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Berea College 2009 Annual Report2009 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES Please add narrative text that responds to the questions in the four categories below.
Implementation of Student DevelopmentWhat was the structure and content for the implementation of the developmental model this year? In particular, please share (no more than one page text needed):
i. Structure for training, courses, & meetings
Student development and cascading leadership are core operating principles of the Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service (CELTS), which houses the Bonner program as well as 13 other student-led service programs, many of which are led by Bonners. As students move through their four years, they take on greater and greater responsibility for their own work as well as for mentoring and helping newer Bonners to develop. The Common Commitments and the Five E’s are introduced to First Year Bonners in our traditional orientation retreat. During the month of September, the First Years meet for two hours each weekday to receive intensive training to prepare them for service as tutors and mentors. In the January “Short Term,” we conduct daily training. This year, the training focused on diversity and social justice advocacy.
Upper-level Bonners receive individual training at their labor sites, and all Bonners attend weekly labor meetings. Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the many opportunities for training, in CELTS and around campus. In addition, all Bonners are required to attend All Bonner meetings. In these meetings, usually accompanied by family style dinner, we address policy or procedural changes, and give time to each class to gather to take care of needed business (elections, planning updates). In between these meetings, Bonners are encouraged to attend service events, Center events, and other enrichment activities counted as “class meetings.”
ii. Cornerstone Activities including First Year Trip, Second Year Exchange, Third Year (and beyond) Leadership Roles, and Senior Capstone & Presentation of Learning
First Year Trip: In 2009, the First Year Service Trip was again coordinated in partnership with Laughlin Chapel in Wheeling, West Virginia. The Berea team included 25 students, with 2 staff. As usual, the experience was wonderful and challenging. For almost a week, students worked in teams, morning, afternoon, and evening. The mornings were spent serving the homeless in a local soup kitchen, doing construction work at low-income homes, and providing physical labor in and around the chapel. In the afternoons, the teams tutored elementary schoolchildren, and in the evenings they designed and presented enrichment programs for middle and high school students. A highlight was the talent show organized by Laughlin Chapel middle and high schoolers with the Berea Bonners. The most meaningful aspect of the experience was the opportunity to serve in a different, urban Appalachian community and to work with a diverse population of children and adults. Sophomore Exchange: In 2009, Berea Sophomore Bonners served at the Catholic Action Center in Lexington, KY. The students first heard a presentation about the different services that the Center provides the homeless, including shelter, food, and places for them to shower and do laundry. Then, the Sophomores painted a house for an older homeless woman who would finally be able to move out of the shelter. Afterwards, the Sophomore Bonners had lunch at the Center’s soup kitchen, where they talked with the people staying at the homeless shelter. Because Berea College had not been able to find a date for the Sophomore Exchange that worked for another College, we had to find another format for exchange. The Bonners from Rippon College were doing service in Kentucky, so we invited them to CELTS to spend an evening with us. After a meal, the two groups of Bonner Scholars shared their experiences of service, realizing that the challenges faced by the homeless in Lexington are not so different from those facing the homeless anywhere. Third Year (and Beyond) Leadership Roles: As a work college, Berea requires all students to work 10-15 hours/week. There are four Bonner leadership labor positions, the three First Year Coordinators and the Senior Intern. The First Year Coordinators oversee the service programs of the First Year Bonners, including assisting with training and the First Year Service Trip. In addition to these positions, CELTS offers a number of leadership positions for upper-level students in the community service program. In the spirit of cascading leadership, programs are run by student teams, led by a student Program Manager. Although these positions are usually held by Juniors and Seniors, they may be offered to Sophomores who demonstrate readiness for leadership. Currently, around 80 students hold labor positions in CELTS. About half of the program team positions are held by Bonners, who are also represented among the Program Managers. In these positions, they are responsible for program implementation, including recruiting, scheduling, and training volunteers. Beginning in the Sophomore year, Bonners may also apply for community-based service positions that offer varying levels of leadership and independence. Service placements for upper-level students are never assigned, but are acquired through individual initiative and by demonstrating appropriate skills and knowledge.
Senior Capstone and Presentation of Learning: Although the Senior Capstone is still in the developmental stages, significant progress was made during 2008-2009. The Senior Bonners created a Power Point, which captured their four-year journey in pictures. The Power Point was shown at the annual end-of-the-year celebration and presentation of awards. In the coming year, we plan to expand the slide show. The Seniors also collected other forms of documentation of their experience.
ii. Roles of Student Leaders in integration of the Serve 2.0 initiative (e.g., developing and using web-based tools for service)
The Berea Bonner Scholars Program has not been involved in the Serve 2.0 initiative.
