How are we doing? Share your thoughts on community engagement at SFU

By Lema Ghailan

Would you like more social innovation integrated into your education? Do you have ideas about how SFU could better connect with your community? Have you ever thought about how SFU could include partners in more decision-making? Share your thoughts between January 28^th and February 7^th with Thoughtexchange, an online platform where respondents can share ideas and rate them in real time. It’s an opportunity for everyone to let us know what more SFU can do to foster a culture that supports a shared commitment to community engagement.

Matthew Grant, Director of Community Engagement and Outreach, says “Thoughtexchange is providing a platform for honest, authentic and candid thought-sharing between SFU faculty, staff, students, alumni, partners and the invested public to share their ideas in relation to the following question: “SFU community engagement: what’s working well and what isn’t?” The response to the exchange so far has been rich, dynamic and insightful. 421 people have shared 327 thoughts. These thoughts have been reviewed and rated 6876 times."

How it works

SHARE, STAR, DISCOVER

· About you – first you will be asked to answer a question about yourself. Neither SFU nor Thoughtexchange can see the relationship between your answer and the thoughts you share,

but they will be used in aggregate to analyze shared thoughts.

· Share – provide a 150 character thought in response to the exchange question. Then provide 150 characters explaining why your thought is important. Share as many thoughts as you like this way

· Star – any time after sharing, proceed in order to rate the thoughts of others in the exchange, from 1 to 5 stars. The process is completely anonymous.

· Discover – any time after “starring”, proceed to see curated lists of thoughts in the exchanger. Together with ratings, these lists often reveal actionable insights.

· Repeat – move back and forth between SHARE, STAR, DISCOVER as much as you like.

Responses are anonymous, and allow participants the opportunity to provide actionable and direct comments. By participating, respondents are able to directly impact how SFU engages with their neighbourhoods, families, and communities.

"We are encouraged by this process that allows people to anonymously share and rate both their popular and divergent opinions with the ultimate goal of doing this work better, together,” says Grant.

Don’t miss your chance to be a part of SFU’s mission to be Canada’s most community-engaged university!