DAVIDSON COLLEGE
The Change Challenge
Background
One of the strengths of the Davidson College Bonner Scholars program is the close realtionship it maintains with its community partners. Through the Change Challenge, we hope to enhance partner capacity by offering effective student training.
In conjunction with the Lake Norman Community Development Council, we have made strides to improve communication with the use of technology. We feel that now is the perfect opportunity to continue these improvements with partners on an individual basis. Though we have many organizations making progressive efforts to improve the Davidson and Lake Norman community, we feel that, as committed students, we can be a resource for our partners to facilitate more efficient methods of communication.
The Change Challenge was born of a Serve 2.0 subgrant written in Spring 2009. Rather than create a new initiative, we have chosen to streamline our ongoing projects to maximize participation and success.
Big Idea
To become that resource, there are two areas that we have designed our proposal to address. The first area is that of student training. Though our Bonner Scholar Program has integrated social media to a limited extent, our Bonner Scholars are not yet fluent in the utility of these electronic resources. We believe that in instituting an effective training module, paired with a tangible outcome, the Change Challenge will encourage further exploration of the use of webtools for our students, who can then offer useful alternatives to our community partners.
The second area we hope to address involves exploring the potential for social media in facilitating new opportunities for day-to-day interactions within our community partners. We are careful not to insist upon our own ideas, but wish to collaborate on an outcome that meets the needs of all parties involved. the Change Challenge will build upon strong realtionships to meet our ultimate goal of enhancing partner capacity.
Plan of Action
June 2010 Goal:
To have a successful initiative in place which has been thoroughly evaluated by all participants for relevance, and to compile excerpts of reflection for continual publicity.
3 Mid-Year (March 2010) Actions:
1. Research best practices for utilizing Social Media in the Non-Profit sector.
2. Target and recruit a group of Bonner Scholars and students to participate in the Challenge.
3. Train participants to be fluent in the use and applicability of Social Media.
Key People:
Jane Myers; Congress Representative
Jared Smith; Congress Representative, Community Outreach Intern
Kristin Booher; Program Director
Stacey Riemer; Assistant Dean of Community Service
Marcia Webster; Chair of the Lake Norman Community Development Council
Challenge-Specific Community Partners, Bonner Scholars, and Students
Bonner Foundation
Key Web Tools:
Wiki
Ning
Google Tools
SlideShare
Twitter
Facebook
Delicious (Social Bookmarking)
Blogs
Doodle/Meeting Wizard
Youtube
SurveyMonkey
Conclusion
In the Change Challenge, a team of two to four Bonners and one to two non-Bonners will collaborate with a community partner to discuss ways in which social media can be an asset to their organization. This team will be trained in the use of webtools by a congress representative, and will then offer this knowledge to the community partner. The student team will document their insights and reflect through a blog or video diary. This will prove a conceptual framework to future incarnations of the Challenge.
Update
Has your Big Idea changed from what you originally proposed? If so, what is it now?
There have been no substantial changes from the original proposal. We are still on track to meet our March and June goals.
What are your successes?
There has been much more interest in the challenge than Jane or I expected. Students are really getting on board!
What are your challenges?
Coordinating schedules has been the biggest challenge so far.
What support do you need to move forward with you Big Ideas?
Innovation in the WebTool arena is always welcome :)
Comment/Suggestions:
We're moving along!
Update - Report to Share in the 20th Anniversary Congress Booklet
We intend to create a beautifully designed book to be distributed at the 20th Anniversary Summer Leadership Institute that shares with the entire Bonner Network the work of Congress Representatives in 2009-2010 on their big ideas. Please write your report in the format below. For an example, click on this page: http://bonnernetwork.pbworks.com/Big-Idea-Summaries
1) Title (of your project/big idea - feel free to update from the fall).
2) The Case: Tell us briefly the history of the challenge you tackled with your Big Idea. This should be no more than 100 words.
3) The Solution: What is your Big Idea? What was the idea to tackle this challenge? This should be no more than 300 words.
4) The Process: Tell us in more detail what your Big Idea is. Please illustrate how your “Big Idea” addresses the root issues of the problems you are working with. What are the specific issues, needs, or gaps your idea sought to improve and how did it improve them? This should be no more than 500 words (two paragraphs).
Please upload 2-3 relevant photos (of your Reps, project, etc.). Try to select photos that have high resolution quality. This will appear in the booklet.
The deadline for this update if you want your school to be considered and included in the book is FRIDAY, APRIL 30th!
The Change Challenge
One of the strengths of the Davidson College Bonner Scholars program is the close relationship it maintains with its community partners. Through the Change Challenge, we hoped to address both a weakness in student training and a lack of consistent social media resources for our community partners. Both areas required both time and teaching, so we developed a model in which students would be trained, and then become a resource for the community partner.
In conjunction with the Lake Norman Community Development Council, we have made strides to improve communication with the use of technology. We felt that we are in the perfect situation to continue these improvements with partners on an individual basis. Though we have many organizations making progressive efforts to improve the Davidson and Lake Norman community, we realized that, as committed students, we could be a resource for our partners to facilitate more efficient methods of communication.
The Change Challenge was born of a Serve 2.0 subgrant written in Spring 2009. Rather than create a new initiative, we have chosen to streamline our ongoing projects to maximize participation and success.
The specific process for our Big Idea came about very well – we had much more involvement than we hoped. We targeted students that have strong existing ties to partner organizations and work with them in leadership roles. We offered training in over twelve webtools, suggesting methods in which they could be useful to a non-profit organization. Subsequently, each trainee returned to their organizations brainstorming ways that social media might make an aspect of the organization more efficient. We are careful to avoid “telling” partners what they need to do, but instead exist as a resource to them. “Challengers” then met with the Executive Director (or volunteer coordinator) of the partner organization, and discussed the ways in which the partnership could enhance the capacity of the organization. Each student is responsible for training his or her organization in their defined interest, and will answer any questions the organization might have.
This process creates a sense of empowerment among our trainees, who now have the ability to engage with the community in a new and distinct way. Similarly, community partners are able to more easily access the resources that college students can provide.
Reminders
March 2010
June 2010
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