Thursday, July 26, 2012

BC Healthy Minds/Healthy Campuses Community

At BCcampus we support communities of practice as a key component in professional learning and sharing across the BC post-secondary sector. The range of support we offer in these partnerships is tailored to specific needs, and includes consultation services, workshops, and online infrastructure for collaboration and sharing.


The BC Healthy Minds/Healthy Campuses community is an example of a multi-institutional community that not only spans colleges, universities, and institutes in British Columbia and beyond, but also many roles are represented in the dialogue to promote healthier post-secondary environments -- from presidents to student service professionals to students who have many challenging stories to share. 

In this video I interview Jonny Morris. We chat about the community growth and success, his experience in the community steward role, and the many activities that help to shape the community. Special thanks to our talented co-op student, Heather Kincaid, for her editing work!


Cross-posted on the BCcampus blog.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Cutting Edge BEtreat

I'm in Grass Valley, California this week for the "Cutting Edge" BEtreat, a workshop that I've had on my wish list since it started in 2010. 

To prepare for this 4-day workshop we were asked to:

1. Introduce ourselves. We're using Wikispaces so the bios are collecting on one page. So nice to see the growing list of friendly faces and interesting backgrounds. 

2. Think about our challenges and questions. During the flight, a meandering drive from Sacramento, a couple relaxing walks around the town, and breakfast I've been jotting down notes in Evernote and on napkins. It seems I have a few challenges and questions.

3. Bring some artefacts that represent my work. From what I gather, these pieces will become part of our booths which we are creating this afternoon. We'll each be building an online "booth" in wikispaces as well so I'll share some of that out. 

4. Read a couple draft articles written by Etienne and Bev Wenger-Trayner. One was about the role of the systems conveners, and woah could I ever relate to that one. I think this is prime time for me to be engaged in these conversations.

5. Choose a leadership role. I decided to pair up with another workshop participant to take on the role of Social Reporter. This is something I did during the 2011 Graphic Facilitation Workshop in Rossland, and feel I could freshen up my tool list and see what else is possible. 


Heading out the door of my room at the historic Holbrooke Hotel to walk up to the Wenger-Trayner residence with my knapsack full of hardware, sunblock, and a blank notebook. More as it happens!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Interview with Jonny Morris

I sat down with Jonny Morris via Skype for a chat about the Healthy Minds / Healthy Campuses Community. They do incredible work and I continue to learn so much from Jonny.