Contents

Information Sharing Platforms

• Google Doc to share your campus and Bonner Program status

• Bonner Staff Google Group Email List

• bonner-staff-listserv@googlegroups.com  — this is where we can quickly and easily email announcements and you can post and respond to questions from other directors and coordinators in the Bonner network.  Please email rhackett@bonner.org to request access if you do not already receive this.

• Bonner Learning Community

• This is a new platform for the Foundation where we can connect on specific topics via webinars, discussion groups, and other means. This is also where we will host the Virtual 2020 Summer Leadership Institute, including links to the various sessions we will hold on Zoom. 

Community-Engagement Projects

• Know Your Issue (Bobby)

• This Bonner Foundation-led summer service project that builds on the “Know Your Issue” modulesfound on the Bonner wiki. We are looking for students from across the Bonner Network, ideally two or more per campus, who will: a) research and write local issue briefs related to their service, b) post their research on the PolicyOptions Wiki as part of a local policy information hub, and c) prepare to lead other Bonners next year in further policy research and discussion forums. 

•  This summer project will begin the week of May 25th and will include regular trainings, team planning, and group discussions led by the Bonner Foundation President Bobby Hackett. Interns will gain experience in researching issue briefs, interviewing leaders of local and national organizations, and editing the PolicyOptions Wiki. We will develop video tutorials, lesson assignments, and discussion prompts. We will be using an online platform called the Bonner Learning Community to stay in touch and to build and deliver the Know Your Issue curriculum online. 

•  Participants do not need to have prior experience to be included in this initiative; the only qualification is enthusiasm and the willingness to work hard, try new things, and learn with others in a collaborative environment with other Bonner students, staff, and Foundation staff.

•  This remote summer service opportunity is open to any Bonner student who is eligible to complete summer service as part of their Bonner Scholar or Bonner Leader Program. If you have any questions about summer service requirements and funding, please contact your Bonner Program director or coordinator. Unfortunately, the Bonner Foundation does not have additional funding to support Bonners serving on this project this summer. However, it can be used for you as a summer internship if you already qualify for campus or program funding.

• Download internship information, including FAQ and application questions here. 

• If you have any additional questions, please email Bobby Hackett at rhackett@bonner.org.

• Skill-Based Consulting Corps (Bobby & Rachayita)

•  We are developing a start-up check list to guide campuses in exploring how they might replicate skill-based consulting corps models (i.e., Siena, Waynesburg, etc.), focused on finding a faculty advisor or two per skill (i.e., political science faculty for policy research, marketing/communications faculty, etc.)

• Developing and Managing Capacity-Building Projects (Bobby & others)

•  We will be organizing a webinar series on the Bonner Learning Community to share approaches and resources. These will include reaching out to current community partners as well as potential new partners, especially local or regional collaboratives, government agencies, foundations, and policy research or advocacy groups. 
• Other potential sources for capacity-building projects:
• Taproot Foundation has a portal to connect volunteers with nonprofits to share your professional skills pro bono.
• Catchafire.org — matches professionals who want to donate their time and talent with nonprofits who need those skills.
• We encourage you to connect with your community partners and explore potential capacity-building projects, which could be done remotely. Some examples include
• Program evaluation
• Data analysis 
• Multimedia Projects (using https://www.thinglink.com/; https://info.flipgrid.com/)
• Other community-engaged projects, which could be done remotely include:
• Starting virtual book clubs
• Tutoring online
• Writing letters to nursing homes
• Providing social support to clients  

• Online Volunteering Opportunities

• Keep on Partnering:  excellent example of local engagement resources page in Richmond, Virginia by Virginia Commonwealth University 

• GivePulse: online platform used by many campuses and their local community partners to manage their volunteers.  GivePulse has posted information on remote/virtual volunteer opportunities and other resources.

• Tutoria: https://tutoria.io - Offer free tutoring in these two areas: 1) Practice conversational and/or written English with clients 2) Prepare clients for the U.S. Naturalization exam

• UN Volunteers: https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/opportunities  - choose from multiple opportunities such as creating educational videos for small children, translating documents in various languages, creating social-media campaigns 

• Smithsonian Digital Volunteers: https://transcription.si.edu - Become a Smithsonian Digital Volunteer and help them make historical documental and biodiversity data more accessible. 

• Translators Without Borders: https://translatorswithoutborders.org/volunteer/ - You can volunteer with TWB if you are fluent in at least one language other than your native language. Whether you are interested in translating medical texts or translating for crisis response, there are engaging projects available to suit all preferences.

• 7 Cups of Tea: https://www.7cups.com - 7 Cups of Tea is an online emotional support service. Through a secure, anonymous bridging technology, they connect those in need of emotional support with their network of Active Listeners. If you are interested in volunteering as an active listener with this organization, complete the active listening course and create your listener profile. 

