Annual Report – Programmatic Section

Implementation of Student Development: 

How did you implement the developmental model this year within your co-curricular and service activities?

1. Trainings and Meetings

   As the number of Bonner Leaders and Scholars at Centre College increases, the frequency of our all-Bonner meetings has decreased.  With almost 60 Bonners at Centre, the weekly all-Bonner meetings that took place from 1999-2002 have become monthly gatherings, replaced instead by weekly class meetings.  All-Bonner meetings are highly anticipated by all students, as all Bonners come together to share their highs and their lows from the month - celebrating the accomplishments of one another, and comforting those in need.  At all-Bonner meetings Centre Bonners share news of upcoming events, make pleas for assistance at their sites, and discuss campus issues that the group as a whole need address.  Though scheduled for just an hour, students typically stay long past the appointed end time, discussing current events and campus issues that they feel empowered to do something about.  Weekly class meetings of first-year students, sophomores, and a combined group of juniors and seniors provide the opportunity for more intense reflections on the service experience, and the use of Bonner and other educational training modules.  Students develop deeper awareness of themselves and the needs of our community, and work together in these smaller class meetings to develop strategies to address those needs.  Guest speakers are also incorporated into these meetings, including faculty and staff from the College, as well as community partners and civic leaders.  The curriculum used in these class meetings is intended to facilitate student development and progression along the developmental roadmap.

2. First Year Trip

   The day following Commencement at the College, 23 students and three staff members set off to work with the Big Creek People in Action in Caretta, WV.  McDowell County is home to a wonderfully gracious, humble, and gentle community, which is also annually ranks as the fifth or sixth poorest county in the nation, has increasing problems of child poverty, illiteracy, and high-school drop-outs.  A community that has been struggling to stay afloat after the fall of coal prices and amidst state budget cuts and school consolidations, it is a place that has become a second home to many of us at Centre.  This spring Centre students traveled to West Virginia to engage with a group of people who have a deeper understanding of “community.”  Students worked with individuals, agencies, and families, painting, hanging drywall, tiling bathrooms, and assisting in the restoration of pride and self-efficacy in a town that has learned grace in the midst of need.  First-year students worked alongside veteran upperclassmen and processed their experience in ways that helped them understand how the experience had changed them – in many ways deeper than expected.

3. Second Year Exchange

   In the fall of 2007, the Centre Bonner Program was excited to partner with Bonners from nearby Berea College to serve with the Habitat for Humanity Chapter in Lexington, KY.  Bonners from Berea came to Centre on a Friday evening, participated in some name-games and community development activities, then traveled across the street to support a Centre Bonner-sponsored dance with a local community partner that serves individuals with special needs.  The next morning Bonners from Berea and Centre traveled up to Lexington, KY to work with their chapter of Habitat for Humanity - framing a concrete driveway, finishing drywall, and building a retaining wall to maintain the integrity of the back yard.  Over dinner following the experience, Bonners from Berea and Centre reflected on their experiences and the new relationships formed through the day.

4. Third Year (and beyond) Leadership Roles

   Upperclass Bonners play significant roles in the leadership of the Program at Centre.  The Junior and Senior Interns help with the facilitation of First-Year Bonner meetings, and support their peers in the development of Endeavor Projects - the capstone projects described below.  Junior and Senior Bonners also provide leadership on Bonner Committees, especially during the selection of new Bonners and the Bonner Coordinator.  Upperclass level Bonners are expected to recruit other Centre students to volunteer at their sites, and to move beyond volunteering to true civic leadership at their agencies - and many fulfill this expectation well.

5. Senior Capstone & Presentation of Learning

   Bonner students are uniquely situated to create volunteer service projects for the greater Centre student body. Through their high level of involvement with community partners, schools, and organizations, upper-level Bonners are charged with the task of initiating and standing at the helm of one large volunteer service endeavor each year. These projects aim to help the Centre community use its gifts and strengths to meet the needs of the greater community.  The Bonner Endeavor project is an opportunity for each upperclass Bonner to use the knowledge and skills they have developed during their first two years in the program to create a high impact project, and to share the motivation for that project with their peers.  Upperclass Bonners work independently and in small groups to identify community needs and then in harmony with Community Partners, to create projects that use our strenghts to address those needs.  In place for only one year, we have already seen the significant impact Endeavors may have on invididuals and our community as a whole.

