Stetson University-2009 Annual Report

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2009 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

Please add narrative text that responds to the questions in the four categories below.

  1. Implementation of Student Development
  2. Implementation of Community Partnerships
  3. Campus-Wide Culture and Infrastructure 
  4. Serve 2.0 
  5. Campus Issue Profiles

 

Implementation of Student Development

What 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 Structure for training, courses, & meetings
  • Cornerstone Activities including First Year Trip, Second Year Exchange, Third Year (and beyond) Leadership Roles, and Senior Capstone & Presentation of Learning
  • Roles of Student Leaders in integration of the Serve 2.0 initiative (e.g., developing and using web-based tools for service)

 

This year's training and enrichment curriculum was structured in a new way.  During the fall semester, pairs of Lead Team members were put in charge of planning and facilitating bi-weekly, class-based meetings.  Community asset mapping, networking, international service, careers in social justice, and servant leadership were just a few of the topics covered during those meetings.  Time was also devoted to the planning of each class's respective cornerstone project.  The results were phenomenal. 

  • From May 10th to 14th, Stetson's first-year students found themselves in Sea Island, South Carolina participating in a Habitat for Humanity Project.  After training was complete, students devoted 3 full work days to insulation, dry wall, painting, and the building of a shed.  At several of the work sites, students were able to meet and visit with the respective home owners.  In order to facilitate personal growth and development, a significant amount of time on the trip was also spent in reflection. 
  • Sophomore students either travelled to Washington, DC for the IMPACT conference or participated in Summer Leadership Institute, hosted here at Stetson University.  
  • Junior-level students put their creative energies into making the Bonner Summer Leadership Institute the success that it was.  The 2009 SLI Resource Wiki is just one outcome of the countless hours put in by Stetson's Junior class.  
  • Seniors made creative presentations about their Bonner experience in Stetson's newly opened Rinker Environmental Learning Center.  As this was Stetson's first year to require a Senior presentation, the event was counted as an overwhelming success!  Underclassmen Bonners, faculty, and staff were invited to attend this historic event and to bring a potluck food item.  Senior presentations included, but were not limited to, videos, slideshows, and written reflections. 

 

In the spring, bi-weekly issue-based work teams were substituted for class-based meetings so as to prepare our program for Summer Leadership Institute.  Six different student-led groups focused on one of the following issues: homelessness, youth empowerment, community and economic development, environment, global issues, and education. 

 

In both the fall and spring, the other two Fridays each month feautured "Bonner All Calls."  All sixty scholars and leaders would meet together for discussion and reflection.  Nan Ellen Nelson, the daughter of Senator Bill Nelson, is just one of many speakers who presented at these All Calls.  Stetson University's Career Services, the Counseling Center, and the Cross Cultural Center were three other groups brought in to share. 

 

On occassion, All Calls were dedicated to Serve 2.0 training. Serve 2.0 is a movement that began permeating Stetson's campus at the close of last year's Summer Leadership Institute.  Almost immediately, Bonner student David Bermudez was selected to serve as our program's Serve 2.0 leader.  With the help of campus resources, he put together a Bonner informational video, improved Stetson's Bonner website, and introduced google forms to our program.  This spring's recruitment process, in particular, experienced many of the benefits of David's work. Although our program did not offer any other official Serve 2.0 leadership roles, many of our others students also chose to contribute to the movement.  Our best practices will be described in detail in the subsequent Serve 2.0 section.  

Implementation of Community Partnerships

Please share a summary of your work with community partners, highlighting your work regarding  (no more than one page text needed):

  •  Arrangement and management of community partnerships and placements (orientation, site visits, meetings, strategic planning)
  •  How partners were engaged as co-educators, including academic linkages, courses, and student advising
  • Partnerships managed through site-based or issue-oriented teams, as well as other issue-based organizing undertaken
  • Capacity building initiatives for community partners (such as workshops, policy research, or resource development)

 

The Center for Service Learning, as a whole, is responsibile for facilitating new partnerships as well as developing existing ones.  With the addition of two Americorp VISTA members to the office in May 2009, as well as work-study students, there is now a sizable team working toward this end.  One of the main projects worked on during the 2008-2009 school year was the creation of an online inventory of community partners.  As the project did not reach completion by the end of the school year, three student interns are continuing to make progress during the summer months.  Once this list is compiled, it will be easier to conduct orientation and site visits with community partners in a more organized way.  These meetings currently take place, but without a great deal of structure or consistency.        

 

With the extra motivation of hosting SLI 2009 on our campus, Stetson's Bonner program made a move during the spring semester to organizing around issue areas.  Six groups were established, focusing on one of the following topics: youth empowerment, community and economic development, environment, global issues, and education.  These six groups identified all community partners, knowlegeable faculty, and research related to their respective issue area.  The change proved very successful, and will continue in some capacity in the fall semester.  Already, we are imagining that Community Asset Mapping teams will be organized around issues rather than by geographic location.     

 

For the second year, student-led, site-based teams were also placed at the following projects:

  • C.A.U.S.E program (with the Spring Hill Boys and Girls Club)
  • English and computer literacy training program (with La Plaza Comunitaria),
  • Y.E.S.A (with La Plaza Comunitaria), and  
  • L.E.T.S (with the Coalition to End Homelessness) 

 

As the work done in each location is unique, there is no simple way of generalizing the structure of our site-based teams.  Some projects have only two or three Bonner students involved, while others have six or seven.  Even so, we are very happy with the success that each program is enjoying.  With the addition of a new Americorps VISTA member to the CAUSE program team, we are hopeful about the progress to be made specifically at that site in the next year! 

