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Oxford College of Emory University 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 DevelopmentWhat was the structure and content for the implementation of the developmental model this year? In particular, please share (no more than one page text needed):
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 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.
The Oxford College of Emory University Bonner Leaders met weekly throughout the 2008-2009 school year. Because we are a 2-year program, we do not see a need for each class to meet separately although a few exceptions were made when it came towards the end of the semester---the sophomores were exiting from the program and the freshmen were making decisions on their summer placements.
The Bonner Leaders Coordinator, over the summer of 2008, developed a weekly training schedule for the upcoming school year because of an identified need to incorporate the student development model more into the Bonner Leaders program. The training schedule worked well this year and the Coordinator will create one this summer as well.
Most Bonner meetings focused on the Common Commitments, with guest speakers being invited on many occasions, including the Coordinator’s parents one week! In addition, the Bonner Leaders were given the opportunity to present individually on a variety of topics that they felt a strong passion towards or felt as though it might be beneficial for the group. For example, one sophomore student presented a workshop to the freshman on, “How to find a summer placement” whereas a freshman presented a training on “Sex-Trafficking” because of her involvement in high school raising awareness of this issue.
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 sophomore Bonner Leaders, general students and staff. This year, all eleven freshman Bonners participated in this trip which not only gave them the experience of serving the people of Mobile, Alabama but also leading the evening reflection activities.
We were able to join forces with Berry, Spelman and Morehouse Colleges to participate in a sophomore exchange volunteering at a metro Atlanta YMCA. The sophomore Oxford Bonner Leaders really enjoyed the experience being able to volunteer as well as getting to know Bonner students from other schools in the metro Atlanta area.
Last year, we required 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. However, this year because of time constraints, only the sophomores presented at the breakfast. This gave them the opportunity to reflect on their experiences in the program and at their placement sites while also being able to publicly thank their community partner supervisors.
The Oxford College Bonner Leaders had very strong interest in focusing their time and effort on social-media after our two Congress reps returned from Bonner Congress, however the group’s interest quickly dissipated as classes and extra-curricular activities became priorities. However, two of the Bonner Leaders worked together and created a movie about our new community gardens that was submitted for a grant application. They did an excellent job on the movie and I think one of the students will work with other Bonners next year to create a couple more movies to promote our program to prospective students.
Implementation of Community PartnershipsPlease share a summary of your work with community partners, highlighting your work regarding (no more than one page text needed):
The Oxford College Bonner Leaders program will grow this fall with the addition of 4-5 Bonner slots and with that growth comes the need for more placement opportunities. We continue to develop strong relationships with our community partners as well as continue to seek out new partners and opportunities to integrate ourselves into our community.
We have been using an application that we created for all interested Bonner 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.
Throughout the year we keep in regular communication with our community partners by the way of email, phone and site visits.
In the fall, we invited all of the community partners to a meet and greet event which was essentially a Bonner based speed-dating event. This event was brand new this year and worked out great! It gave both the Bonner Leaders and the community partners an opportunity to meet each other in a fun and entertaining way! The event really allowed for the students to explore many placement options in a short amount of time and gain interviewing skills.
At the end of the fall and spring semesters, 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. At the end of the year, we host an End of the Year Bonner Breakfast for community partner supervisors, Bonner Leaders and school personnel that deeply support the Bonner program at Oxford College of Emory University.
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 many of our community partners to our Bonner weekly meetings to share their knowledge of the nonprofit sector as well as focus on specific issues areas such as homelessness, child abuse & neglect and the use of art as a way to raise awareness of social justice issues.
In addition many of our community partners spend extra time with our Bonners helping them 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.
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 2nd 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.
This fall, we will offer a ½-day community partner supervisor workshop that will give our community partners a better understanding of the Bonner program, who our students are, what their responsibilities are as supervisors and answer any questions they might have.
Campus-Wide Culture and InfrastructurePlease describe key activities and structures related to 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. In particular, share (no more than one page text needed):
We are fortunate to have enthusiastic institutional support for the Bonner Leaders program. Even during the bleak economic times, the Oxford College Bonner program continues to remain strong despite changes in structure. Due to budget constraints, incoming students will be placed in one 300-hour AmeriCorps slots rather than the 900-hour option. In addition, incoming Bonner Leaders will not have the opportunity to participate in a summer of service sponsored by the Oxford College Bonner program. However, despite these structural changes, the program will grow from 21 students last year to 25 or 26 students this upcoming school year partly because the program continues to be seen as a core initiative for expanding our community service programs and has been highlighted in numerous reports and articles 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. 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 visibility in 3 years.
Serve 2.0Please highlight your key activities related to the integration of web-based tools as they are connected to the design, management, and outreach for service. In particular, share (no more than one page text needed):
As mentioned earlier in this report, the Oxford College Bonner Leaders had very strong interest in focusing their time and effort on social-media after our two Congress reps returned from their Bonner Conference however the group’s interest quickly dissipated as classes and extra-curricular activities became priorities.
However, two of the Bonner Leaders worked together and created a movie about our new community garden project which was submitted for a grant application. They did an excellent job on the movie and I think one of the students will take the lead to work with other Bonners next year to create a couple more movies to promote our program to prospective students.
We have basic information on the Oxford College website about the Bonner Leaders program http://oxford.emory.edu/life/community_service/bonner_leader_program.dot. But perhaps the most exciting news this year in terms of technology is that incoming students interested in the Bonner program now have the opportunity to apply on-line rather than on paper! The completed on-line application is then sent to the Bonner Coordinator for review. www.oxford.emory.edu/bonnerleader
We will continue to brainstorm ways we can implement web-based tools into our program. Campus Issue ProfilesAdd links to your completed or draft campus issue profiles here:
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