Berry Annual Report – Programmatic Section

Please complete this template below to share programmatic highlights.  The entire report can be three pages or less.  Please share information and highlights, in a letter-like or reporting format, that addresses the following three categories and provides a synopsis of your Bonner Program this year.

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

Trainings, courses, meetings

During the past academic year, first year students met weekly throughout the fall semester and bimonthly throughout the spring semester. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors met bimonthly throughout the academic year. Each class training addressed specific developmental intentions chosen by the members of that class. Additionally, the number of required reflections increased from four per student per semester to six per student per semester: one reflection per common commitment each semester. These reflections included Bonner-led dinner discussions, movie analyses, interactive workshops, campus-sponsored cultural events, artistic or creative reflection, meetings with the Director, etc. All Bonner Scholars continued to meet together once a month throughout the academic year. The increased frequency of class meetings coupled with the student-driven training selection has led to a closer sense of community and greater understanding of program goals among students as well as better communication between Bonner Scholars and BSP staff.

First Year Trip

This year’s first year trip to Americus, Georgia gave students and staff the opportunity to think about “community” from many different perspectives. They discussed ideas of radical sharing and social justice with members of Koinonia Partners. At the Habitat for Humanity Global Village and Discovery Center, students and staff learned about working together as a community to eliminate world-wide poverty housing. Students and staff also had the opportunity to build physical community as they constructed and renovated homes with Habitat. Continuing the theme of “community”, students and staff visited Andersonville and the National POW Museum to reflect on the importance of having strong leadership in maintaining community during times of crisis. Finally, students and staff visited the Columbus Museum to tour the exhibit “What Makes It American? A Selection from the Collection,” after which they strategized ways to create and maintain community regardless of cultural diversity.

Second Year Exchange

During the first weekend in December, Berry hosted Berea College to paint murals at the Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital, a state-run mental health facility in Rome, Georgia. Berry also hosted Spelman and Morehouse Colleges for our first “Leap Into Servant Leadership” conference held in February. The Bonner Scholars Program is committed to the increased intentionality of the second-year exchange program.

Third Year (and beyond) Leadership Roles

The BSP staff hosted the first Bonner Leadership Team (BLT) retreat in August 2007. During this meeting, the BLT reorganized itself into three committees: service, accountability, and care. Throughout the academic year, the service committee organized local weekend service projects as well as an alternative fall and spring break trip. Members of the accountability committee served as liaisons between Bonner Scholars and BSP staff, reminding peers of program rules, requirements, and deadlines. The care committee concentrated on ensuring the emotional wellbeing of all Bonner Scholars. In addition to committee responsibilities, the BLT plans, organizes, and facilitates all Bonner-led reflections.

This year, all Bonner Scholars participated in intentional leadership development training. As a part of the training, each student completed a leadership profile. The freshmen completed the Strong Interest Inventory. The sophomores completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The juniors and seniors completed the DiSC Profile. The BSP sent four students to the Engaging Our World Conference held at Wofford College. They also sent five students to the IMPACT Conference at Northeastern University.

Senior Capstone and Presentation of Learning

The 2007-2008 academic year saw the first All-Bonner retreat. The retreat culminated in a celebratory dinner at which all senior Bonners presented their capstones.

Campus-wide Culture and Infrastructure

To date, the Bonner Center for Community Service (not the Bonner Scholars Program directly) has been responsible for building relationships with faculty and making official academic/community engagement connections. During the 2007-2008 academic term, the Bonner Center for Community Service convened faculty from a variety of disciplines along with the directors of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Interdisciplinary Studies to begin conversations about how the integration of academics and community engagement could be encouraged, developed, and celebrated at Berry.  From lunch discussions, three ideas emerged for use of Bonner Enrichment Fund grant monies.  First, faculty representatives thought that hosting a symposium that highlighted community-based teaching may be an avenue to introducing the pedagogy to their colleagues.  Second, with the knowledge that students are seeking non-profit internships to support their classroom learning, the group introduced a plan to link community organizations with students and faculty in developing academic internships in Rome and Floyd County, Georgia.  Finally, the group expressed the helpfulness of having a monetary pool for faculty from which to draw funds (up to $500) to support community-based projects that are linked with a particular academic course.  The director of the Bonner Center prepared the grant proposal for submission by the college’s president.  Continued conversations are expected in the next year as plans to integrate academics and community engagement move forward.

