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Bonner Program Start-Up 

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Some colleges and universities start their Bonner Programs fairly quickly, growing their numbers each year. A good example is the University of Houston, which draws from a large student body but has already grown to an incoming cohort of 45 students (and over 100 students total) in just a few years time. Other institutions start slowly, with 5 or 10 students and then grow. The average size of a Bonner Program is 40 students, including all Bonner Leader Programs. The largest Bonner Programs involve just over 100 students (Houston, University of Richmond, and Washburn). Having a dedicated staff member, a good place to house the program, and support of senior leadership can be very important. Regardless of the pace, below are some examples of ways that the Bonner Program has been launched in ways that enrich the institution's mission and work and build them to last.

Start-Up Process Shared in Anniversary Annual Reports

• University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
• Five Year Anniversary Report — This 26-page, five-year report celebrates the 2011-16 start-up years of the UNC-Chapel Hill Bonner Leader Program and celebrates the graduation of their founding class.  It was developed in part to help with fundraising and is available online via the Issuu platform (which allows you to publish a PDF document for free).

• College of Charleston 
• 10 Year Anniversary Book — This 48-page report covers the entire history of the Bonner Leader Program at CofC, and provides a thorough description of the program's features and profiles of students and community partners. 

Using the Bonner Program as a Pipeline for Local Youth

• Allegheny College: Some of the first Bonner Leader Programs understood that the program's mission and structure – with its focus on access and student success – also could be a great way to enhance the recruitment and opportunities of local children and youth to attend the institution and earn college degrees. For Allegheny College, this reason was part of the motivation to launch a Bonner Leader Program. Allegheny built a Bonner Leader Program then gradually added the capacity of a Bonner Scholar Program, first using institutional funding. Today, Allegheny's programs embrace an identity as part of a larger Allegheny Service Corps, helping to support the culture of service campus-wide. The center staff has increased in number, adding a VISTA program that builds the capacity of local community partners as well. In this way, for many institutions, the Bonner Program can help leverage and support the strengthening of campus infrastructure over time.

• Macalester College: Macalester launched its Bonner Leader Program over ten years ago. At that time, Macalester already had a well-established Center for Civic Engagement (launched in the 1990s) and a number of different campus-wide programs to engage students. These programs included a one-year program targeting first year students, a structure of issue-based student leaders serving as project coordinators for service, and some special programs, like one focused on faith and service. Macalester saw the opportunity, however, to offer a four-year program, something it did not have. Additionally, in looking harder at the mission of college access, they also realized they had the opportunity to leverage the program to target student populations, especially from the Twin Cities local area, that were not considering Macalester. This included a focus on students of color and immigrant students, bolstering the diversity of the institution as well. From the beginning, Bonner staff worked closely with Multicultural Life staff to develop a strong focus on student recruitment and success.

Building a Program and/or a Center 

• Sewanee - University of the South:  Sewanee started its Bonner Program just a few years ago. Its key staff included a long-time faculty member in Philosophy and an experienced staff member who collaborated to get the program off the ground. They joined the Bonner High-Impact Initiative at the same time, part of the first cohort in 2012. This allowed them to integrate academic links from the start. As part of these efforts, they began envisioning a 3-5 year plan for a future center. The campus had one long standing program for student volunteers, but it didn't have a broader infrastructure. Sewanee approached the process very strategically. In fact, they also began to develop key local and national partners for issue-oriented initiatives. Besides planning for a center, they also engaged in collaborative planning for a county-wide reading initiative, working in partnership with local Head Starts, schools, teachers, and even curriculum providers. The Bonner Program now engages 50 students, is working on capstones for students, and in 2016 has formally received approval and funding for a new Office of Civic Engagement.

• George Mason University: George Mason started developing its Bonner Leaders Program in 2019 with the school’s Director of Social Action and Integrative Learning (SAIL), an undergrad student, and one graduate student. Their inaugural cohort consisted of nine students in 2020 and has tripled in size two years later. As a program, Bonners assist their nine community partners with fundraising, STEM-based education, and civic engagement. After a successful couple of years, George Mason plans on developing a Bonner Leadership Team, connecting with other Bonner programs nearby, and providing more opportunities for service. Their strategy for increasing service is to provide Bonners with an Interview Market, so they can choose a community partner site based on their personal interests and organization’s needs.

• Capital University: Capital University started its Bonner Leaders Program in 2018 led by the Bonner Director and two senior interns. As a new program, Bonner did an outstanding job of publicizing their mission and purpose for creating a program at Capital. Another accomplishment that this program achieved in its early stages is requiring a Bonner capstone project for all seniors. Examples of these capstone projects can be found on the Capstone Examples - Capital University page where previously approved capstones related to program management, recruitment, and fundraising are listed. These Bonners present their capstone projects at an annual symposium each year. Capital continues to have strong, consistent partnerships with the community as they service areas of education, youth homelessness, and food insecurity. Even though Capital started off with a small leadership team, over the years they have slowly incorporated new student leadership roles such as junior interns, site coordinators, and recruitment team members. As led by their current Director and University Assistant Provost, Capital plans on bringing more campus awareness to the work Bonners are doing in their community and finding additional ways to support student leaders.
• Read This Article Announcing Formal Partnership between Capital University and the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation 
• Read This Article Detailing Community Partnerships and Inaugural Bonner Leaders Class