• Be My Eyes: https://www.bemyeyes.com - As a sighted volunteer, you can help just by installing the Be My Eyes app. A blind or a low-vision user may need help with anything from checking expiry dates, distinguishing colors, reading instructions or navigating new surroundings. 

• Chemo Angels: https://www.chemoangels.com/angel-pre-app - As a chemo angel, you will send your assigned patient at least one card, letter, or note a week. Being a Card Angel is a long-term commitment, depending on the patient's treatment. 

• LIFT: https://www.liftcommunities.org/  

• Reaching out to local agencies

• Check the website of your local / regional United Way and Volunteer Centers as some appear to be compiling ideas from local agencies for how residents can serve. If you don’t see information the first time, check back as this sort of organizing takes time.
•  This may also be true of local TV stations and newspapers - check their websites and broadcasts as they may be approached to help get the word out about volunteer opportunities

• Alternative community service Ideas generated by Association of Service Commissions

• Delivery of food to someone by setting food on doorstep

• Remote call center support—dial in remote call centers are ideal.
• Modifying in-person coaching around accessing higher education or other types of case management to zoom or other web/phone based coaching.
• Using online resources to engage with fellow AmeriCorps members in Civic Reflection activities or weekly team meetings.
• Coordinating with schools to help with delivery of educational content using online resources (for example, reading books that can be shared with students, conducting science experiments, virtual tours, virtual lessons) material may be recorded or presented “live”.
• Provide support to 2-1-1 or other community call centers 
• Assist with local health departments/offices with coordinating public health initiatives and health/safety education efforts
• Provide community feeding support, such as meal and food prep, planning/coordination, packing, distribution/delivery, warehousing/inventory, safety inspection, and related activities
• Conduct wellness checks on the elderly and vulnerable populations via phone calls, text messaging, or talking through the door
• Assist with coordinating in-kind donations related to COVID-19 community needs (food donations, supply drives, blood drives, etc.)
• Assemble hygiene and disaster preparedness kits for high-need populations such as the homeless, those living in shelters, and other low-income communities
• Participate in or lead virtual civic reflections or other discussions related to how to serve the community during COVID-19
• Assist with childcare or other support for first responders
• Assist with data entry/analysis for response efforts
• Provide support to neighborhood initiatives such as stocking free community libraries, micro food pantries, etc.  

Program/Campus Infrastructure Projects

• In-Reach Capacity-Building Project Ideas (Liz & Arthur)

• We have developed a section of the wiki here for in-reach projects for individual or student teams to complete. 

• These project ideas are listed below:

• Bonner Leadership Team — update/refine operations manual, policies, training orientation, etc.
• Bonner Program Handbook — update/refine
• Bonner Program or Campus-Wide Assessment/Feedback — could be a good time to develop an approach to getting feedback on the program and ideas for improvements next year
• Data Collection — review current processes for gathering data on the program and campus-wide community engagement, and explore how they could be improved 
• Training Calendar — assess and plan for next year's orientation and weekly meetings
• Partner placement & project development process — review current practice and begin planning process improvements
• Bonner/Center Annual Report — begin process of gathering data, stories, etc. for 2019-20 annual report
• Fundraising Research & Planning — develop case statement for your Bonner Program and for your center, conduct donor scan, prepare for future meeting with your dean and development office
• Bonner Recruitment & Selection — review and suggest improvements to current recruitment material/website, application materials, interview and selection processes
• Social Media - assess and update social media platforms to highlight student, alumni and community partner
• Website - Update or create a website for your Bonner Program

• Bonner Alumni Ambassadors (Arthur)

•  Work with alumni office to find your Bonner alumni, communicate with them directly (perhaps through an email or online Bonner newsletter), encourage them to join bonnerconnect.org where we can set up a group for your school, and begin planning future alumni outreach activities (an online video chat/interview, future face-to-face events, etc.)
• Delegate a class representative for each year/cohort to work on finding updated Bonner alumni contact information and connecting with them. 
• Bonnerconnect.org- create and manage Bonner program group page on the platform.

Training & Education

• Bonner Training, Education, and Reflection

• Know Your Issue module (Bobby)

•  see above

• Zero Hunger Academy End Hunger in 30 Challenge

•  The Congressional Hunger Center is launching  “End Hunger in 30” Challenge. This 30 day course on hunger in the U.S., its causes, and its solutions starts on April 1. Participants will receive email prompts and 30-minute mini-lessons, diving into the basics of hunger in the U.S., the drivers of hunger, anti-hunger policy, and effective advocacy. Join today so we can end hunger by 2030.  Registration is free, so sign up today with your fellow anti-hunger advocates for the End Hunger in 30 Challenge!

