GRADvantage: Community Builder

A community builder authentically embodies the qualities and competencies to build community and connection through meaningful, academic, and experiential engagement.

Community builders have a deep understanding of the communities they serve, including their unique needs, challenges, and strengths. By combining academic and experiential engagement, community builders can create a rich and rewarding environment that fosters connection and growth. 

A community builder will:

Engage

Engage in ongoing learning and reflection, and participate in meaningful dialogue and discussions

Collaborate

Collaborate with others to find solutions to community-identified challenges

Explore

Explore new and alternate perspectives to broaden knowledge and understanding

Connect

Create connections and build a network of support, both personally and professionally

Community Builder Development Areas

Local and Global Engagement

As a graduate student, local and global engagement empowers you to connect with your community and address issues that directly affect their lives, contribute to the broader global community, and address issues. 

What does this look like?

  • Bring about positive changes in their communities or organizations.  
  • Seek opportunities to connect with others with the same values, goals, and interests. 
  • Participate in communities to learn from others, share knowledge and experiences, and collaborate on projects that can have a greater impact. 
  • Connect with other graduate students to gain new perspectives and ideas, help to build a wider support network, and provide opportunities for collaboration and innovation. 
  • Help individuals to understand the broader societal issues and challenges that affect a wider population. 
  • Something to do with cultures – unconscious bias.

Engagement Opportunities

Collaboration

Collaboration requires open communication, shared goals and objectives, and a willingness to work together towards a common purpose. As a graduate student, you will recognize that many problems and challenges cannot be effectively addressed by a single discipline or perspective alone, and instead requires input and expertise from multiple disciplines. 

What does this look like?

  • Build and maintain relationships with others 
  • Expand knowledge and expertise, gain access to new ideas and perspectives 
  • Work with individuals from different disciplines or organizations 
  • Establish trust and respect among collaborators and clear roles and responsibilities. 
  • Bring together diverse perspectives and skills 
  • Support and promote new ideas to foster a collaborative and supportive environment

Collaboration Opportunities

  • GSA workshops   
  • Join a Community of Practice  
  • Attend internal or external conferences   
  • Seek out like-minded research groups 
  • Attend a graduate student social event 
  • Drop in to Writing Café and connect with other graduate students

Reflection

Reflection is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth and can help graduate students develop greater self-awareness, empathy, and resilience. It allows you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, recognize patterns in your behavior, learn from past experiences, and embrace growth.

What does this look like?

  • Question assumptions and beliefs about yourself and the world around you 
  • Ask for feedback from others to gain a deeper understanding of yourself, as it allows you to see yourself from a different perspective and learn from others’ experiences.   
  • Acknowledge personal growth is an ongoing process  
  • Commit to ongoing self-reflection and a willingness to be vulnerable 
  • Be open to feedback and develop a growth-oriented mindset 

Reflection Opportunities