1. The roles of directors,
Staffing Your Program coordinators, students,
and others
2. What We’ll Cover
• Staffing Standards
• Student Roles
• Considerations for where to house
• Sample Organizational Structures
• Opportunities for collaborating across campus
3. Staffing Standards
• 40 students: to 1 staff
• During BLP start up: clarify
roles of staff and appoint
director
• Bonner Director reports to
Senior Administrator
• Creatively leverage available
staffing (e.g., work study,
VISTAs placed with
partners)
5. Student Roles
• Senior Intern(s)—training, site
liaison, administration
• Congress Representatives—two
student leaders with a big
idea project
• Bonner Leadership Team &
committees—class
meetings, projects,
community fund
• Bonner student liaison with
campus-wide student
leadership structure
6. Bonner Interns
• 1 - 4 motivated students, mostly rising Seniors or Juniors, who
serve in key program management roles
Who? • Primary placement for 10 hours/week is with Bonner Program
• Have demonstrated and developed leadership qualities throughout
program (or on campus for new programs)
• Identify students who have strong understanding of
Bonner Program and/or how service is organized on your campus
How to pick? • Groom students in junior year (or before)
• some Senior Interns start in the summer before their year
• Coordinate the Bonner Leadership Team (students)
• Organize and help lead meetings, training, & enrichment activities
What they do? • Help manage service sites, serving as a liaison
• Help manage BWBRS
• Senior Interns have track at Summer Leadership Institute
When and& Where? • Many also were Congress Reps or attend Congress
7. Bonner Interns
Training & Support
• Every summer and through
online connections
• intensive training
• program management
• how to lead your peers
• how to design and lead
workshops
• download and use the
Senior Intern Handbook
8. Bonner Congress
• Two motivated students who show leadership potential and a
desire to improve your program, school, and community
Who? • Willing to communicate with peers, the Foundation, and other schools
• Will make a commitment above and beyond their regular service hours
• Educate yourself and prospective students on the role
• Work with students to identify idea for their Congress Proposal
How to pick? • Create a process that includes student voice (voting,
presentations, nomination committee) and administrator input
• Design & implement a plan for a big idea to build or strengthen
their Bonner Program, campus, or community
What they do? • Collaborate with other Reps and learn from other campus
programs
• Attend two meetings annually
• Online (emails, Bonner Congress Group, Wiki)
When and Where? • Fall Meeting and track at Summer Leadership Institute
9. Bonner Congress - Big Idea Project
• Their role is to
Represent, Build, Lead
• They identify a
project for
strengthening:
• community impact
• student development
• campus-wide culture
• Start-up can be the
Big Idea project
10. Bonner Congress
Meetings
• Every fall and summer
• inspiring learning
• national networking
• connect with national and
international partners
• attend workshops
• engage in visioning, planning
and sharing best practices
11. Other Student Leadership Roles
• Manage a team of students who work at same
Site or Issue service site or with a similar issue (i.e. homelessness)
• Issue-based research
Team Leader • Help set goals and create long-range plans
• Recruit volunteers and coordinate projects
• Represent class on the Bonner Leadership Team
• Familiarity with the student development model
Class Reps • Assist with cohort/class meetings (training,
reflection)
• Examples include:
★ Bonner Love (community building)
Committees ★ Community Fund
★ Campus-wide Initiatives
12. When looking where
to house consider
• Access to resources
• Visibility and location
• Access to students
• Access and status with
faculty
• Institutional respect
• The potential for building
a culture of service
13. Some Governance Considerations
Strengths Concerns Other
Fit with broader departmental Fails to become integrated at the
Many campuses have started from
Student Affairs mission; student-led programs; institution’s core; lack of curricular
this vantage point
larger scale change; co-curricular devaluation
May build around the capacities of
Service can be episodic if only tied Having program under Academic
faculty & students and, with care,
Academic Affairs meet more complex community
