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Centre 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 Development
At Centre, we implement the developmental model through the course of our weekly meetings. In 2008-2009, we had class meetings at least three weeks of each month, with the first-years and sophomores meeting indepently for an hour each week, while the junior and senior students met as one. Meeting as classes allowed for the implementation of curriculum that was more appropriate for the developmental level of each group.
The first year students focused on basic issues of understanding, communication, time management, and spent time examining their personal values and how to communicate those to others. The first year class also spent time building community as a group, learning how to use their collective strength to meet the needs of our community.
The sophomores spent some of their time on similar issues, but more time examining community values and needs, as well as assessing the impact of their service on our host community. Sophomores were challenged to find new ways to recruit volunteers and to share their passion with others.
The meetings with junior and senior Bonners were some of our most outstanding of the year. These students spent a great deal of time discussing campus issues and connecting them to local, state, national, and international events. We unpacked individual behaviors and choices and discussed personal and community responsibilities. Juniors and seniors are traditionally much more involved in other leadership roles on campus, opening our discussion to avenues for impact - how the collective Bonner group could unite for the highest level of impact. Juniors and seniors connected their academic interests to our discussions and participated in the breakdown of a variety of ethical dilemmas.
In addition to class meetings, the Bonner Program at Centre met collectively about once each month. These meetings focused on community building, announcing campus events and other upcoming service opportunities, and large group value assessment. One of the favorite activities from the year became "Four Corners" using questions written by the students that were sometimes humorous but oftentimes serious and relevant to current events on campus or in our community. Large group processing was important as students learned from those Bonners who they might not know as well.
The Bonner Program at Centre took another successful First Year Trip to Caretta, West Virginia this year to partner with Big Creek People in Action in serving local families. Students worked diligently to paint the stage for the group's annual Mountain Music Festival, built a new tin roof for an elderly woman, and spent time engaging one another and the community. A few photos are below, but all can be seen here. Unfortunately the Sophomore Service Exchange never toook off, and no students actively participated in this venture, but plans are already underway to partner with the University of Louisville in 2009-2010.
Student leadership roles included the Junior & Senior Interns who served as critical elements of the Program's overall success. The individuals in these two positions helped to facilitate weekly class meetings, identify engaging activities to incorporate into the curriculum, and manage the Program overall. The Bonner Intern Program will be expanded in 2009-2010 to include a Programming Intern, Policy Intern, and Sustainability Intern, in addition to the Junior & Senior Interns. Seniors shared their wisdom and experiences with the Bonner Program and our invited guests during the Bonner Senior Celebration at the end of the spring semester. Community partners who had worked with seniors were invited to attend, as well as the Senior Staff of the College and parents of the seniors.
Serve 2.0 technology is being used regularly at Centre, especially our wiki and Facebook groups. Students frequently refer to the wiki for information, and the Bonner Interns spent a great deal of their time editing that resource, looking for new and different resources to add that would benefit all students. There is currently a map of all community partners, as well as up to date information on the service opportunities available and key contacts. One of the most useful pages is a growing list of ways to get the word out about upcoming events, including contact information for various resources. Josh Blair, a rising junior Bonner Leader, took the lead on our Bonner Video Project, but got tied up with other things in the spring and unfortunately didn't fulfill all expectations. We hope to find a new Bonner to take the lead in this area in the Fall of 2009.
Implementation of Community Partnerships
Centre College is fortunate to have strong community partner relationships with a wide array of service agencies in the Danville/Boyle County communities. Though it is a small town, there are many ways for our students to get involved and help to meet the needs of our local area. Key to our Community Partnerships is an ongoing open dialogue about how Bonners can best help agencies achieve their goals. The Bonner Director communicates on a very regular basis with contacts at our partner agencies to assess strategies and determine if there are better ways in which we can help them succeed.
The Community Learning Agreement is key to facilitating a mutually beneficial partnership and an engaged learning experience for our students. Through the CLA partners understand what our students hope to contribute and to gain from their experience.
We do not currently have site-based or issue-oriented teams, with the exception of just a few locations. However, after SLI 2009, we have returned with some great ideas from Pat Donohue and the folks at TCNJ to help us move in this direction.
Campus-Wide Culture and Infrastructure
In the spring of 2009, we received approval from the College's Senior Staff to hire an AmeriCorps VISTA to strengthen the service-learning programs at Centre. Beginning in the fall of 2009, this individual will help to strengthen the connections between two independent, but successful arms of the college - our academic curriculum and our service work in the local community. There have been a few classes that have participated in service-learning over the last few years, but connections are made between the service of Bonner students and their academic work on a more casual basis during our weekly meetings. Some students have been able to link class projects to their service work, directly.
Bonners have worked diligently this year to increase campus participation in service activities, creating new, large-scale events like food drives, to engage a larger portion of the student population. Students have also lead through their example, and have been recognized by both the student newspaper and the local town paper for their efforts.
A key partnership has been established between students in the Bonner Program and our local government, specifically the City Commission, Mayor, City Manager, and our city engineers. Through their work at a local park, students in the Bonner Program have proven that they are dedicated to serving our area and have the ability to produce significant results. Students surveyed local residents, raised money, and used their abilities to purchase new playground equipment for a dilapidated park in a low income area. This summer, the city granted the students $18,000 to continue their effort to improve the park this fall.
Letter from the Danville Mayor
Finally, the Bonner Program at Centre is lucky to have established strong working relationships with the Office of Admission, Development, the President, Academic Affairs, and Financial Aid. These partnerships have led to the successful recruitment of a strong group of Bonner Leaders and Scholars each year for the past five years. The partnership between the Program and the Student Government Association has also paid significant dividends as the SGA provided $7,000 for the student park project.
Serve 2.0
Serve 2.0 technology is being used regularly at Centre, especially our wiki and Facebook groups. Students frequently refer to the wiki for information, and the Bonner Interns spent a great deal of their time editing that resource, looking for new and different resources to add that would benefit all students. There is currently a map of all community partners, as well as up to date information on the service opportunities available and key contacts. One of the most useful pages is a growing list of ways to get the word out about upcoming events, including contact information for various resources. We use the wiki very frequently, especially for documents that all students need. We also make regular use of Google Docs, to share information between the Director and Coordinator, as well as the interns. To-do lists are commonly created and referred to on Google Docs.
Other campus groups also make use of our wiki, specifically the list of community partners and suggestions for publicity, including fraternities and sororities, and our campus-wide, umbrella service group, Centre Action Reaches Everyone (CARE).
Since the successful implementation of the Bonner wiki, other campus groups have begun to use this free resource to facilitate their group's success. PolicyOptions promises to be used much more often by Bonners in the year ahead and provides a strong framework for other campus groups to identify strategies to address issues as well.
Campus Issue ProfilesAdd links to your completed or draft campus issue profiles here:
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