BEREA COLLEGE

Congress Reps for 2011-2012

• Erica Scott
• Ivan Titaley

What's Your Big Idea Category? (please bold which one)

- Student Leadership & Development

- Community Partnerships & Impact

- Campus Culture & Coordination

- Policy & Change Campaigns 

VISION

In 400 words or less, please describe your Big Idea. What is it and why have you decided to work on it this year? How may it strengthen your program, campus, and/or community?

At Berea College, there are about sixty Bonner Scholar Students that are active in different organizations and work a variety of jobs. Most of the time, after the first year, Bonner Scholars will not be working with their fellow Bonner Scholars from the same year. The opportunity usually comes during the Sophomore Exchange or Junior Recommitment. Because of that, most of us do not see each other throughout the year. This condition often creates a gap of connections between the Bonner Scholar students in the same class as well as in the different class. However, in order to revive the relationship between classes, those individuals elected to represent their class—SAC representatives—will be encouraged to formulate various initiatives that will deflect possibilities of disarray.

Therefore, the Bonner Congress Representatives of Berea College propose two ‘Big Idea’ proposals to strengthen the Bonner Scholar student body at Berea College, in relation to the connection between the students of different classes. The Student Advisory Committee (SAC) was formed to more directly acknowledge and address the ideas and issues of each Bonner Class—consisting of two representatives from each class, the Bonner Senior Intern, and the Bonner Congress Representatives. For that reason, the current issue that seeks to be addressed is the relevance of the SAC, their responsibilities and obligations, and their lax activity or inactivity.

Thus said, it is vital to maintain an active SAC on the campus of each Bonner Scholars Program participating school. Specifically, in order to revitalize the Berea College Bonner Scholars SAC, we believe that allotting more specific responsibilities and obligations to the roles of the SAC will result in a more active and thriving program—with the ideas of a Movie Night and a Speed Dating Session. In elaboration, the Movie Nights and Speed Dating Session will be a SAC planned and hosted event, designed to educate students of Social Justice Issues and Summer of Service information and opportunities. The Movie Nights will take place once a month for the duration of about two hours and the Speed Dating Session will be hosted in the month of January of each year to help educate not only Freshmen, but other Bonner Scholars as well seeking information or advice about completing a summer of service.

The main purposes of this project are: to keep the connection between the students in the same class and to build up better connections between students from different classes. The project will mainly be emphasized in connecting the first-year Bonner students with the upper-class students.

STRATEGY

In 400 words or less, please describe your strategy. The following questions should draw out the tools, resources, and support you are using to promote and achieve your Big Idea. You'll have a chance to flesh out your plan, but here is a chance to get the basics down:

The SAC reps from each class, who are meeting every other week, will plan the activities such that it can accommodate the interaction between the students. Often times, the meeting will occur at CELTS (the office of student-led service organization) because of the resources that the department provides. Nevertheless, it is always possible to hold the activities outside the center or even off campus.

The revival of the “Short Term Movie” will definitely utilize a range of resources. Each SAC rep will be responsible to pick a movie that addresses a particular issue. In addition to that, he or she will also lead a discussion after the movie screening. This provides an opportunity to invite faculty member and/or community partners who are familiar with the issue. It is also possible to make the movie screening event be available for students who are not Bonner Scholars, therefore inclusive of many individuals with different perspectives and opinions. Overall, the movie screening will not only give an opportunity for entertainment, rather, it will be a source to generate discussion and understanding of a particular issue.

Meanwhile, the “Summer of Service Speed Dating” event is a concept that is going to include all Bonner Scholars. Students who have done their Summer of Service will be able to share their experiences, and resources, to those who have not done it. Because of the “speed dating” aspect of the event, the information exchange can be accomplished in a short time. While the event might not require plenty of resources, other than the willingness to share, this concept will be a great resources for students who have a problem to find a place for their Summer of Service site.

Although the Big Idea Proposal concerns the revitalization of SAC, the ideas generated in this proposal will benefit all students who participate in the events. Along the way, there are opportunities available as well for the inclusion of other non-Bonner students, community partners and/or members, and faculty members in the implementation of these ideas. This year’s BIG Idea is going to strengthen the community of Berea College’s Bonner Scholars even more, and it will do so through student development and leadership.

TIMELINE

Please draft some of your benchmark goals into the framework below:

• Bonner Congress October 7-9, 2011: Receive feedback from other congress reps
• MLK Day January 16, 2012: Implementation of "Summer of Service Speed Dating"
• IMPACT Conference late March 2012: Completion of all events
• SLI June 4-7, 2012: Students able to find Summer of Service placements 
  

RESULTS 

A good Big Idea proposal is one that connects with broader goals you may have for your program, campus, or community. Please answer the questions below, which should help you think through those larger themes.

• What will be different in 2014 as a result of your Big Idea (thinking in a 3-year strategic plan)? A stronger community of Bonner Scholars at Berea College

• How might your plan affect some of the issues and ideas seen in the Think 2040 video? The concept that is brought here can be applied to general student or in a community. It will hold an opportunity for us to discuss social justice issues and, in the long run, also generate ideas on how to deal with the issues.

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