• Project Management (Bobby)

•  Working now to get a webinar series for these modules up on the Bonner Learning Community in the next 2-3 weeks

• Remote Book Clubs

• Select a book (ie. Evicted, Dare to Lead) and complete read along workbook and/or submit a reflection paper. Bonners can also meet through Zoom to discuss book. 

• Community-Engaged Learning (Ari, Rachayita, & Liz): 

• CEL Webinar Series for Staff and Faculty Fellows

•  Continue what we've been doing to train and support center staff and faculty fellows (will be adding CEL Academic Pathways models next)

• CEL Faculty Learning Community Community

•  Offer a Foundation-led faculty development training and discussion webinar series to support their planning future courses

• Teaching Social Action Webinar Series

•  Now up on the Bonner Learning Community so faculty and can access the prior webinars and join this on-going series 

• Teaching Online

• Webinar on how Marshall Ganz teaches his online social action courses

• Really helpful information for any online course, including the slides that accompany the webinar

• Zoom video conferences platform

• Zoom Basics

• Modes of Online Teaching

• There are two modes of instruction to consider when transitioning in-person courses to remote modalities.  You can choose one or both of the following:
•  Teach a synchronous [in real time] class using the Zoom video conferencing application. Synchronous means that the instructor and students may be in different locations but are meeting remotely at the same time.
•  Teach a class asynchronously [not in real time].  Asynchronous means that there can still be deadlines, but students complete activities at their own pace.
•  Teach a class synchronously [in real time] and record the sessions so that students can access the recordings and materials at their convenience, and complete the activities at their own pace according to determined deadlines.

• From Bringing Theory to Practice:

• Beth McMurtrie of the Chronicle of Higher Education published an excellent column, “Preparing for Emergency Online Teaching,” which includes links to a variety of resource guides issued by different universities.
• Many of you know the work of the Hope Center at Temple University in documenting and supporting the material needs of college students. Here is a brief guide they’ve issued, “BEYOND THE FOOD PANTRY: Supporting #RealCollege Students During COVID19”.
• Cathy Davidson and Christina Katopodis co-authored a terrific op-ed in Inside Higher Ed on best practices for engaged online teaching, “Transforming Your Online Teaching From Crisis to Community”. 
• Finally, “Hope Matters” is a wonderful column from this week’s Inside Higher Ed, by Pima Community College faculty member (and neuroscientist) Mays Imad; it offers ten strategies for supporting students’ well-being, overcoming their isolation, and engaging their fears.

• Free Courses on Coursera

• Online Courses – https://www.coursera.org/: 

• Content (readings, videos, discussion questions, quizzes) for the following courses is available for free, so students/AmeriCorps members could use that content to write their responses, and submit their work on Bonner Learning Community to count toward training and service hours.

• Coursera is joining with partners to provide free access to Coursera for Campus for any impacted college or university.If you are part of the faculty or administration at an impacted university, please complete this form to start the application process.  If you are a student at an impacted university, you can ask your university to apply for this program or visit coursera.org to find individual courses you can start today.

• Free Courses

• Community Organizing for Social Justice – University of Michigan

• Civic Engagement in American Democracy – Duke University

• The Science of Well-Being - Yale University 

• Collection of community engagement activities that can be facilitated in digital classrooms

•  These can be done with students or online platforms with community partners and as well as praxis assignments for the community-engaged classroom. These are adapted from Student Development and Social Justice: Critical learning, radical healing and community engagement. Palgrave McMillian, 2017 by Tessa Hicks Peterson, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Urban Studies, Director of Critical Action + Social Advocacy (CASA), and Director of the Office of Consortial Academic Collaborations (OCAC) at Pitzer College.
• Remote community engagement activities by Tessa H. Peterson.pdf  

• Chronicle of Higher Education Guide to Moving Online Now: How to keep teaching during coronavirus

• As the coronavirus spreads, colleges are scrambling to respond to potential health-care crises, campus closures, and other issues that are arising and evolving on a daily basis. Download this free collection for must-read advice guides and opinion pieces on online learning.  

Program and Risk Management

• With the help of a Bonner 2020 Working Group, the Foundation is also developing templates for commonly used waivers, MOUs, and other forms, which have been adapted to include language and guidelines related to COVID-19. Additionally, we are developing a range of resources and recommendations to support remote and online program management and community engagement projects. These will provide campuses with help for how to manage their programs and conduct key components (including Bonner Cornerstones, capacity building projects that are also capstones, recruitment and selection, and more). Visit the new Program and Risk Management page here.