NISOD Learning Communities 

NISOD is excited to launch Learning Communities in Fall 2025! A Learning Community is a group of faculty, staff, or a combination of both within or across disciplines with a mutual interest in some subject applicable to teaching and learning or student support and success.  The purpose of NISOD Learning Communities is to foster connections between peers and share innovative and best practices with one another about the focus topic. Meeting frequency and duration will be selected by the facilitator/applicant with groups meeting virtually at least four times within the selected time frame. Each Learning Community is limited to 100 participants.

Facilitator Responsibilities

• Facilitators are responsible for defining the Learning Community’s purpose and desired outcomes, developing content to be shared, coordinating meeting formats, and communicating with selected Learning Community members. 
• Facilitators are responsible for creating a community that allows for small groups of participants to interact and get to know one another through Zoom.

NISOD Responsibilities

• A NISOD professional staff member will promote the Learning Community through the NISOD website, social media channels, and newsletters; create the participant application; provide online technology meeting links; take attendance during meetings; create calendar invites; and provide support during the virtual meetings. 
• Prior to the start of the Learning Community, a NISOD professional staff member will meet with facilitators to discuss strategies for facilitating the community development and group discussions, as well as to discuss technology and communication needs. 

Example Topics for Learning Communities 

• New to Teaching at the Community College 
• Supporting Dual Credit Students 
• Best Practices in Workforce Development Teaching and Learning 
• Alternative Assessment Strategies 
• Supporting Neurodivergent Learners 
• Culturally Responsive Teaching 
• Strategies for Ethical Use of AI in the Classroom

Timeframe

Deadline to submit application: March 3, 2025

Notification of application acceptance: March 17, 2025

Learning Communities begin Fall 2025.