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University of Richmond Big Idea 2012-2013

Page history last edited by Josh Blair 10 years, 6 months ago

 

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND

 


PROPOSAL

 

The Bonner Scholar Program at the University of Richmond is the largest in the nation, with 100 scholars total, 25 per class year. The four capstone events assist in the formation of connections between the individuals representing each class year, allowing us to come together around our shared interest of community and civic engagement.  Different initiatives enacted by our Student Leadership Team allow students to also interact across class lines, causing our internal Bonner network to have become quite strong.

 

We as an individual program have become more aware of and connected to one another, however, there remains a distinct disconnect between ourselves and other Bonner Scholar/Leader programs. For most students, it is not until Sophomore Exchange that they even begin thinking of other Bonner schools, and this event happens only once. Students who are elected to become a part of the Student Leadership Team have the chance for inter-university interactions at the Student Leadership Institute as well as Bonner Congress, but these students represent a small part of our larger Bonner population. Thus, our Big Idea proposal this year is focused on allowing every student in our Bonner Scholar program to interact with Bonners in schools around the country.

 

Our two part Big Idea involves first reaching out to other schools in order to create a Pen Pal Program, which we will use to form contacts interested in being a part of our Bonner Exchange. The Pen Pal program will involve getting in touch with the student leaders at other Bonner schools and finding students interested in communicating with our Bonners. Through these conversations, students here can learn about the civic engagement of other Bonners as well as their personal achievements. The Bonner Exchange, combining elements from the first year trip as well as Sophomore Exchange, will then take these relationships to the next level. Open to all Bonners in our program, the exchange will involve us travelling to another school in our region and spending 5-7 days learning more in-depth about their Bonner program while also serving at their sites. This trip will happen during our Spring Break, which often occurs a week before most other universities, and the entire project will involve being in close communication with the Bonners in the school that we are visiting, building that relationship the entire time. Through these combined efforts we hope to build a stronger national community of Bonners.

 

In order to achieve our Big Idea, we, the Bonner Congress representatives, will need the assistance of several parties. Our BSP staff, Bryan, Blake, and Debbie, will assist us with logistical and planning tasks.  They will also serve as points of contact for Bonner directors at other schools. Because our plan involves becoming more connected with other Bonner schools in the state, it will be essential to develop a network among these schools. We will need assistance from the staff at other schools to coordinate activities that allow Bonner scholars from different schools to come together and make connections. Because our Big Idea plans may involve travel, we will need the assistance of the University of Richmond office of transportation. If connecting with other Bonner schools leads to work with that school’s community partners, we will need the support and cooperation of the community partners as well. Perhaps most importantly, our ideas will need the participation and enthusiasm of the Bonner scholars in our program. Because these activities will be for students, Bonner Scholars must be willing to participate. One of our tasks must be to encourage fellow Bonner Scholars to participate and help them realize the importance of creating a network among Bonner schools. Lastly, we will need funding for the initiatives we plan to take. We can obtain this through a strong proposal to the Bonner Foundation. If the Bonner Foundation believes our idea is worth supporting, we will be able to receive funding from them.

By the end of the year, we hope to have several goals accomplished. Our Big Idea involves event planning, so one of our goals is to expand Sophomore Exchange to include Scholars from other classes. For example, we could make Sophomore Exchange longer by adding an additional day that is open to other classes. Another goal is to increase the awareness among the University of Richmond Bonner scholars of the challenges and successes that other schools face, as well as what we as a Bonner scholar community can learn from other programs. While intangible, this is the ultimate goal of our Big Idea. Third, we would like to see increased interest among our fellow students about the Bonner programs at other schools. We also hope to increase both student-to-student and staff-to-staff communication between programs. This will develop a better Bonner network, giving Bonner scholars more opportunities for service in different areas as well as a support system to combat social issues that the participating schools share.

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