2009 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

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

Implementation of Student Development Campus-Wide Culture and Infrastructure  Serve 2.0  Campus Issue Profiles

 

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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)

 

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This past year we continued with the training and enrichment meetings on a twice a month basis. The focus of the meetings are on team development and leadership with in the context of the six common commitments of service. Regularly scheduled meetings are two hours long and are structured around specific curriculum modules, some from the Bonner Foundation Curriculum and some from other sources. We are typicaly looking to link the curriculum to the students service through relevant issues. For example it has been extremely important this year that the students understand the connection between the demand for social services, the rise in poverty and the economic crisis that has hit this country. Therefore we have devloped some curriculum that allows the students to explore the relationship between the "haves", "have nots", and the "have a little want mores"  and how the groups in our society are seperate and also lead us to the situation we find ourselve in economically. We have also looked at the relationship between lack of access to health care and the consumer population the students find themselves connected to.

 

Leadership roles for the LinC Scholars/Bonner Leaders do not happen in third and fourth years since we are a two-year Bonner Leader Program. We push our students into leadership roles in their second year. These roles have been developed in a number of areas. For example, the Bonner leaders at Battered Women’s Task Force coordinate the Concealed/Revealed Art Auction each year that raises money to renovate the emergency shelter house, and five Bonner Leaders each year function as site manager and team leaders for our LinC Literacy Program. In addition one Bonner Leader functions as the coordinator for each project. This year  the program expanded to include two pre-school teams, two elementary after school teams, one middle school team and one adult ed/GED team. Each of these teams has a Bonner Leader as the leader with Washburn students serving as the tutors for one-on-one literacy educators. In addition we added the Washburn All Green Team which is headed by  Bonner Leaders who oversee teams of Washburn students implementing environmental projects. With the expansion of the service teams both Kristine Hart and myself have spent more time in individual supervision than in the past. We have divided the teams between us and each hhave at least once a week supervisory sessions with the team leaders. This has not only given the teams more focus but has probably saved a great deal of time in resolving problems, since the studnets can devlop their ideas in more detail before they run into problems. 

 

This year the first year service trip  will focus on both team building and issues related to hunger and migrant farm work. We are in the process of developing a trip with a local group "the Gleaners" who collect un-harvested food crop and redistribute it to local food pantries. The concept is that the first year Bonners would participate in the activity and camp throughout the weekend. Evening reflection would focus on issues of poverty, hunger, food shortage and  the experience of migrant workers.

 

 

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)

 

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 During the 2008-2009 academic year, members of the BLP at Washburn University engaged in service (long-term and/or short-term) with approximately 65 different non-profit organizations. We have more community partners, but the sites that host Bonner Leaders in any given academic year vary slightly based on the interests of the membership and the current organizational needs. Of these current sites, six are considered to be committed partner sites. These committed partners are Big Brothers Big Sisters, Community Action Head Start, Let’s Help, Salvation Army Early Childhood Center, W. Clement Stone Nature Center, and YWCA Battered Women Task Force. We define committed partners as those organizations that have hosted a Bonner Leader at least three consecutive years (some of those listed are going into their seventh consecutive year with the program); have embraced the mission and vision of the Bonner program and proactively support the developmental model; provide outstanding mentorship to the Bonners at their site; and have engaged in an ongoing, collaborative, working relationship with the Washburn BLP. As a side note, four of these six sites currently employ Bonner Leader alumni, all of whom assist in the mentorship of the Bonners at their site which we believe speaks highly to their commitment to the developmental model and success of the placement process.  In addition to community organizations, several projects have been developed and coordinated by students under the umbrella of the Center for Community Service. These programs are developed, coordinated, and directed by Bonner Leaders under the mentorship of the Center staff. For example, the Literacy Education Action Project (LEAP) pairs college students with pre-school children from low-income households to work on literacy, with this partnership Bonner Leaders function as team leaders with oversite of ten to fifteen tutors who  engage in the actually one-on-one tutoring. The Bonner Team Leaders coordinate the lesson plans, schedule and activities with the classroom teachers or directors of the program. In addition to the pre-school program the  Bonner Leadershave expanded the literacy program to include an  elementary after school tutoring program with two local community agencies, a middle school program and and adult education/GED project. In each of these situations the Bonner Leader works directly with the site representative to coordiante the efforts including pre-service site specific orientation for the tutors, curriculum development based on needs iddentified with the site  representative. Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week involves a week of educational events and activities to raise awareness on campus about these issues; Alternative Winter/Spring Break coordinates groups of college students to go to a different community for one to two weeks of service; and Into the Streets engages the campus community in a day of service with the Topeka community. 

     Up until now, we have been using a developmental model with our community partners whereby we give them the basic information that they need to know about the BLP and AmeriCorps the first time they host a Bonner Leader (expectation and exploration) and then work with them to be able to provide a quality developmental experience for the members. This has had mixed results in how effective it has been.  Therefore, this summer we are holding an oientation  for all current and potential sites to provide information about the program and address questions and concerns the sites may have. We will be providing training in the developmental model of service to the site supervisors and helping them devlop a plan to implemnt this with in  the context of the service the Bonnerr Leaders provide at  their agency. 