Implementation of Community PartnershipsPlease share a summary of your work with community partners, highlighting your work regarding (no more than one page text needed):
i. Arrangement and management of community partnerships and placements (orientation, site visits, meetings, strategic planning)
The primary role for our community partners is as hosts for individual students and teams engaged in service. In order to determine the suitability of a community organization as a potential partner, the BSP Coordinator conducts an initial phone call or meets with the organization’s staff member who will serve as site supervisor. These conversations cover type of service requested, hours, environment, supervision, and potential barriers. These initial discussions allow the Coordinator to assess the appropriateness of the placement and the organization’s capacity to manage one or more of our students. This meeting also offers the prospective community organization an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the Bonner program. Once it is determined that the partnership is viable, the Coordinator is then able to disseminate this information to students to determine interest, availability and best fit. Each Berea student receives orientation to the placement; the First Year Bonners receive one month of orientation before beginning to run their after-school programs. During the year, communication with community partners continues regularly. This is done primarily through email, phone conversations, and regular site visits. The majority of our community partners are easily accessible, and our placements have been quite stable. However, in the past there have been instances of inconsistent access, unreliable supervision, and/or administrative changes that require the Coordinator to reevaluate the sustainability of the site and placement.
ii. How partners were engaged as co-educators, including academic linkages, courses, and student advising
Our community partners act as co-educators on and off-campus. In particular, where the relationship between the college and community has lasted several years, the community partner brings a depth of understanding and experience in working with students. In addition to providing students with key information about their site, a number of the community partners have come to act as mentors to the students. They also provide the BSP coordinator with valuable information about student performance and potential trouble-spots.
Community partners act as co-educators on campus, too. This occurs primarily through Berea College’s strong academic service-learning program. Community partners often come to the classroom to orient the students prior to their service, and many play a role in reflection and student evaluation as well. Community partners also help to design service-learning projects. An example is the strong service-learning partnership between the Berea Community School and Dr. Rob Smith in Psychology. In his course on Abnormal Psychology, the Berea students present a mental health awareness fair at the high school, creating posters and activities to increase the high schoolers’ awareness and understanding. One of our long-time partners at the site, the Family Resource Center Director Diane Smith, helped to bring about this collaboration which has occurred anually for several years.
iii. Partnerships managed through site-based or issue-oriented teams, as well as other issue-based organizing undertaken
Because our community and our partner organizations are small, they generally do not lend themselves to a site-based team model. The individual nature of the labor program and students’ varied interests also make it difficult to form teams. Nevertheless, there are sometimes multiple placements at a single organization, and these have led to bonding and informal collaboration among students at the site. Some Bonners engage in issue-based organizing, particularly through the CELTS’s organization, HEAL (Helping the Earth and Learning), which has led campaigns for fair trade and sustainability. Some of the academic service-learning projects are issue-focused; an example would be the partnership with Kentucky Environmental Foundation, which fights for safe disposal of chemical weapons around the world.
Campus-Wide Culture and InfrastructurePlease describe key activities and structures related to the development of campus-wide infrastructure and the role of the Bonner Program in enhancing (or being enhanced by) campus-wide culture and participation in service. In particular, share (no more than one page text needed):
i. Key activities for faculty engagement and academic connections. In particular, note any connections to curricular offerings that are linked to the Bonner Program.
CELTS coordinates and helps to support service-learning courses across the Berea College curriculum. During 2008-2009, 20 service-learning courses were offered; 13 of these courses were Designated Service-Learning Courses. CELTS administers the application process for faculty to request that their course receive the service-learning designation. Any course formally approved as a Designated Service-Learning Course meets the Active Learning Experience (ALE) requirement of the General Education program. Each Berea College student is required to complete one ALE; completing a designated service-learning course is one way for students to complete this requirement.
Forty-one faculty and teaching staff members have now completed the CELTS Seminar in Service-Learning. This intensive seminar leads faculty through readings, discussions and assignments related to the many aspects of service-learning. During the seminar, each participant develops a service-learning course, which they commit to teach within the next academic year.
