Introducing New Communities

One way to keep your Wisr network fresh is to periodically introduce new communities. As an administrator, you always have the option of adding new. Administrators have the ability to complete this function on their own, similar to the process at your initial site launch. Read this Admin-Help article to learn how. As existing communities grow and perhaps activity represents a wider area than initially intended, don’t be afraid to split an existing community into two if you have the activity to support it.

Another option for network growth is to allow network members to propose new communities. Before toggling this option on within your Wisr site configuration, we highly recommend that your institution puts a strategy in place for approving new communities and requirements for community leaders. You want to be careful about how many new communities you are introducing over a period of time. In a Wisr site, less is often more. It is highly preferable to have fewer bustling communities than dozens of communities with little to no activity.

If you think your constituents will actively recommend new communities, you may consider a more formal process or form for interested community leaders to complete so you have all the information available when making your decision. We would suggest this comes with a commitment from the initiator to serve as a leader. Having formalized expectations and processes that outline requirements for community leaders that you can share may help constituents understand the responsibilities prior to making a suggestion.

The things you will need to know to consider when launching a new community include:

What is the purpose of the new community and how does it differ from existing communities?
What do you hope to achieve with your new community?
Who will lead and manage the new community?
How will you recruit new members to join?

We suggest you read the Best Practices for Community Leaders article to develop your own institutional strategy and guidelines for communities and their leaders that make sense for the purpose and function of your Wisr site.