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Student Development and Leadership

Page history last edited by Ariane Hoy 8 months, 1 week ago

 

“Access to Education, Opportunity to Serve”

 

The Bonner Program rests on three key principles:  building programs with strong student development and leadership, making a difference through reciprocal community partnerships and a focus on impact, and promoting a campus-wide culture for civic engagement. Here we describe the student development area.

 

Bonner Program students are part of a developmental model that attempts to identify, develop, and integrate service passions, career interests, and academic pursuits. Because the Bonner Program is a multi-year commitment, students are challenged and supported to grow and develop in their service work. As a result, students become more involved and take on additional responsibilities and leadership roles as they advance in the Bonner Program.

 

Here is a one-page double-sided flier about the Bonner Program.  You may download it and copy it for various audiences.

 

 

The Foundation developed a student development framework known as the Service As Transformation that articulates student development goals:

 

Four-Year Student Development Model

 

The four-year student development model actually has five stages that we refer to as the “5 E’s.” They are as follows:

 

  1. Expectation: Students apply and prepare for participation in the program
  2. Explore: First-year students are involved in a variety of service sites and activities including short-term service trips
  3. Experience: Second-year students are encouraged to focus on a particular issue within a single organization that enables them as Bonner Scholars to fully experience the operations and mission of a particular agency and to develop a better understanding of community issues. This approach also offers agencies consistent and reliable support to help run and manage their programs.
  4. Example: By the third year, Bonner students are expected to take on expanded roles and responsibilities both on campus and in their communities. For many, this initiative translates into leadership positions with a campus service organization and/or a community agency.
  5. Expertise: The Bonner Program works to identify interests and skills on the part of students and match them with community opportunities and needs. Students who have been involved in the Bonner Program are encouraged to integrate their academic pursuits and career interests with their service activities. As a result, sociology majors become involved in research projects, English majors write annual reports, and communications majors assist with agencies' public relations.

 

The Bonner Programs' "5 E's" framework is meant to provide a common challenge that can be applied in appropriate ways to every individual who participates, recognizing that students enter into the Bonner Program at different stages of their college career and move through their development at different rates. Because of students' varying interests and rates of growth, Bonner Program staff on each campus spend time advising students throughout their tenure within the program.

 

Related Links:

- Four-Year Student Development Model — Original Concept Paper

- Four-Year Student Development Model — Chart

- Student Development Reflections by Bonner Scholars

 

Common Commitments

 

It is our hope that all Bonner students will encounter these commitments in one way or another throughout their time in the program. Our belief is that exposure to these commitments through the Bonner Program will help Bonner Scholars develop the skills and initiative to go into the world after completing the Bonner Program well-prepared to live and serve as educated, culturally aware, and civic-minded individuals.

 

  • Social Justice: Advocate for fairness, impartiality, and equality while addressing systemic social and environmental issues.
  • Civic Engagement: Participate intentionally as a citizen in the democratic process, actively engaging in public policy and direct service.
  • Community-Building: Establish and sustain a vibrant community personal relationships and common interests.
  • Spiritual Exploration: Explore personal beliefs while respecting the spiritual practices of others.
  • International Perspective: Develop international understanding that enables individuals to participate successfully and sensitively in a global society.
  • Diversity: Respect and engage the many different dimensions of diversity in our public lives.

 

Related Links:

- Bonner Student Impact Survey

 

Leadership Training

 

While the Bonner Program is not narrowly designed as a leadership program, it does expect participants to prepare and take on leadership roles in their service. Students are trained in skills that help them perform these leadership functions. Participants are expected to attend a two or three day orientation, regular meetings (at least two times per month is recommended), enrichment and training workshops, and regional gatherings of students from different schools. In addition, many Bonner students attend and present at regional, national, and international conferences.

 

Related links:

- Civic Engagement Training Modules

- Reflections by Bonner Scholars on Leadership Training and Excerpts from Bonner Student Impact Survey Results

 

Leadership Roles

 

Bonner students often play strong leadership roles both within the structure of their Bonner Programs, but also in campus-wide service organizations and with their service placements.  This is supported through intentional development of their skills, both in community contexts and in on-campus organizing and leadership roles.  

