SHEEO Community of Practice: Exploring Multi-State and Multi-Sector Data Projects

Call for State Teams

The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) is pleased to announce the next installment of its Communities of Practice project. This multifaceted project promotes the effective use of state postsecondary data systems and provides a forum for states to work on solutions to common issues with those systems. This work is funded through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). 

SHEEO will hold the next in an ongoing series of Communities of Practice convenings on February 7-8, 2024, in Alexandria, VA. The Communities of Practice convenings are a valuable opportunity for states to connect with their peers and reflect in-depth on the capacities, uses, and barriers to their data systems. This two-day meeting will provide an opportunity for state data practitioners, researchers, and policy analysts across P20W sectors to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with engaging in multi-state and multi-sector data projects. The convening will also launch an ongoing network for participants to share best practices and shared experiences and to workshop strategies and solutions with their counterparts in other states.

The Community of Practice will explore:

• The value, opportunities, and challenges of sharing and using cross-state and cross-sector data.
• Ways to build better connections between education and workforce data and to support improved individual and economic outcomes within and beyond state borders.
• The necessary technical, legal, and personnel conditions to foster successful multi-state and multi-system data projects and outcomes.
• Examples of current multi-state and multi-sector data projects focused on employment outcomes, prison to education pathways, veterans’ pathways, credentials of value, and other cross-state and cross-sector priorities. 
• How to cultivate relationships and communicate shared vision and success across states and sectors.

Participants will include teams from up to 15 states, SHEEO staff, BMGF staff, and subject-matter experts. State teams should be comprised of three to four members from K-12, postsecondary, or workforce sectors, with representation from at least two of these sectors, who are responsible for data systems, research, or policy analysis. The BMGF will defray all travel costs related to attending the convening. 

States interested in participating should submit a letter of interest by November 20, 2023, via CVENT. The letter of interest should include:

• The names, titles, organizational affiliations, and contact information of team members (members are not required to be SHEEO agency staff).
• A brief description of the state’s current efforts to link, analyze, use, and report data across education and workforce agencies within their state or in partnership with other states, and any multi-state and/or multi-sector data projects they are currently participating in or interested in joining.
• Two to three technical assistance or professional development needs related to postsecondary data as it relates to participation in multi-state and/or multi-sector data projects. 

SHEEO offers the following advice to assist your state in submitting a successful letter of interest: Letters should be between two and three pages in length and clearly identify how the goals of the convening align with your state’s current or future activities. The letter should provide specific professional development or technical assistance needs and explain how participating in the convening will assist with those needs. Information from the letters of interest is used to select state teams, to develop the convening agenda, and to identify potential speakers. State teams are strengthened when they include representatives from multiple organizations and can foster discussion across state agencies.

Letters of interest should be addressed to Dr. Christina Whitfield, SHEEO senior vice president and chief of staff, and submitted via CVENT. For questions related to the Community of Practice, please contact Christina Whitfield at cwhitfield@sheeo.org. For questions related to submitting your letter of interest to CVENT, please contact Jessica Colorado at jcolorado@sheeo.org.  

_{Submission Instructions:}

• Click the submit letter button
• Confirm your contact information and indicate whether you will also be attending the CoP as a participating team member
• Add the names, titles, affiliation, and contact information for additional team members
• Upload your letter of interest
• Review your submission
• Receive your confirmation