Communities
Communities of Practice
IALU’s communities of practice are standing groups that connect the officers who hold the same function in every member university, so that they learn from each other, adopt common tools, and deliver the projects that need their function to succeed. They are the successors of the former IALU committees. Where the alliances unite faculties around a discipline, the communities of practice unite the professionals who run the institution: together, the two layers form IALU’s network of networks.
Their purpose is threefold:
- to give every member a direct line into the network at working level, not only through its president;
- to turn distributed expertise into shared infrastructure: templates, databases, calendars and practice guides that no single institution would build alone;
- to give IALU’s flagship projects a delivery team that already exists inside the universities.
How the communities work
- Membership. Each member university names one officer, and one alternate, to each community.
- Leadership. Each community is led by a Convenor and a Co-Convenor from different regions, appointed for a two-year term.
- Rhythm. One virtual plenary per quarter, working groups that meet as needed, and one annual gathering, virtual or alongside an IALU event.
- Languages. English, Spanish and French are the working languages; each community decides its own practice.
First wave: chartered in November 2026
Internationalization
Makes IALU the first partner of choice for every member’s international strategy, turning dozens of bilateral relationships into one coordinated internationalization system: shared mobility, shared COIL capacity, and a single Lasallian presence at NAFSA, EAIE and APAIE.
Who joins: Vice-Presidents and Directors of International Affairs, heads of international offices, COIL coordinators.
Mission
Keeps Lasallian identity at the center of what a university in the network is, and shares the practices that make that identity concrete for presidents, faculty, staff and students. The community co-designs the Lasallian formation programs and hosts an annual virtual Mission gathering.
Who joins: Vice-Presidents for Mission, directors of mission and identity, campus ministry leads, and liaisons with AIMEL/CIAMEL.
Research
Builds the shared research infrastructure that lets Lasallian researchers find each other, publish together and compete jointly for funding, starting with the mapping of Lasallian researchers and an expertise database.
Who joins: Vice-Presidents and Directors of Research, heads of research offices and graduate schools, research integrity and ethics leads.
Communication
Makes the work of the network visible as one coordinated whole, carrying the shared IALU brand into every member’s channels and feeding the storytelling pipeline that gives IALU its public voice.
Who joins: Directors of communication, brand and marketing; web and social media managers; press officers.
Fundraising and Advancement
Gives IALU a coordinated capacity to attract external resources for network-level projects, and gives members a place to share advancement practice. The community seeks funding for shared initiatives and builds advancement capacity across the network, with particular attention to regions where advancement offices are new. It never competes with a member’s own donors.
Who joins: Vice-Presidents and Directors of Advancement, Development or Institutional Relations; heads of grants offices.
Second wave: 2027
- Student Affairs. Deans of students and formation leads, anchoring student leadership programs and peer exchange across regions.
- Academic Affairs. Provosts and academic vice-presidents, working on credit recognition, quality assurance and joint program design.
- Sustainability and Social Impact. SDG and social mission officers, connecting the network to the Laudato Si’ agenda and making its social impact measurable.