so you can get settled and we can start on time (that’s group norm #1!).

 

Let me know if you have any questions, and see you soon.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Example Email: Community Engagement Forum Panelist Invitation

 

Dear NAME,

 

I’m curious if you’d be interested in being a panelist for a Community Engagement Forum scheduled for DATE from TIME  in LOCATION.

 

The Forum theme is CATCHY TITLE.

 

This forum is part of the Community Engagement Fellows program, which aims to build stronger campus-community collaborations in the region, and is being hosted by HOSTING ORGANIZATION(S).

 

The structure of the forum will be fairly informal. We sit in a circle and give each of our panelists 3-5 minutes to speak at the beginning. After they each provide a bit of their own perspective, we open the floor for questions/discussion among all participants for the remaining ~40 minutes.

 

As you consider what you’d like to share at the beginning of the forum, please think about these questions:

 

·      QUESTION 1 RELATED TO THEME

 

·      QUESTION 2 RELATED TO THEME

 

·      QUESTION 3 RELATED TO THEME

 

Please let me know if this sounds interesting, and if you’d be available on DATE to join us. We are happy to answer any questions you have!

 

Thanks

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Example Email: Tips for Design Clinic Presenters

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Dear Design Clinic Presenters,

 

Thank you for signing up to present for a design clinic next week! I hope that it's a fun learning process for all. 

 

In case you need a refresher on the format, here it is: LINK

 

A few tips as you prepare:

 

• Focus on the question. Do your best to articulate a clear, compelling, genuine question you have about a new, emerging, or ongoing campus-community collaboration. Your question might be about any type of campus-community work, including events, research, community-based learning, internships, field trips, guest speakers, courses or course assignments, and more. Your question should be specific enough so your cohort members to grasp the context/concept and can tangibly give input, and also open-ended enough that it generates vigorous discussion and the sharing of a wide range of ideas. Check out examples...PROVIDE LINK OR EXAMPLES

 

• Write down your context. Use your Wikispaces personal page, or bring handouts, to provide some context that helps frame your question. This will help you make a clear and concise presentation, and help group members with different learning styles to understand your challenges and contribute to the discussion. If you're still getting comfortable with editing in Wikispaces, use this tips sheet: LINK

 

• Keep your presentation short! We hope that you can provide the context for your question in 5 minutes or less. The "clarifying questions" portion of the design clinic allows for more details to be shared, so don't worry about telling us everything before others chime in. 

 

• Be patient! It's often not the case that someone in your group gives a magical piece of advice that transforms your thinking instantly. Rather, little gems from the conversation emerge as you reflect about it, engage with other group members' projects, and have subsequent discussions about your work. 

 

I'm excited to hear about all of your ideas! Let me know if you have any questions. 

 

Thank you,