to courses; lack of student voice Affairs does not guarantee
and leadership; staff driven curricular change
desires
Student & Academic
Campus can provide a broader
Affairs range of student & faculty
Lack of coordination can lead to This strategy may be equally
frustration; students often left to effective; it largely depends on the
involvement and types of civic
(separate but engagement
navigate options on their own leadership & resources
coordinated)
Integrated Center
Leverages resources from & Coordination and decision-making
Many established campuses seem
(‘hub’ where curricular & change within curricular and co- may involve more time & people;
to be moving here, but it requires
curricular; high potential for can end up with building but no
co-curricular are campus-wide institutionalization vision or plan
real negotiations around power
combined)
15. Sample of an Organizational Structure
Center Director
(manages Center & oversees Bonner Program)
Bonner Coordinator Other Center Staff
(manages Bonner Program) (manage other programs)
VISTAs
(training, enrichment, community partnerships)
Senior Intern(s) Site/Project Coordinators
(training, enrichment, community partnerships) (campus-wide volunteer management)
Bonner Student Leadership Team Bonner Congress Reps
(class reps, committees, community fund) (Foundation link, student voice, special projects)
16. Start-Up Model: Grow Over Time
- Bonner Program director may wear multiple hats
- Begin with 5-10 students (usually freshmen with some upper
class student leaders)
- Progressively add more students each year (by class)
- Link with campus-wide service programs from outset (for
events, projects)
Bonner Program Director Other Campus Faculty/Staff
(manages Bonner Program) (engaged in community service learning)
Bonner Leaders Student Service Programs
(5-10 students — 2 serve as Congress Reps) (campus-wide volunteer management)
17. Established Program:
Continues to Build Staff
Center Director
(manages Center & oversees Bonner Program)
Bonner Program Director Other Campus Faculty/Staff
(overall management) (engaged in community service learning)
VISTAs in management roles Service Learning/CBR Staff
(training, enrichment, community partnerships) (supporting academically-based service)
Site/Project Leaders Community Work-Study Programs
(for teams of students at 6-15 sites or clusters) (i.e., America Reads, 1-2 year commitments by student)
Bonner Scholars & Leaders Other Student Service Projects/Clubs
(20-100 students — 2 serve as Congress Reps) (1x or occasional service projects)
18. Sample Campus: Rider University
President
Dean of Students
(Dr. Anthony Campbell)
Administrative Director of Campus Life
Assistant (Dave Keenan)
(Vickie Mclaughlin)
Assistant Director of Campus Life
(Annie Pasqua)
Coordinator of Community House /
Bonner Senior Intern Urban Education Coordinator / FT
House Director
AmeriCorps Member
(Jane Sanchez)
Bonner Leadership Team
(2 Freshmen, 2 Sophomores, 2 Juniors, 2 Seniors)
Site-Based Team Site-Based Team Site-Based Team Site-Based Team Site-Based Team
Site-Based Team Site-Based Team Site-Based Team Site-Based Team
19. Opportunities to Collaborate
Academic
Student Life/Affairs Admissions
Shared training; calendar; student Departments
recruitment, selection, diversity CBR, PolicyOptions.org, courses,
groups
minor, High-Impact Initiative
Leverage the Bonner
Career Services Chaplain/Religious
career advising, fairs, trainings,
Program to build Life
nonprofit career exploration,
internships
campus-wide vocation; advising; enrichment
workshops
culture
Multicultural International Public Relations/IT
Affairs Affairs Department
diversity, training, recruitment,
study abroad, trips, internships media, news, website
community relations
21. Key Factors for Institutional Support
• Access to and stated support of senior
leadership
• Financial support (i.e., work study, stipends)
for students to engage in service
• Visibility in online and written communications
(from recruiting to alumni news)
• Faculty engagement and curricular links
• Lived mission, strategic plans, and budget
that reflects community engagement priorities
22. Recommendations for Building Support
• Strategically build your team—starting with
students
• Creatively consider new programs—from more
Federal Work Study placements to partnering
with national organizations
• Integrate, integrate, integrate
• Communicate frequently, positively, and
strategically with those above you—manage
up
• Build a core constituency on and off campus
