The AmeriCorps Education Award is an exciting way for campuses to further support Bonner Scholars and Bonner Leaders participating in Bonner Programs around the country. The Bonner Network is the recipient of a grant from the Corporation for National & Community Service that provides us with nearly 1,000 AmeriCorps Education Awards annually.

PREPARATION

Step 1: Review Bonner AmeriCorps Education Award Literature

As you explore implementing Bonner AmeriCorps as part of your Bonner Program be sure to consider the following:

• Available Terms of Service: Programs may choose to enroll a member in a one year 300hr term, a one year 450 hr term or a two year 900 hr term. It is important to consider the best fit for the program model and a student’s future plans. Individuals may only receive two AmeriCorps Ed Award Vouchers for their first two terms, which would include other AmeriCorps programs such as VISTA, Teach for America, etc.
• Type of Service Opportunities: Consider the needs of your community partners and determine what role the Bonner AmeriCorps students will play in addressing them. Please note that some service activities are prohibited by the AmeriCorps Program due to their religious or political context.
• The Source of Member Stipend: In the Bonner Program model the AmeriCorps Education Awards are designed to be a supplement to an ongoing stipend a student receives in exchange for their service. For example, students may receive Federal Work Study money on a biweekly basis and the Education Award after they have completed the hours required for their term. If Federal Work Study is not available, we recommend establishing other institutional resources to support students engaged in intensive and sustained service. The AmeriCorps Education Award should not effect the students financial aid package.
• Reporting Requirements: Bonner AmeriCorps participants must complete forms in three workbooks designed to capture required enrollment information and service accomplishments. The Bonner AmeriCorps Orientation Workbook contains background information on the Bonner Leaders Program and how it is connected to the AmeriCorps program. The Enrollment Workbook contains all the forms that need to be signed by the member, the campus administrator, and their site supervisor. The Bonner AmeriCorps Service Workbook contains the Community Learning Agreement and copies of the Hours Log form.
  

Currently, each campus in the Bonner Program uses the Bonner Web Based Reporting System (BWBRS) to track students’ enrollment status, hour logs, and service accomplishments. Some of these BWBRS generated forms take the place of forms in the above listed booklets. For Bonner AmeriCorps members, campus administrators and students must sign hard copies of particular BWRBS printouts or booklet forms and send them to the Foundation.

Depending on the grant year, students may also be asked to complete a short survey about their accomplishments. As with all students in the Bonner Program, we ask that Bonner AmeriCoprs members complete the Student Impact Survey at the beginning and end of their time in the Bonner Program.

Step 2: Request the Number of Bonner AmeriCorps Slots For Your Program

Bonner AmeriCorps slots are awarded competitively on a first come first served basis. It is important to submit your request as soon as possible. As we have many campuses to accommodate, please request an amount that you will, in fact, be able to fill. Contact Karlin Bilcher at the Bonner Foundation by email (kbilcher@bonner.org) or (609) 924-6663 to make your request.

Bonner Program directors will receive an award letter noting how many slots have been awarded and the earliest available start date that their students may begin their AmeriCorps term. (Typically, letters are sent out in early July for a fall start date.) A Bonner AmeriCorps site agreement will be sent with the letter that should be signed by the campus administrator and returned to the Foundation.

RECRUITMENT & ENROLLMENT

Step 3: Recruit Students

To enroll in AmeriCorps, members must be permanent US residents, 17 or older (parental consent required if 17), and have a high school diploma or its equivalent. Documentation of such is required. Individuals may only ever receive two AmeriCorps Education Awards for their first two terms and therefore if a student has previously been enrolled in AmeriCorps with the Bonner Program or otherwise, they may not be eligible to participate.

Bonner Programs often recruit students by implementing a campus wide advertising campaign, working with the Financial Aid office to identify students eligible for Federal Work Study, soliciting recommendations from faculty and staff, and/or targeting community service and leadership organizations on campus.

The Implementation Guide on Recruitment and Selection and the Bonner Directors Handbook, while generally targeted to Bonner Scholar Program that are recruiting incoming freshmen students, nevertheless provide useful suggestions that will assist you in (a) identifying a qualified pool of committed student leaders, and (b) beginning the public relations process that will create widespread awareness of the program on your campus and in your regional communities.

