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Location: Northwest Georgia, about 90 miles from the state capital, Atlanta

Enrollment: 1,895

Other interesting tidbits: Berry College is the largest college campus in the world.

 

BONNER PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

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Name of Campus-Wide Center: The Bonner Center for Community Engagement

Relevant website: http://www.berry.edu/service/

 

Type of Program: Bonner Scholars

Year Began: 1991

Bonner Scholars Program website: http://www.berry.edu/service/BCCE/Bonner

 

Number of Bonner Scholars: 78

Active in Bonner AmeriCorps Ed Award: 25 (some students will be exiting soon and we are expecting a large enrollment this fall)

 

KEY CONTACTS

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President: Dr. Steve Briggs

Center Director: Laurie Chandler

Bonner Scholars Program Coordinator: Mary Elizabeth Tyler

Bonner Scholars Program Director: Mike Burnes

Bonner Senior Intern: Nick Foshee

Bonner Congress Representatives: Thushy Muruges and David Chiem

Bonner Peer Counselors: Laura Diepenbrock and Bradley Cagle

 

MORE ABOUT US (our partners, trips, structure, best or unique practices)

 

Bonner Scholars Program: 

During the 2008-2009 academic year, Berry’s 78 Bonner students performed more than 20,000 hours of community service at service organizations and during several one-time events. The program took the first steps this year to concentrate service at a few selected sites, better ensuring that students advance from volunteers performing simple tasks to community leaders with significant responsibilities. The incorporation of this developmental model at our service sites is similar to the model used throughout Berry's on-campus Work Experience Program.  

 

• During a summer meeting with our major community partners, we explained the site-based program and asked agencies to volunteer to participate.  Five agencies (Mercy Senior Care, Habitat for Humanity, Floyd Medical Center, Coosa River Basin Initiative, and Boys and Girls Club) accepted the challenge.  Since we did not want to move current students away from their previously selected sites, we decided to assign only the freshmen to these sites based on agency need and student interest.  We will continue to assign incoming classes to these sites, creating teams of students at each and transitioning completely away from the previous assignment policy over the next three years. 

 

• At a recent meeting with our five partners, all agreed that the model worked well this year for several reasons. (1) Building off of the concept that students should combine their strengths and passions to meet the needs of the world, community partners created specific job descriptions, which outlined service responsibilities and required skills as well as learning opportunities at their respective sites. This system helped students and community partners define expectations in advance of students beginning work. (2) Having a concentrated group of community partners facilitated communication among agencies, students, and the BSP Office. (3) Because community partners were active in leading reflections on social justice, students had a better sense of how their work was part of a movement for systematic change, not simply isolated incidents of kindness. As our students gain more experience, we plan for them to move into positions of increasing responsibility both at their service sites and within the Bonner Center.

 

Changes to the Bonner Scholars Program recruitment process marked another major accomplishment during the 2008-2009 academic year. In past years, we selected Bonner Scholars based on financial need, academic potential, answers to essay questions on the Bonner application, and performance during a phone interview with the Bonner Coordinator. This year we added on-site interviews for Bonner candidates.  In addition to interviewing with two or three Bonner staff and/or students, we asked candidates to complete a written reflection based on a prompt, and we invited them to participate in a group activity with current and other prospective Bonners. We are hopeful that these changes to the selection process have more clearly-defined program expectations for the class of 2013.

 

Bonner Center for Community Engagement: 

Last summer, the Bonner Center for Community Service embarked on a project that asked for input from a variety of stakeholders regarding the Center’s role both on campus and in the local community.  Responses helped guide the definition of a mission for the Bonner Center and initiated a change in the Center’s name that reflected a deeper commitment to community-based education.  “Service” was thought to communicate volunteerism while “engagement” seemed to demonstrate the value of community work that embodies collaboration, critical thinking, and ultimately social change.  Thus, in July 2008, the Bonner Center for Community Service became the Bonner Center for Community Engagement.  This same project assisted in the formulation of a new mission to “facilitate partnerships to promote community service, civic responsibility, social awareness, and academic scholarship."

 

•  The Bonner Center secured a $27,900 enrichment grant from the Bonner Foundation to support community-based learning initiatives on campus.  The funds were used to host a faculty symposium that highlighted best practices of service-learning pedagogy and invited community members representing local non-profit and governmental organizations to meet with campus stakeholders regarding the development of reciprocal partnerships that marry academic coursework with community action.  We also offered additional funds to faculty to support development of community-based, academic internships.  Although faculty have yet to develop these internships, we will continue to offer the funds as well as administrative support during the coming year.

 

• Faculty engagement with the Bonner Center has steadily grown this academic year.  The informal gathering of faculty interested in community-based learning now has 20 regular participants.  These faculty helped develop the enrichment grant proposal and the grant application and approval process during meetings of several sub-committees:  symposium planning, internship development, and project fund allocation.  Additionally, after the institution was denied the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, faculty willingly joined a dialogue to begin formulation of an institutional definition of service-learning.

 

• The Bonner Center’s partnerships with local organizations continued to develop and deepen this year.  With the Bonner Scholars Program’s implementation of a site-based model for incoming students, five community partners began to embrace their roles as co-educators by offering forums for discussion and reflection related to the social issues their organizations address.  Further, the Center intentionally designed time and space for a variety community organizations to meet with faculty.  In response to requests by local nonprofit professionals, the Center assisted Rome’s Council of Volunteer Administrators in the planning and delivery of professional development trainings on topics including grant writing and media relations.   

 

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  2009 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES 

• 2009 Annual Report

 

PHOTOS

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Student Leadership Plans

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Click here for Student Leadership Plans: 

Congress Action Planning