   At our final all-Bonner meeting each spring, seniors present on what they have learned through their Bonner experiences.  The presentations vary depending on the individual, some include powerpoint presentations and musical soundtracks, while others choose to share thoughts straight from the heart.  The Presentations of Learning provide a unique opportunity for students to reflect on their experience in sum, and then share what they have learned in a concise format.  This also helps to prepare students for sharing their experience with future employers and graduate school admission officers.  The Presentations also help younger Bonners to comprehend the impact of their experience and motivate them to expand their involvement in the Program as they get older. 

Implementation of Community Partnerships: 

Guide for Community Partners (PDF)

At Centre we are fortunate to have a committed team of Community Partners who provide volunteer opportunities for students involved in the Bonner Program.  Key to this experience is a relationship of mutual communication in which both the Bonner Director and main contact at the Community Partner feel comfortable and informed on a student's purpose, goals, and performance at their service placement.  We have developed a brochure which briefly orients the Community Partner to the Bonner Program and couple that brochure with a letter from the Program Director.  Students also help to provide additional information and context regarding the Bonner Program during their conversation with the Community Partner as they go over the Community Learning Agreement, service and learning goals.  We are working to expand the role of the Community Partner within the Bonner Program, including them as co-educators in our approach to the implementation of the Student Development Model and the overall development of a culture of civic engagement on our campus.  Two Bonner Community Partners serve on our Advisory Board and we hope to include Community Partners in our Senior Presentations of Learning in the spring of 2009.  This is an area in which Centre can learn from other institutions Best Practices and enhance the significance of the Community Partner relationship and involvement.

Campus-wide Culture and Infrastructure: 

The culture of service at Centre College can is a wave, swelling out in the ocean, preparing to crest.  This fall the College will open the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement and Servant Leadership - a home for the Bonner Program and a place for all students to join in conversations on social justice and make plans for positive change.  The dedication of this Center is a testament to the signifanct role service plays at the institution and the level of student interest and activism.  The Center will house the office of the Bonner Coordinator, the junior and senior interns, as well as work space for Bonner and other campus committees.  The Bonner Service Center, as it will be called in short, is an exciting development on campus.  Plans for the Bonner Service Center include weekly Bonner meetings, Bonner committee meetings, meeting space for groups such as ECCO (Environmental Centre College Organization) and CARE (Centre Action Reaches Everyone), as well as more casual conversations between faculty, staff and students regarding current events and their impact on our campus.

In the spring of 2008 the faculty approved the implementation of a minor in Social Justice, echoing the Bonner Common Commitment and with a rising-junior Bonner Leader as the pilot student.  The minor will bring together existing classes at the College and involve some independent study on the part of the student to connect her civic engagement work (with developmentally challenged young people and the poor/homeless in Louisville, KY) to her academic pursuits.  Also in discussion this spring was a proposal for the creation of a major in Civic Engagement.  Though this project met with a good bit of resistance from the faculty, the discussion is continuing and we have hope that a Civic Engagement minor will be available beginning in the spring of 2009.

Centre students have continued to expand their civic engagement experiences locally and abroad through the academic currciculum.  Students in the Spanish department routinely participate in our community as translators and English-as-a-Second-Language facilitators.  Students in this program additionally work with Hispanic children in our area, providing tutoring and mentoring opportunities as well as recreational opportunities on the weekends.  Centre students involved in classes through the Religion department participate in civic engagement activities in nearby Louisville, KY, serving in homeless shelters and even spending the night in facilities for the homeless in Louisville to better understand their situation.  These are classes strongly recommended by the Bonner Program for not only students in the Bonner Program, but for all those invested in social justice.

The Bonner Program, though housed in Student Life, has a strong relationship with the Office of Academic Affairs.  The strength of this relationship allows for a positive faculty connection and investment in not only the Bonner Program, but in bringing service and civic engagement to the forefront of the academic curriculum.  As the Director of the Bonner Program, I am currently on a committee charged with the redesign of our First Year Experience course, so that civic engagement may be a key component linked to their studies of creativity, leadership, conflict management and more.

The Admission Office and the Office of Student Financial Planning work very closely with the Bonner Program to recruit students that will be successful in the Program and have a positive influence on our campus.  The Admission Office has an intimate knowledge of the Bonner Program and meets with the Director, Coordinator, and Bonner Interns to have a keen sense of the type of student the Bonner Program would attract and be a good fit.

In the spring of 2008 the Centre Board of Trustees approved the College's most recent version of our Strategic Plan.  Included in this plan is focus on incorporating civic engagement in all aspects of the College, continuing to focus on holistic education, connecting all aspects of student learning, wellness, and engagement.