BONNER STAFF: FOR YOU

 

Draft:  Bonner Staff Developmental Model

Check it out.  This work was done at the Fall Directors Meeting (November 7-10, 2010).

With a framework drafted, we'll be figuring out ways to support it and make some of the requests (by each group and by individuals) happen.

 

Coming Soon!

There will also be resources to bring to life this plan...

 

Brainstorming of Resources and To Do’s

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• Launch a professional development committee for the network.  

(Effectively this group could be that, although we need to recruit a few more members).  The roles for this committee would include helping identify and develop professional development workshops and opportunities for each Bonner gathering.  (One line of workshops for staff would pertain to the ongoing discussion by colleagues of each level and workshops of the “I wish I knew” variety).  This committee’s members would also help with the various resource development roles below.  

  

• (Short-term) Developing reading lists and bibliographies (to circulate through Bonner Network)

Staff are interested in creating useful reading lists, which could be posted to the Bonner Network Wiki and shared in listservs (such as the weekly).  This corresponds with staff members’ interests in becoming and staying literate and savvy in the various themes and sub-topics of our work.  (Interestingly, an active practice in reading was a knowledge / skill area identified by the 15+ years experience group). The analogy of a directory of social theories which features Pedagogy of the Oppressed as a key reading was shared.  Topics requested include:

• Civic Engagement
• Service Learning
• Experiential Education
• Student Development
• Higher Education Theory & Practice

 

• (Short-term) After drafting the staff developmental model (skills, knowledge, habits), we could also find and catalog the typical associations, conferences, and partners that offer professional development opportunities.  Some to track down more include:

 

• AAC&U
• AAHE
• ACPA (example: Mid-level Management Institute)
• Campus Compact
• Community Foundations
• Idealist.org
• NASPA
• A Speakers Bureau for the Bonner Network

  

• (Middle-term) Identify strategies and tools for building a culture of learning and professional development into our own programs and centers

Staff are interested in finding resources (philosophies, activities, etc.) for this practice.  

• Part of this should be models and frameworks for helping staff make the case for the importance of this work at each institution.  
• Related to this would be tools (such as data, surveys, and inventories) that would equip program staff to find and advocate for access to professional development opportunities in their own institutional and local environments.  
• Also here would be tools and processes for having staff network with their own career centers and alumni programs 

 

• (Middle-term) Identify typical pathways through the Bonner Program network and higher education

This would build on the staff developmental model framework (we are creating), but would give staff more information about how to navigate their roles and choices of additional training and education.  For example, this might include a listing of relevant graduate programs.  Staff want to identify resources and strategies within (and possibly connected to) the Bonner Network.  This could also take the form of case studies and profiles of typical career paths (see Idealist.org’s career center profiles for the non-profit sector more broadly as a model).

 

• (By year end?) Resurrect/recreate a Train-the-Trainers model program within the Bonner Network

Staff are interested in creating training tracks for the meetings (especially summer) that could leverage capable trainers on a number of topics.  The professional development committee would work with Bonner Foundation staff (especially Ariane) to shape these tracks.