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Bonner Leader Program Rules

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Section II: Program

2.1 Community Service Requirement

• For the purposes of the Bonner Leader Program, “community service” is defined as service provided to individuals or communities to meet social, educational, or environmental needs. This service may be provided directly or indirectly through a student-initiated project or a project sponsored by a non-profit or government agency.
• The following activities will not count towards meeting a Bonner Leader's service requirement either during the school year or in the summer: 
• service on behalf of a private, for-profit company or organization;
• service on behalf of a political organization or campaign (voter registration drives are allowed);
• pure, scientific research in a laboratory;
• ROTC or any other military service;
• activity whose primary focus is to support worship, evangelical and proselytizing activities within church or para-church organizations. These activities include, but are not limited to, service that focuses on religious instruction, indoctrination or conversion. Examples include providing childcare at church in support of a worship service, teaching in evangelical and proselytizing programs, participating in a worship service, and clerical and/or administrative work for the organization. Please note that service with a religious or para-religious organization for the purpose of providing direct community service (e.g., tutoring, mentoring, providing goods to those in need, community justice programs, and crisis intervention) does qualify for Bonner service hours. 

2.1.1 School-Year Service

• Bonner Leaders are required to perform an average of 8-10 hours of community service a week during the academic year for between 225 to 280 hours per year to fulfill the school-year service requirement.
• Bonner Leaders are not permitted to “bank” hours during certain terms of service (one month or more) that will then be applied to meet the service expectation in future terms.
• No less than half of a Bonner Leader's service hours should be spent in “direct, hands- on” community service activities such as tutoring, visiting the elderly, environmental clean-up, building a home, renovating a playground.
• No more than half of a Bonner Leader's service hours should be spent in “indirect” community service activities such as administrative tasks related to the Bonner Scholars Program or action research on behalf of a community group.

2.1.2 Summer Service

• Every Bonner Leader should be encouraged to complete a full-time community service internship defined as at least 280 hours over at least seven weeks, with a minimum of 40 hours per week. However, this is not a requirement.

2.2 Orientation

• Each year an orientation should be convened before the school year begins for all first- year Bonner Leaders to build community among the Bonner Leaders, provide enrichment activities, and begin preparing them for their service and other responsibilities.

2.3 Training and Enrichment

• Bonner Leaders should receive initial and on-going training to prepare and strengthen their skills and knowledge for their service work. This training should be appropriate to each stage of the student’s personal development and service responsibilities.
• Each school should include a description of training and enrichment activities in the Bonner Web-Based Reporting System.
• If Bonner Programs enroll students in related first year experience, CBR, and other engaged courses, this time can count towards fulfillment of their required hours. 

2.4 Placement

• Bonner Leaders should be placed in their service sites within the first four to five weeks of their first year in the program. The weekly service hours during that time should be filled with further orientation, training, and group-building and/or service activities.
• Bonner Leaders should be following the Comprehensive Placement Process for both school year and summer service placements, with special attention to the Community Learning Agreement (see the Bonner Director’s Handbook for a description of this process).
• Bonner Leaders should use the Bonner Web-Based Reporting System for: 
• (a) recording their Community Learning Agreement,
• (b) logging in their hours for community service and training and enrichment activities,
• (c) summarizing their service activities at the end of each semester and summer, and
• (d) reviewing their Community Learning Agreement at the end of each term.

2.5 Regular Meetings

• Regular meetings should be organized for (and by) Bonner Leaders for education, training, and enrichment purposes.
• Directors and/or coordinators are encouraged to meet one-on-one with Bonner Leaders at least once each semester and more often with those students who are having academic or personal difficulties.

2.6 Reflection

• All Bonner Leaders should participate in some form of reflection related to their service experience. Reflection may take many forms, including journal-keeping, weekly small group meetings, or some form of artistic expression.
• The Foundation encourages links between the Bonner Leaders Program and the academic curriculum.

2.7 Student Evaluation

• Bonner Leaders should complete a “review” of their Community Learning Agreement at the end of each semester and summer. We encourage their site supervisors to complete a student review using the form generated by the Bonner Web-Based Reporting System.
• In addition, we encourage coordinators/directors to use an evaluation form to solicit feedback from the community agency site supervisors on their experience as hosts to Bonner Leaders.

2.8 Student Impact Surveys

• Directors must ensure that Bonner Leaders complete the Bonner Student Impact Survey when it is administered by the Bonner Foundation.

2.9 First-Year Service Trip

• All Bonner Leaders are encouraged to participate once, during their first (or in compelling circumstances, second) year in the program, in a service trip to a geographic region outside their campus community. These events can be organized each year either during winter, spring, or summer breaks, although the Foundation encourages schools to organize these trips for the first week of the summer.

2.10 Second Year Service Exchange

• Bonner Leader Programs are encouraged to organize a a day/weekend event that brings second year Bonner students as a class to participate in service or training activities with at least one other Bonner Program.
• The goal of this event is to to facilitate community building in the larger Bonner network and provide the opportunity for training, service and reflection.. Generally the exchange is held in a geographic region outside of their campus community in order to have both schools share in the driving responsibilities. However, if a campus environment is deemed beneficial and/or necessary, the visiting institution will host the exchange the following year. Ideally any break, weekend or after graduation could be a time when the exchange takes place. 
• Second-year service exchange hours may count towards meeting the student’s school year service hour requirement. Bonner schools are free to complete the exchange with any other Bonner campus in the nation. Second-year exchange activities are not confined to service; they may include engaging trainings and enrichment activities.

2.11 Senior Bonner Presentation of Learning & Community Impact

• Every Bonner Leader should make a “presentation of learning and community impact” to an audience of other Bonner Leaders, Bonner Advisory Committee members, and others, as determined by each campus. These presentations may include videos, photographs, essays, poems, or any other form that the student chooses.

2.12 Senior Exit Interview

• The Bonner Leader director and/or coordinator should conduct an “exit interview” for graduating Bonner Leaders.

2.13 Senior Bonner Intern

• Each year Bonner directors and coordinators are encouraged to identify a senior Bonner Scholar who would serve his/her Bonner service hours as an intern to assist with the management of the Bonner Leader Program and/or to take on special initiatives of the program, including helping with freshman orientation, planning service trips, and leading small group discussions.
• In addition, Bonner directors and coordinators are encouraged to consider having their Bonner senior intern’s summer placement be with them so the intern can help with summer preparations for the coming school year.

2.14 Campus-wide Service Program

• Efforts should be made whenever possible to use the Bonner Leader Program to inspire and develop campus-wide involvement in service activities.
• The operation of the Bonner Leader Program should be closely linked to the campus- wide community service and service-learning efforts.

2.15 Attendance at Meetings Sponsored by the Bonner Foundation

• Bonner Leader Program directors and coordinators are required to attend the Fall Directors Meeting (usually beginning the second Sunday of November) and the Summer Leadership Institute (usually in early June), organized by the Foundation.
• Newly hired Bonner Leader Program directors and coordinators are required to attend the New Directors Orientation organized by the Foundation (usually held beginning the last Sunday in July in Princeton, New Jersey).
• Bonner Student Congress representatives are expected to attend the annual meetings organized for them by the Foundation, usually held just prior to the Fall Bonner Directors Meeting and in the summer just prior or during the Summer Leadership Institute.