The Bonner Foundation's longitudinal study of the impact of the Bonner Scholars Program on the students as reported by the students.

Results

The results of the various surveys are found below. The following papers and power point presentation represent the findings of Cheryl Keen, Senior Research Fellow for the Bonner Foundation, and Kelly Hall, Director of Planning, Research, and Grants, Clark State Community College after reviewing these Bonner Surveys.

Most recently, Keen and Hall wrote this article, Access to Education through the Bonner Scholars Program: Post-Graduation Service and Civic Outcomes for High Financial Need Students of a Co-Curricular Service-Learning College Program in the United States.  This summarizes the findings of a longitudinal study of Bonner Programs.  

Articles & Presentations

• This article, Engaging with Difference Matters: Longitudinal Student Outcomes of Co-Curricular Service-Learning Programs, represents a longitudinal study of service and civic outcomes of four-year Bonner participation.  Keen & Hall JHE Jan.-Feb.09.pdf  
• Longitudinal study of "dialogue with difference matters" in Bonner program:  jcc keen and hall final nov 10 08.pdf  
• "Sustaining Life-long Commitment to Service and Deepening Civic Engagement," Fall 2005 Presentation. 

• Engagement multiplied: The impact of college-level dialogue and reflection experiences on civic mindedness as professionals.  At the November 2011 International Association on Service Learning and Civic Engagement Conference (IARSLCE),Cheryl Keen (Walden University), Julie Hatcher (IUPUI), Dan Richard (University of North Florida), and graduate students Heather Pease shared their findings.  (We don't have access to this link now).

• Related:
• Volunteering in America (cns.gov) 

Background

In 1997, we began work that was aimed at yielding a comprehensive portrait of the impact of the Bonner Scholars Program on its student participants. Our initial work focused on revising, implementing, and interpreting an omnibus Student Impact Survey (SIS) which had been in previous use by the Foundation. Our findings from the 1997-1998 administration of that survey are contained in our December, l998 report to the Foundation, “Evaluation of Responses by 929 Bonner Scholars to the Bonner Scholar Student Impact Survey and Related Interviews and Focus Groups.”

While data generated by the SIS provided valuable insights into the Bonner Scholar Program (BSP) and useful comparisons with other larger scale studies, the omnibus nature of the SIS meant that we were asking the same questions of first- through fourth-year students. This produced a mismatch between freshman respondents and questions best answered by seniors and vice versa. Moreover, we were concerned that repeating the same omnibus survey year after year would produce significant survey fatigue which could compromise our abilities to get full participation and high quality data.

Hence in 1998 we embarked on the process of designing and implementing the yearly administration and analysis of four more finely targeted surveys.

Incoming Student Survey

This survey seeks to clarify the profiles of incoming students on each campus, attending to demographic questions, past service experience, areas in which the BSP aims to engender growth, and the outlook and expectations students bring with them into the BSP. It provides a useful point of reference for measuring the growth of Bonner Scholars over the course of their years in the BSP.

Midpoint Impact Survey

The MIS gauges impact of the first two years of Bonner participation, including the summer of service experience, while yielding a view of the program from those who are in the midst of their Bonner involvement.

Graduating Student Impact Survey

Gathers data on the full four-year impact of the program. This survey focuses both on impact and introduces questions regarding outlook and plans beyond college.

Bonner Alumni Survey

The Bonner Alumni Survey evolved from a series of focus groups with alumni aimed at generating a set of survey questions grounded in alumni experience. The survey is available on this website.

Reports

Reports by When Surveyed

• Omnibus Impact Survey
• Omnibus Impact Survey Report on the Class of 1998
• Freshman Impact Survey
• Freshman Impact Survey Report on the Class of 2003
• Freshman Impact Survey Report on the Class of 2004
• Midway Impact Survey
• Midway Impact Survey Report on the Class of 2002
• midpoint 08-09 report final 10.09.doc  - Class of 2011 
• Senior Impact Survey
• Senior Impact Survey Report on the Class of 1999
• Senior Impact Survey Report on the Class of 2000 
• BSP 2003 Graduating Senior report.doc  
• Alumni Survey 
• In 2010,  3304 Bonner alumni from 1990-2009 were surveyed to understand more about the influence of their Bonner experiences on their civic engagement and a whole host of questions. Drs. Julie Hatcher and Cheryl Keen designed the survey. We received responses from 1066 alumni, or 32%.  Professor Dan Richard of North Florida University and his graduate research methods class has been analyzing the results and have arrived at some firm conclusions.
• In the summer of 2010 a preliminary report and fuller report was made based on an alumni survey of the classes from 1990-2010.  Write cheryl.keen@waldenu.edu for a copy.