The document describes The Bonner Program, which provides college students opportunities for community service and financial support through scholarships. The program goals are to provide students access to education and service opportunities, strengthen a culture of service on campuses, and facilitate cooperation between campuses and communities. Key aspects of the program include intensive, multi-year community service commitments combined with training and enrichment activities. The program leverages broader impact by connecting service to academic coursework and creating campus-wide centers for civic engagement.

1. The Bonner Program:
Goals & Strategies
Access to Education,
Opportunity to Serve”
A program of:
The Corella & Bertram Bonner Foundation
10 Mercer Street, Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 924-6663 • (609) 683-4626 fax
For more information, please visit our website at www.bonner.org

2. The Bonner Program:
Reinforcing Goals
Students
To afford college students an opportunity to use their energy,
talents, and leadership skills to engage in community service while
providing developmental and financial support.
Campus
To challenge and strengthen a “culture of service” in which the
school’s teaching, research, and service mission are integrated and
every student, faculty, and staff is encouraged to serve.
Community
To facilitate greater cooperation and communication between the
campus and the community by channeling the energies and talents
of college students faculty, and staff to help address the challenges
and opportunities of a local community.
Higher Education
To form a consortium of diverse higher education institutions
sharing a common commitment to service and to serve as a
successful model to other institutions which are interested in
starting service-based scholarship programs.
www.bonner.org

3. The Bonner Program:
Defining Characteristics
Goals:
Access to Education,
Opportunity to Serve
Design:
• Intensive
• Multi-year
• Developmental
www.bonner.org

4. The Bonner Program:
Key Features
Intensive Community Service Commitment
• 10 hour per week plus full-time summers (summer optional for
BLP based on funding availability)
• 80% Direct Service, 20% Training & Enrichment
• Students select where they want to serve
• Students also serve as service project leaders
Multi-Year, Team-based Program
• Multi-year program with 10-100 Bonner Scholars/Leaders per
campus (5-25 per class)
• Coordinated by an on-campus director and coordinator
• Partnered with site supervisors at each community agency
Student Development
• Increased expectations each year in the program
• Supported through regular training and enrichment activities, as
well as curricular connections
www.bonner.org

5. The Bonner Program:
Bonner Scholar vs. Bonner Leader
Bonner Scholar Program Bonner Leader Program
4 year model 2-4 year model
10 hrs/wk school year 10 hrs/wk school year
2-3 summer service internships Summer service where funding permits
Bonner Foundation pays student stipend Institutional work-study or scholarships pay
for student stipends
Bonner Foundation & institution support
Institution supports other program costs
other program costs (staffing, service trips,
(staffing, service trips, trainings, etc.)
trainings, etc.)
Sources of Funding:
– Institution’s commitment to low-income students and civic engagement
(staffing, grants, development, financial aid)
– Federal & College Work Study allocations
– AmeriCorps (Education Awards)
– Building towards an endowed program
www.bonner.org

6. The Bonner Program:
Student Perspective
•
Access to Education, Opportunity to Serve
(“serve, learn, earn”)
•
4-year path (training & placements)
•
Opportunities to network with peers locally,
regionally & nationally
•
Outcome: lifetime of service
www.bonner.org

7. The Bonner Program:
Community Partner Perspective
•
Access to motivated, trained students serving
10 hrs/wk for multiple years
•
Multi-level, team-based partnership
•
Serve important role as co-educator
www.bonner.org

8. The Bonner Program:
Faculty Perspective
•
Motivated, experienced students who bring
real-life community connections into classroom
•
Developmental framework for academically-
connected civic engagement courses/projects
(aligned with liberal education outcomes)
•
Community-Based Research & Public Policy
Analysis
www.bonner.org

9. The Bonner Program:
Campus Perspective
• Integrated civic engagement model for
developmental programming that combines
curricular & co-curricular
• Build campus-wide centers & offices for civic
engagement and service
• Comprehensive approach for developing &
supporting student leaders for service
www.bonner.org

10. The Bonner Program:
National Perspective
• Opportunity to join national Bonner community
• Resources for student, faculty & campus-wide
center development
•
Peer network for staff & students via annual
Bonner gatherings and Bonner Student
Congress
www.bonner.org