 

In terms of capacity building initiative, this year was spent mainly laying the groundwork.  One such preparation was in applying for a grant from Florida Campus Compact to fund capacity building institutes.  If we are to receive that funding, we will host a day-long workshop in August 2009 to teach community partners from across the state about the benefits of Serve 2.0.  With this project and others now underway, it is our hope that a good deal of progress will be available for the typing of next year's annual report. 

 

Campus-Wide Culture and Infrastructure 

Please 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):

  • Key activities for faculty engagement and academic connections.  In particular, note any connections to curricular offerings that are linked to the Bonner Program.
  • Key relationships and activities involving other departments or divisions on campus (for example for recruitment, student wellness or retention, financial aid, and so on).
  • Unique initiatives (such as events, assessment, or strategic planning) that have enhanced institutionalization of service and civic engagement on campus.

 

The Bonner Program on Stetson's campus has strong ties with those in academic life, campus life, and administration alike.  One example of the academic component of our program is in the requirement for first-year students to enroll in REL 190: Self and World.  The purpose of this course, in the words of Professor Greg Sapp, is "to help students understand the human condition and to make it better."  This goal is accomplished through the reading of books like Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Alex Kotlowitz's There are No Children Here, and Reinhold Niebuhr's Moral Man and Immoral Society.  Fifteen students successfully completed this course in the fall of 2009. Many upper-level Bonner students take courses sponsored by the Center for Community-Based Research in a variety of departments, including Sociology, Political Science, Spanish, Economics and Biology.  

 

Our connection with Stetson's Value Council has led to the establishment of a Community Engagement Council.  Students, faculty and staff who sit on this council collaborate on topics of service-learning and community engagement activities, leading, for example, to the creation of a Community Engagement Certificate program (on track to be implemented in the fall of 2009).  Much work has been done by this council in the past year to come up with realistic and meaningful requirements for the certificate. 

 

We have several other relationships with the departments on Stetson's campus. One such partnership is with the Admissions department to identify low-EFC students with strong backgrounds in service, in addition to a “service super-star” list of students from all socio-economic backgrounds. Another partnership is with Student Activities and the more than 100 student organizations with which their department works.  Together, we engage those organizations and Stetson's nine Greek chapters in volunteerism and service-learning activities.  Finally, we work closely with our Department of First-Year Studies to monitor first-year Bonners’ academic performance as they transition from high-school to college, in order to ensure that they succeed academically.

 

The results of these many partnerships are several initiatives that have enhanced the institutionalization of service and civic engagement on campus. Our Freshmen Service Day, for example, is a campus-wide service event that we co-host with the Department of First-Year Studies to engage new students, faculty and staff participate in service projects around the Deland community. Our Into-the-Streets (ITS) program also provides easily-accessible volunteer opportunities for all students, faculty, and administration, with participation in monthly ITS days between 75-150 students (on a campus of about 2,200 students).  A particularly successful new initiative this year was the "Daily Service Opportunity."  During the spring semester, between 10-15 students would travel into the community five days a week, led by Bonner scholars and leaders, to work with one of Stetson's many community partners. 

 

Serve 2.0 

Please 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):

  • Link to your campus-wide service center or Bonner Program wiki ,web-site, or Ning site. Please explain how it’s most used and by whom.
  • Your integration with other social media tools (such as the Bonner Network Forum/Ning, Twitter, YouTube, the Bonner Video Project, PolicyOptions Wiki, or others)

 

Stetson's Bonner Scholar and Leader Program has certainly embraced the Serve 2.0 initiative.  Immediately following SLI 2008, our campus established a Stetson Bonner wiki, used by students and staff, alike.  It is on this site that we plan holiday potluck celebrations, feature student profiles, and archive past Bonner Weeklies.  The Serve 2.0 movement has continued on our campus with the establishment of a Lead Team wiki.  This web-based tool is used primarily by student leaders to plan upcoming retreats, events, and training and enrichment. One such training and enrichment activity during our fall semester was a skype conversation with three students studying abroad in Guanajuato, Mexico.  The girls talked about their work at an area orphanage, giving our students in Deland a more global perspective on education.  Twitter, blogs, and delicious are three other social media tools being used by our program.  Because our students find themselves a little overwhelmed with the multitude of online resources, these three tools are taking a little longer to catch on.  The upcoming school year's new Serve 2.0 push is for increased use of these three tools, as well a Stetson Bonner Ning site.  We anticipate this being a better forum than our wiki for sharing photos, ideas, and videos.   

 

As mentioned earlier in the report, many of our students voluntarily contribute to the Serve 2.0 movement here on campus.  Bonner students Marylin Winkle, Benjamin Robles, Victoria Bell, and Lauren Torres all created new wikis for their respective community partners.  Juniors Angelyn Alicea and Anjum Somji managed our program's SLI planning wiki.  Students Maggie Sheridan and Tina Oguntola also took initiative to make the aforementioned 2009 SLI Resource wiki.  Google forms and Survey Monkey are other tools being put to work in our Center for Service Learning by student leaders.  Summer of Service interns, for example, are now working to create, for the first time, an organized community partner database with the help of these serve 2.0 tools.  Our flip cam is another tool of which they are making use.  Student leaders not only created a short film for the Bonner Video project, but are now working on a handful of educational videos covering topics like homelessness and the current conflict in Palestine.  While these projects are not yet finished, progress is being made.      

Campus Issue Profiles

Add links to your completed or draft campus issue profiles here:

 

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