The Bonner Center also supported individual faculty members in classroom connections with the local community.  Specifically, the Center awarded $500 to Dr. Michelle Haney for her special topics seminar PSY 435A Autism Spectrum Disorder to enhance the partnership between Berry students and autistic children in a local elementary school.  Berry students used the funds to identify and purchase manipulatives for the local school that would aid the autistic children with whom they had interacted.  Additionally, the Bonner Center director met with several faculty members to discuss the opportunities of connecting specific curricula to community-based projects.  As a result, some courses had a new integrated community experience in the requirements.

Also of note, the Bonner Center co-sponsored the Developmental Disabilities & Music workshop and performance by The Miracles, a group of musically gifted adults from The Baddour Center in Senatobia, Mississippi.  The Baddour Center is a residential community full of spirit, opportunity and empowerment for adults with intellectual disabilities.  These events prompted local community members in conjunction with Rome-Floyd Parks & Recreation Authority to organize a show choir for children with disabilities.

The following are goals for the 2008-2009 academic term: (1) attain funding to support development of a faculty symposium on community-based learning, non-profit academic internships, and a funding pool for community-based classroom activities. (2) continue to involve faculty in examining community-based learning as a viable teaching tool for their specific disciplines. (3) To develop guides with procedures for incorporating service into curriculum. (4) To procure funding to support mini-grants for faculty committed to course development that emphasizes student involvement in service-learning.

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):

The Bonner Center staff is in the process of updating the Community Partners’ Handbook.  This resource includes information regarding both the theoretical approach and logistical issues related to incorporating student volunteers into local non-profit work.  The handbook will serve as a tool to engage community leaders as co-educators of Berry students.  The handbook will be distributed at a Community Partners’ Luncheon scheduled July 17, 2008. 

In hopes of deepening service experiences for students, community partners will be challenged to think about what level of partnership – extracurricular, co-curricular, or curricular – their organizations can support.  The Center’s staff will work with individual non-profits to evaluate organizational assets and needs to determine how the organization can best utilize students and how the town-gown relationships can be mutually-beneficial. The Community Partners’ Luncheon will serve as a catalyst to begin dialogue about how organizations can more intentionally partner with Berry to impact Rome-Floyd County, Georgia.

The implementation of site-based teams and issue-based reflections is a goal for the 2008-2009 academic year.

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):

To date, the Bonner Center for Community Service (not the Bonner Scholars Program directly) has been responsible for building relationships with faculty and making official academic/community engagement connections. During the 2007-2008 academic term, the Bonner Center for Community Service convened faculty from a variety of disciplines along with the directors of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Interdisciplinary Studies to begin conversations about how the integration of academics and community engagement could be encouraged, developed, and celebrated at Berry.  From lunch discussions, three ideas emerged for use of Bonner Enrichment Fund grant monies.  First, faculty representatives thought that hosting a symposium that highlighted community-based teaching may be an avenue to introducing the pedagogy to their colleagues.  Second, with the knowledge that students are seeking non-profit internships to support their classroom learning, the group introduced a plan to link community organizations with students and faculty in developing academic internships in Rome and Floyd County, Georgia.  Finally, the group expressed the helpfulness of having a monetary pool for faculty from which to draw funds (up to $500) to support community-based projects that are linked with a particular academic course.  The director of the Bonner Center prepared the grant proposal for submission by the college’s president.  Continued conversations are expected in the next year as plans to integrate academics and community engagement move forward.

The Bonner Center also supported individual faculty members in classroom connections with the local community.  Specifically, the Center awarded $500 to Dr. Michelle Haney for her special topics seminar PSY 435A Autism Spectrum Disorder to enhance the partnership between Berry students and autistic children in a local elementary school.  Berry students used the funds to identify and purchase manipulatives for the local school that would aid the autistic children with whom they had interacted.  Additionally, the Bonner Center director met with several faculty members to discuss the opportunities of connecting specific curricula to community-based projects.  As a result, some courses had a new integrated community experience in the requirements.

Also of note, the Bonner Center co-sponsored the Developmental Disabilities & Music workshop and performance by The Miracles, a group of musically gifted adults from The Baddour Center in Senatobia, Mississippi.  The Baddour Center is a residential community full of spirit, opportunity and empowerment for adults with intellectual disabilities.  These events prompted local community members in conjunction with Rome-Floyd Parks & Recreation Authority to organize a show choir for children with disabilities.

The following are goals for the 2008-2009 academic term: (1) attain funding to support development of a faculty symposium on community-based learning, non-profit academic internships, and a funding pool for community-based classroom activities. (2) continue to involve faculty in examining community-based learning as a viable teaching tool for their specific disciplines. (3) To develop guides with procedures for incorporating service into curriculum. (4) To procure funding to support mini-grants for faculty committed to course development that emphasizes student involvement in service-learning.