2 Facilitator Recruitment

Ideally a session of any size should have at least two people available during the session. One person will lead the session while the second person supports them by handling logistics, technical details, participant questions or needs, etc. These roles could be fulfilled by a small group facilitator or the organizers of the session, but it is a good idea to have one of these people available and not facilitating a group during the small group discussions in case a participant needs support.

Careful consideration needs to go into choosing and recruiting session facilitators. As with determining group composition, be mindful of power dynamics that may exist between the facilitator and participants. If you have homogenous small groups, a facilitator that matches the group composition will tend to elicit the most fruitful discussion (e.g., a faculty facilitator with an all-faculty group or a graduate student facilitator for an all graduate student group). A staff facilitator for mixed groups is often a great option.

For instance, when running a session as part of a for-credit course with TA support, we included time spent training and facilitating sessions in their breakdown of hours for the course. Similar opportunities may exist for facilitators in other relevant paid positions (e.g., program managers).

In keeping with basic equity commitments, facilitators should always be appropriately compensated for their time and labor, especially when they are from marginalized groups. In some cases, a facilitator may occupy a relevant paid position and their duties could be altered to include time spent training and facilitating a session. When this is not possible, an honorarium or similar compensation may be provided. While valuable, organizers should avoid relying exclusively on vague or ethereal benefits to facilitators, such as “skill building” or “a line on a CV,” as compensation.