Our Provost and President continue to be strong advocates for service-learning. Service-learning is recognized in the promotion and tenure guidelines for faculty as an example of an innovative pedagogy, and has been highlighted in the tenure portfolios of several faculty members who have been granted tenure.
ii. Key relationships and activities involving other departments or divisions on campus (for example for recruitment, student wellness or retention, financial aid, and so on).
Our relationship with the Office of Admissions has always been important, because they are the initial source of our applicants. Beginning in January, we receive admission lists on a rolling basis, and use these for sequential rounds of recruitment. During Carter G. Woodson weekend, an annual admissions event aimed at minorities, we have an informational display, and make presentations to students and parents.
Other campus offices and departments, including Financial Aid, Student Labor, Academic Services, Accounts Payable, Food Services and the Collegium (Residential Life) support our program, by arranging summer check distributions, managing financial aid compliance, providing pre-retreat housing, and estimating food needs for service trips. Similarly, staff of the Black Cultural Center (BCC), Appalachian Center, Department of Child and Family Studies, and Office of Student Life support the BSP as training facilitators, service site supervisors, advisory council members, and event co-sponsors.
2008-2009 was the second year of a new partnership between BSP and GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), a federal grant program designed to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare early for college. In the E-mentoring Project, Bonner Freshmen serve as “virtual mentors” to students in the region. Like face-to-face mentoring, the goal is to establish a trusting, positive relationship; in E-mentoring, the relationship is conducted over a secure and monitored web-based platform (BlackBoard). The hope is that the mentors will become role models for success in college, helping the “mentees” see college as a realistic and desirable goal.
iii. Unique initiatives (such as events, assessment, or strategic planning) that have enhanced institutionalization of service and civic engagement on campus.
As a national leader in the area of community service and service-learning, Berea College was again awarded The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction. The Honor Roll, launched in 2006, recognizes a select number of colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs. Under CELTS’s leadership, Berea College was also awarded the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s new Community Engagement Classification. The Classification recognizes colleges and universities with a documented, institutional focus on community engagement.
Through its membership in Project Pericles, Berea College continues to offer opportunities for civic engagement to all students, including Bonner Scholars. This year, the highlight was a week-long trip to Washington D. C. In April 2009, Bonner Scholars and other Berea College students, urged lawmakers and policy leaders to supportlegislation to end mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. During their one-week stay in the nation’s capital, the students spoke with members of Congress and their staff, White House senior staff, and leaders of environmental advocacy organizations. The trip was supported by a $4,000 award received by the student team that won the 2008 Debating for Democracy (D4D) legislative proposal competition sponsored by Project Pericles. CELTS is currently completing the second year of a three-year Learn and Serve America Community-Based Research Innovation Grant, titled “Energy and Empowerment in an Appalachian County.” The grant is administered by the Bonner Foundation and Princeton University’s Community-Based Learning Initiative. The CELTS grant has focused on mobilizing multiple community partner organizations and faculty members working on energy issues, to increase their communication and coordination. The grant has already had a significant impact in the community. Five well-attended gatherings and workshops in Berea brought together community, college faculty, staff, and students to share information, coordinate efforts, and explore community-based research projects. In addition, three presentations on the project were given at conferences. Last year, five energy-related Community-Based Research (CBR) projects, funded by the grant took place, with additional projects planned for the coming academic year.
Serve 2.0Please highlight your key activities related to the integration of web-based tools as they are connected to the design, management, and outreach for service. In particular, share (no more than one page text needed):
i. Link to your campus-wide service center or Bonner Program wiki ,web-site, or Ning site. Please explain how it’s most used and by whom.
The Bonner Scholars Program and the CELTS websites are valuable sources of information for students, faculty, community partners, and audiences beyond the local campus and community. This past year, we used the BSP website to enhance our recruitment process for incoming Bonners. As part of a general updating of the information on the website, we added the application form so that prospective Bonners could download it themselves. We also sent email to admitted students to tell them about the Program and to give them the address of our website. Other pages of the CELTS website have also been redesigned to communicate more effectively with a range of audiences. For example, all of our service-learning forms and handbooks are now available electronically.
ii. Your integration with other social media tools (such as the Bonner Network Forum/Ning, Twitter, YouTube, the Bonner Video Project, PolicyOptions Wiki, or others)
The Berea College Bonner Scholars Program is not involved in the integration of other social media tools and service.
Campus Issue ProfilesAdd links to your completed or draft campus issue profiles here:
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