11. The Bonner Program:
National Network At a Glance
• Working with 81 colleges and universities in 30 states
• Engaging 2,500 students through 27 Bonner Scholar and 54 Bonner Leader Programs (5,500+ Bonner Alumni)
• The Bonner Foundation given $200 million to campus programs over the past 20 years
• Additional support from CNCS National & State AmeriCorps Programs, Learn & Serve and FIPSE
Alabama Indiana New Jersey South Carolina
University of North Alabama DePauw University Mercer County Community College Converse College
Alaska Earlham College Middlesex County College Wofford College
Kansas Tennessee
University of Alaska, Anchorage Rider University
California Washburn University The College of New Jersey Carson-Newman College
Kentucky New Mexico
California State University Los Angeles Maryville College
Notre Dame de Namur Berea College University of New Mexico Rhodes College
New York
Saint Mary’s College of California Centre College Tusculum College
Texas
Sonoma State University Lindsay Wilson College Hamilton College
University of California Berkeley Union College Hobart and William Smith Colleges University ofTexas - Austin
Vermont
University of California Davis University of Louisville Siena College
Maryland
University of California Los Angeles Wagner College Johnson State College
Ohio
University of California Santa Cruz Hood College Community College of Vermont
Massachusetts Virginia
University of Southern California Antioch College
Colorado Amherst College Defiance College Bluefield College
Minnesota
Colorado College Oberlin College Emory and Henry College
Florida Macalester College University of Dayton Ferrum College
Mississippi Oregon
Stetson University Lynchburg College
Georgia Tougaloo College Portland State University University of Richmond
Missouri Pennsylvania
Berry College Washington and Lee University
Washington
Morehouse College College of the Ozarks Allegheny College
North Carolina
Oxford College of Emory University Dickinson College Central Washington University
Spelman College Davidson College Juniata College Whitworth College
Idaho West Virginia
Guilford College Ursinus College
Brigham Young University Lees McRae College Waynesburg College Concord University
Idaho State University Mars Hill College West Chester University West Virginia Wesleyan College
University of Idaho Pfeiffer University Widener University Wheeling Jesuit University
Wisconsin
Warren Wilson College
Ripon College
www.bonner.org

12. The Bonner Program:
Core Expectations of Participating Schools
• Call a group of students “Bonners”
• Run a multi-year, intensive program
• Participate in National Bonner Gatherings
www.bonner.org

13. The Bonner Program:
Leveraging Broader Impact
Bonner Program
Recruitment Training
Cornerstone
Service
Activities
www.bonner.org

14. The Bonner Program:
Leveraging Broader Impact
Bonner Program
Recruitment Training
Community Cornerstone
Service
Partnerships Activities
Co-Educators
Site-Based Teams
www.bonner.org

15. The Bonner Program:
Leveraging Broader Impact
Academic Connections
FIPSE Civic
Engagement Minor
Bonner Program
Learn & Serve
CBR/
PolicyOptions.org
Recruitment Training
Community Cornerstone
Service
Partnerships Activities
Co-Educators
Site-Based Teams
www.bonner.org

16. The Bonner Program:
Leveraging Broader Impact
Academic Connections
Campus-Wide
FIPSE Civic
Campus-Wide
Engagement Minor
Center
Bonner Program
Learn & Serve
Institutional CBR/
Support PolicyOptions.org
Recruitment Training
Community Cornerstone
Service
Partnerships Activities
Co-Educators
Site-Based Teams
www.bonner.org

17. The Bonner Program:
Leveraging Broader Impact
Academic Connections
Campus-Wide
FIPSE Civic
Campus-Wide
Engagement Minor
Center
Bonner Program
Learn & Serve
Institutional CBR/
Support PolicyOptions.org
Recruitment Training
Community National
Cornerstone
Service
Partnerships Community
Activities
Bonner
Co-Educators AmeriCorps
(National & NJ)
National Bonner
Site-Based Teams
Gatherings
www.bonner.org

18. The Bonner Program:
Leveraging Broader Impact
Defining characteristics of Bonner Program allow....
• Campus staff & faculty have opportunity to see
& participate in high quality student
development over time
• Raised expectations and sense of possibilities in
community-campus partnerships
• Integrated model allows students, staff, faculty &
community partners to see how their roles
contribute to student & community
development
www.bonner.org