{"id":1777,"date":"2020-05-07T10:25:15","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T16:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/?p=1777"},"modified":"2021-05-11T10:12:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T16:12:45","slug":"11-15-maintaining-community-during-a-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/11-15-maintaining-community-during-a-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"SIP 11.15 Maintaining Community During a Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice?<\/h3>\n

\"Kelsey<\/p>\n

We at MSU Denver have always had community-building on our collective mind. As\u00a0a commuter campus, we must strive to bring our students together in ways that are not as simple as offering pizza and programming in a residence hall. Our efforts in this area set us apart from so many other institutions. The care, compassion,\u00a0concern\u00a0and opportunity for engagement\u00a0that our student-service\u00a0programs\u00a0and faculty provide\u00a0have consistently been\u00a0amazing.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic,\u00a0it is more important than ever to sustain our Roadrunner community in emotional and practical arenas. Emotionally, we can continue to support students and offer them meaning and motivation during this difficult time. Practically, we need students to remember their connection to the University so they re-engage and register for summer and fall classes and keep moving toward earning their degree.<\/p>\n

It seems like maintaining community in our new virtual reality would be a tough challenge. But one of the great ironies of the coronavirus crisis is that social isolation has\u00a0 brought\u00a0us together in local, national and global society \u2013 each person in their own home but clearly and markedly\u00a0together<\/em>. How do we create and maintain community, though, when we are all dispersed throughout the city and never come together in person?<\/p>\n

Take a SIP of this: maintaining community during a pandemic<\/h3>\n

However, as we have all learned through the quick pivot from face-to-face to online teaching, you can\u2019t just snap a finger and re-create your work in a virtual environment. Don\u2019t try to \u201creplicate\u201d online; instead, look for new ways to bring your students together. We are already\u00a0making strides toward\u00a0doing this\u00a0in the classroom\u00a0by showing students we are learning new things and trying new platforms, ideas and methods (even if our efforts meet\u00a0with\u00a0varying degrees of success). We can certainly go out on the same limb when it comes to creating and maintaining community.<\/p>\n

Think of the ways in which we organically create community and categorize your efforts instead of trying to do the same things we did in person. Normally, we find community in family and home, neighborhood, school\/work, interest groups such as religious affiliations or clubs,\u00a0and also\u00a0at the state and even national levels. Consider your sphere of influence with students and go from there.<\/p>\n

Here are some thoughts on how to maintain community with your students:<\/h4>\n