Annual Report – Programmatic Section

Implementation of Student Development:  

How did you implement the developmental model this year within your co-curricular and service activities? (suggested one page text):

1. The role of trainings, courses, & meetings 
2. First Year Trip
3. Second Year Exchange
4. Third Year (and beyond) Leadership Roles
5. Senior Capstone & Presentation of Learning

The Oxford College of Emory University Bonner Leaders program is unique in that it is a two year program for freshman and sophomore students.  As such, we do not have all the traditional Bonner co-curricular and service activities. We do however believe that it is important to create opportunities for our young Bonners to develop both personally and professionally.  Therefore, one of our goals for this upcoming school year is to be much more intentional in creating those types of opportunities by implementing the student developmental model in an effective way. This past year, we focused on all four steps of the developmental model however there was not a forward progression up the model staircase.  This upcoming school year, we will use Gretchen Mielke's suggestion.  Instead of focusing on one developmental step each year we will focus on one step each semester (4 semesters total) due to the two-year nature of our program.  Our sophomore Bonner Leaders will take on a greater leadership role with the freshman Bonners by helping to create activities that focus on "exploration" during the 1st semester, "experience" during the 2nd semester and so on.  The Bonner staff will work to create opportunities for the sophomore Bonners during the "example" and "excellence" steps.  This will allow for the students to develop both personally and professionally in a way that fits within our particular program parameters. 

Weekend Retreat

The Oxford College Bonner Leaders program begins each fall with a weekend retreat during which time the students participate in a variety of team-building activities, learn the policies and procedures of the program and set goals and expectations for the year. 

Weekly Meetings

Both the freshman and sophomore Bonner Leaders meet together for an hour each week.  Because it is a two-year program with a maximum of 20 students participating, we believe that when we meet it is important to meet as an entire Bonner group as a way to build cohesiveness.  

In addition to the weekly meetings, the Coordinator meets bi-weekly with each of the Bonner Leaders to access how they are doing both academically and personally. 

Alternative Spring Break Trip

Once again, because we are a two-year program with freshman and sophomore students we do not have a traditional first year trip.  Instead, we inform all incoming freshman Bonner Leaders that as a requirement of the program they need to attend the alternative spring break trip with fellow Oxford students and staff.  This year, eight out of ten freshman Bonners participated in this trip which not only gave them the experience of serving the people of New Orleans but they were also able to lead the evening reflection activities. 

Sophomore Exchange

We have recently invited the Bonner Scholar women at Spelman College to be our exchange partners.  The date is tentatively set for early November for them to come to our community to learn and serve together with our freshman and sophomore Bonner Leaders.

Presentation of Learning

We require all of our Bonner Leaders to make presentations at our end of the year Bonner breakfast to Oxford College faculty and staff and our community partners.  This gives the Bonner Leaders the opportunity to reflect on their experiences in the program and at their placement sites. 

Implementation of Community Partnerships: 

Please share a summary of your work with community partners, touching in particular on the following categories (suggested one page text):

1. Orienting and managing community partnerships (orientation, site visits, meetings, strategic planning)
2. Partners as co-educators and other unique initiatives (including new academic linkages)
3. Integration of site-based or issue-oriented teams

Orienting and managing community partnerships

Last summer, we created an application for all interested community partners, old and new, as a way for us to better understand the needs of the agencies as well for the partners to think about how they can best utilize a Bonner Leader.  In the fall, we invited all of the community partners to an event called, “Bagels with the Bonners,” which gave both the Bonner Leaders and the community partners an opportunity for them to meet each other.  Each community representative shared their agency’s mission as well as how they could best use a Bonner Leader.  This allowed for the students to explore many placement options. 

Throughout the year we keep in regular communication with our community partners by the way of email, phone and site visits.  At the end of the fall semester, we have both the community partners and the Bonner Leaders complete an evaluation form that helps us to better understand how the semester went for all parties involved.

Partners as co-educators and other unique initiatives

We continue to respect and value our community partners as co-educators.  We acknowledge that they have a variety of experiences and knowledge that can be shared both with the Bonner Leaders as well as the college as a whole.  This past year, we invited one of our community partners to a Bonner weekly meeting to share his knowledge about the high rate of student dropouts, which is becoming an important issue facing our community.  In addition many of our community partners spend extra time with our Bonners identifying their strengths and weaknessess and working to help the Bonners grow personally and professionally.  We will continue to provide opportunities for our community partners to become co-educators and look for new ways to better our relationships with one another. 

The Office of Student Development continues to provide theory practice service learning (TPSL) courses that are open to all students who have a desire to integrate the theories that they are learning in the classroom with actual experiences in the local community.  Although not a requirement of our Bonner Leaders program, many of our Bonner Leaders have taken a TPSL course as another opportunity to serve the community.

Integration of site-based or issue-oriented teams

At this time we have not used the site-based or issue-oriented team structure. We do however encourage our rising sophomore students to continue at their placements for the 2^nd year.  This allows both consistency for the agency and an opportunity for our students to develop and increase their leadership skills.  We also expect the rising sophomores to provide leadership and guidance to the freshman students who are also placed there.

Campus-wide Culture and Infrastructure: 

Please describe key elements and progress in 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, touching on the following (suggested one page text):

1. Key relationships and activities involving faculty and academic connections.  In particular, what work was done with relevant coursework, a minor, or other curricular integration.
2. Key relationships and activities involving other departments or divisions on campus (for example for recruitment, student wellness or retention, financial aid, and so on).
3. Unique initiatives (such as events or strategic planning) that have enhanced institutionalization of service and civic engagement on campus.

We are fortunate to have enthusiastic institutional support for the Bonner Leaders program.  The program continues to be seen as a core initiative for expanding our community service programs and has been highlighted in numerous reports on our efforts to strengthen engaged learning for our students.  It is also consistent with our strategic plan for both the Oxford College campus and Emory University.  The program is financially supported through the Pierce Institute for Leadership & Community Engagement thus ensuring ongoing support.  The Office of Financial Aid continues to allocate work study positions or the equivalent amount of financial aid for students who are not eligible for work study.  All levels of administration and numerous faculty are invested in the ongoing development of the Bonner Leaders program. 

The Bonner Leaders program is housed in the Office of Student Development along with all other service programs (academic and co-curricular).  This is a key strength in that community partners have one contact office to coordinate community service requests.  Although the Bonner Leaders program is co-curricular in its current form, we are able to integrate faculty involvement and support as an extension of the relationships that have been built through academic service learning courses.  With the small nature of our campus and the institutional focus on service, the Bonner Leaders program has achieved a high level of visbility in a short period of time.