 

Related links:

  • Overview of Student Leadership Roles (especially for presenting to students)
    • Bonner Congress: two representatives from each program who strengthen their programs and campus-wide service work  
    • Senior Intern(s):  1-3 students in each program whose primary placement is in the Bonner Program office, helping to build and run their programs
    • Other Student Leadership Roles:  Bonners also hep create a culture of service, promote social justice, promote diversity, connect service and politics, work on protecting nature and promoting sustainability, and more.  
    • Bonner Leadership Teams:  Many programs find it helpful to convene a 'Lead Team' that is made up of various reps and student leader positions.  Here, you can find an explanation and illustrations of unique leadership team structures.
    • Best Practices for Leadership Roles:  Profiled in the Student/Congress Newsletter in January 2010, several schools have highlighted how they build in committee, leadership roles for underclass and upperclass students, and more.  Check these out (and add one if you have a good model).
    • Trainings for Student Leaders:  You can use various training modules from the Civic Engagement Curriculum (above) to mobilize your student leaders, committees and/or team. Here's a curriculum guide for doing that.  Also, contact the Bonner Foundation about having a staff member come to your campus to help facilitate a retreat to do this.

 

Financial Aid

 

While service is the major focus of the Bonner Program, it is also designed to provide financial assistance to individuals pursuing their educational dreams. Most students in the Bonner Program receive financial assistance either from the Bonner Foundation, Federal Work-Study, or other forms of need-based financial aid. The Bonner Program seeks to ensure that the work expectation within students' financial aid packages is met through community service rather than a campus-based position.

 

Related links:

- Summary Description of Bonner Scholarship Award

- Community Service Federal Work Study

- Bonner AmeriCorps Education Awards

- New Jersey Bonner AmeriCorps Program

 

 

Quick Start Guide for Student Development

 

1)  Make sure you understand the key concepts.  You might review the following:

 Bonner StudentDevelopment1.pdf 

 Bonner StudentDevelopment2.pdf 

 

2) Merge the key concepts of the developmental model with your own institutional learning outcomes and make a schematic of how these skills and knowledge areas might best link with your program. 

  • Take a look at the sample Training & Enrichment Calendar here:

 SampleBonnerTrainingCalen.doc

  • Complete the schematic using this Roadmap Planning Tool (see pages with schematic ladder graphic):

 BlankNewRoadmap1.doc

  • You can also find other examples (including in a Bonner Program Handbook) on this page:

http://bonnernetwork.pbworks.com/Roadmap+Planning+Tool

 

3)  Complete the Student Development planning worksheet, in which you can create a Training & Enrichment Calendar.  Download this document here.  Try to build in class- or cohort-meetings at least two times per month (for freshmen though juniors, and perhaps once per month for seniors).  Try to build your calendar around the following principles:

  • Identify key themes for your program overall and build them into all levels (e.g., project management then becomes a first year emphasis on goal setting, a second year emphasis on facilitation, a third year emphasis on team management, and a fourth year emphasis on evaluation and transitioning leadership)
  • Concretely identify 3 skill/knowledge areas per semester and build around them.
  •  Worksheet-StudentDev1.doc 

 

4)  Finally, make sure that your Training & Enrichment Calendar is also reflected in BWBRS.  Enter each training and code it according to the skills and knowledge areas it addresses.  Flag it as part of your intentional training plan.  See BWBRS Help Guide for more instructions.

 

Planning Your Student Training and Enrichment Calendar

 

Implementation Guides for Student Development

Implementation Guides provide detailed how-to planning tips for campus programs.  In this case, staff and student leaders can utilize these guides as they plan effective Cornerstone Activities, including the following:

 

Another Implementation Guide concentrates on Advising, another key aspect of the Bonner Program which supports students' individual growth, retention, and performance.  This covers:

 

 

Related Presentations

Below are the powerpoints, handouts, and worksheets from the 2008 New Bonner Directors & Coordinators Meeting. If you have resources to share or add for these aspects of student development, go ahead and add them!

 

 Student Development — Part I:  Meetings, Training, and a Roadmap for Your Students’ Learning

 

Student Development — Part 2 :  Knowledge, Academic, Connections, & Faculty Engagement 

 

Building and Using Your Bonner Team and the National Network: Congress Reps, Senior Interns, & Student Leaders with a special focus on the Bonner Network Wiki and Serve 2.0 

 

Bonner Cornerstone Activities

 

 

 

 

 

PDF version