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. 

  • 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.

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. 

  • 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
  • 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.

  • 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