Basic Expectations & Goals

Basic Expectations

Once a student is selected and enrolls in the Bonner Program, she or he commits to a series of expectations. Each Bonner Scholar is expected to:

• arrive before the regular undergraduate orientation of their institution for an orientation designed specifically for new Bonner Scholars
• serve an average of ten hours a week at a community service site during the school year
• complete at least one full-time summer service internship
• develop a Community Learning Agreement with their agency supervisor and Bonner coordinator that both outlines service and learning goals and describes the activities through which to achieve them
• attend regular group reflection, enrichment, and skill and leadership development activities
• participate in a student developmental model that challenges and supports each Bonner Scholar to develop her or his skills, knowledge, commitments, and responsibilities
• commit to working with a group of diverse but similarly engaged students
• recommit to the program at the end of each year in the program

While any student can qualify and receive a Bonner Scholarship, the Bonner Scholars Program awards most of its scholarships to students with a significant amount of documented financial need.

Goals of the Bonner Program

The Bonner Program is designed to transform not only the students who are directly supported by the program, but also the campus and community in which they serve and learn. The goals of the program are identified in four areas: students, community, and campus, and higher education.

For the Student

• Provide access to a college education to students with high financial need.
• Afford these students an opportunity to use their abilities, talents, and leadership to serve others while in college.
• Create a supportive community of students on campus whose common focus on community service gives them a sense of purpose and meaning

For the Community:

• Channel the energies and talents of college students, faculty, and staff to help address the challenges of and opportunities within local communities.
• Break down the socio-economic barriers within communities, leading to greater cooperation and collaboration.

For the College:

• Help recruit and retain a diverse group of students who might not otherwise be able to attend college.
• Challenge and support the college community in its effort to create a culture of service, where the school's mission of service is translated in such a way that every member of the student body, faculty, and staff is encouraged to serve.
• Support a core group of student leaders eager to build and strengthen the organizations on campus that promote a culture of service.

For Higher Education:

• Serve as a successful model to other colleges and universities that are interested in starting their own community service scholarship program.
• Serve as a powerful consortium of 27 diverse institutions that share a common commitment to service.
• Provide leadership to a nation searching for ways to value and include young people in meaningful acts of citizenship.