 

 

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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.

 

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 Currently LinC is the oversight office for CBR activities on campus. This year we had a total of five (total CBR project over three years 15) new CBR projects incorporated into five different classes,five faculty new to CBR and 45 students who actively participated in the CBR projects embedded in their courses. This project required our office to be actively networking with our community partners and faculty.  LinC serves as a centralized hub for community service opportunities as well as a catalyst for new community service initiatives at the university. In this capacity it has been most effective for LinC to be the entity that encourages the development of community based research as a cross-disciplinary approach to incorporating service learning and community service into the curriculum of courses irrespective of major.  

     The existence of the Bonner Leader program at Washburn has had a major impact on the culture of the university. In the past four years the Student Government (WSGA) has included a major service event in the fall clearly inspired by the Bonner Leaders Spring “Into the Streets” event. This Fall the event is being co-sponsored by LinC, WSGA and Admissions as a component of Freshman orientation. This is the third year since  Washburn instituted a new academic requirement for all students seeking a Bachelor’s degree. The new requirement, the Washburn Transformational Experience, has students completing one of four experiences in order to graduate. These include leadership, study abroad, independent scholarly or creative work, and community service. The community service experience is coordinated through LinC and is designed as follows.

     Students who have engaged with faculty members and other students in significant, meaningful community service, and who have been guided to reflect on the power and purpose of these experiences, graduate from the University as citizens who are not resigned to accepting the community as it is but have a vision for how they can help make the community better.  Students participating in the community service transformational experience are required to complete 150 hours of service.  A mentor will guide each student through this WTE.  While engaged in direct service, students will meet with a mentor and other students at least four times per semester to reflect on their experiences.  These meetings will help students to develop a service focus complementing their interests and academic pursuits. Thus far wwe have had over 300 students participate inthe Community Service component of the Transformational experience. Due to the increase in  numbers there has been  a need to offer many more reflection groups, to this end four of our Bonne Leaders have taken on the responsibiltiy to facillitate reflection groups for these students. The staff of the Center trains the Bonner students in  reflection  and develops the activity. 

     As stated above, service has become recognized as an integral part of the academic experience at Washburn University.  In addition, the Bonner Leaders have been responsible for number of campus wide activities. These include the annual Into the Streets day of service held each Spring, the development of the annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, the annual International Slavery Awareness campaign, the continuation of our Literacy Education Action Project, the development of our Student to Student Secondary Education Literacy program, and our Winter and Spring Alternative Breaks.  Bonner Leaders also established Washburn Peace Works, a project dedicated to international service work. This effort has resulted in an ongoing partnership with the Achuapa Farmers Cooperative in Nicaragua. Beginning this past winter and continuing annually, Washburn students will travel to Nicaragua to complete a service project.  This past year thirteen students (10 Bonners) worked in a small community, El Cacoa, alongside the Camposinos digging trenches and laying water pipe to bring running water to homes of the families in the community.  These are the types of projects that will be part of the annual trip. 

            Each Spring LinC holds our Bonner Banquet which recognizes those Bonners completing their term of service while introducing the new class of Bonner Leaders to the University. The banquet is attended by all Bonner Leaders and their guests, our community partners, the President of the University, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, the five Deans, and the Directors of each of the other Transformational Experiences.  Each Bonner completing his/her term of service is recognized and awarded a medallion to be worn at graduation. This year there were 150 people in attendance.

     Upon graduation any student who has completed the requirements of the Bonner Leader Program is awarded the University honor of LinC Scholar/Bonner Leader. This is one of only three honors included on the student’s transcript, included in the graduation program, and announced from the stage as the student receives her/his diploma. The other two are Latin Honors and Departmental Honors.

      In addtition to the Bonner Leader AmriCorps program the Learning in the Community has been  awarded a VISTA grant that designates us as a VISTA Support site. This grant allows the  University to partner with community organizations to host a VISTA member in their efforts to elliviate poverty in  their communities. The grant awarded us 60 VISTA positions to place across the state of Kansas. The fact  that the Washburn University has supported Learning in  the Community bin  this effort speaks to the  change in the culture at this institution as it focuses on its role in  serving the geater community.

 

 

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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)

 

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Learning in the Community has curreently developed a wiki site for information sharing regarding the acitivities of the center activities. The area of the site that is most used is the reflection section withing the Community Service Transformational Experience page. These pages allow us to hold on-line reflection on service with those students pursuing a degree through the Washburn Distance Education system. Those students are held to identical requirements as on  campus student and  therefore must meet the Tranformational Experience requiremtn. To date the only Transformational Experience offering to  oversee a long distance requirement has been  Community  Service through LinC. The wiki has enabled us to re-create the reflection groups via the web. 

http://washburnserves.pbworks.com/ 

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Campus Issue Profiles

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

• Washburn University: Adult Education 
• Washburn University Health and Mental Health