Step 4: Enroll Students

After students are recruited, it is important that they be introduced to the AmeriCorps component of the Bonner Program and review the Bonner AmeriCorps Workbooks. The Enrollment Workbook contains all of the forms that need to be signed by the member, the campus administrator, and their site supervisor -- all of which must be mailed to the Bonner Foundation within 20 days of the members start date. We recommend that copies be made and kept on file with the campus administrator.

Please keep in mind that the Enrollment Workbook is NOT an application. It is an agreement that the student is making with themselves, the campus advisor, the larger Bonner Program, as well as with AmeriCorps. Once a complete booklet is sent to the Bonner Foundation, the student is officially enrolled in the AmeriCorps program.

Signed enrollment materials, that must be mailed to the Foundation within 20 days of the student’s start date, should be addressed to:

Bonner AmeriCorps
ATTN: Joan Horton
Bonner Foundation
10 Mercer Street
Princeton, NJ 08540

Students must also be enrolled in the Bonner Web-Based Reporting System. Please call Karlin Bilcher at (609) 924-6663 to receive login information and to schedule a phone training on how to navigate through BWBRS.

At the beginning of the student’s term in the Bonner Program we ask that every Bonner Scholar and Bonner Leader complete the Student Impact Survey, regardless of when and if they enroll in AmeriCorps.

ORIENTATION & TRAINING

Step 5: Orienting Students

The Bonner Foundation requires that an orientation be held each year for all incoming Bonner Scholars and Leaders to build community among the Bonners, orient them to the program and its requirements, and begin preparing them for service and other responsibilities. The Bonner Directors Handbook and are a number of resources available to assist you in designing your orientation.

Step 6: Provide Ongoing Training & Enrichment

The Bonner Program should develop the skills, knowledge, experience, and commitments of students engaged in community service throughout the years of their experience in the Bonner Program. The Foundation has developed a number of resources that provide campuses concrete strategies and tools to realize student development goals in the context of the specific programs: specifically, implementation guides for co-curricular, curricular, advising, vocation, an extensive set of training modules.

SERVING & REPORTING

Step 7: Placement

A key feature of the Bonner Program is the Comprehensive Placement Process. (Consult the Bonner Program Director’s Handbook to review the specifics).

As part of that process, students participating in the Bonner Program are required to complete a Community Learning Agreement (CLA). The CLA is designed to have the student and their community partner collaborate in articulating the service objectives (job description) and the student’s learning goals. It should also be used as a tool in evaluating the student and their experience with community partners. This should be mailed in within the first month of enrollment.

Step 8: Reporting

Early in the year, students should be trained on how to use BWBRS to track their enrollment status, Community Learning Agreement, hour logs, and Service Accomplishments.

Hour Logs must be entered on the Bonner Web-Based Reporting System. Hard copies must be signed by a site supervisor and mailed to the Foundation on a monthly basis.

Because the network must reapply each year for AmeriCorps funding we must make sure that data in BWBRS accurately reflects all that the students are accomplishing.

COMPLETING AMERICORPS ENROLLMENT

Step 9: Exit Member from AmeriCorps

Once a student has completed their service/hour requirement they should complete an End of Term form [pdf] and send it in with their last time log. Send all required paperwork to the Foundation.

If this is the student's last year in the overarching Bonner Program (and not just the end of an AmeriCorps term) they need to complete an Outgoing Student Impact Survey.

Step 10: Access the Education Award

Once the member has submitted the completed paper work (including signed time logs, activity reports, and exit form) to the Bonner Foundation, we will process the exit with the Corporation for National & Community Service. At the end of each day the CNCS uploads all the exit forms. From that point it will take about 4 weeks (sometimes less) for the member to receive his/her voucher in the mail. The AmeriCorps Education Award voucher will be mailed to the address noted as “Permanent Address” on the exit form. Students will also able to access their voucher online. Members have up to seven years from the date of their Exit to fully use the award.

For general information, visit Education Award and its impact on Financial Aid or the AmeriCorps web site.