A. Student Development Goals

1. Skills, Knowledge, Roles, Commitments

The developmental goal of the Bonner Program for students is:

To develop the skills, knowledge, experience, and commitments of students engaged in community service over the four years of their Bonner Program experience.

While every program will have its own way of defining each of these student development outcomes, we have attempted throughout this handbook to provide both conceptual and concrete strategies to realize them in the context of your program.

Below, we combine skills and knowledge definitions through outlining specific competencies. We discuss various student roles in both the Organizational Infrastructure and Community Partnership sections of this handbook.

A competency is defined as:

“...any of the widest possible variety of attributes that represent your strengths, your key abilities, the characteristics that give you your greatest potency, the ways in which you tend to be most successful when dealing with problems, tasks, and other life experiences.” 1

Almost any interview process for college admission or a job will include questions about skills or competencies. People who can clearly describe their skills find themselves at an advantage in many situations. Training is a necessary and useful tool in assisting Bonner Program Students as they assess and articulate their steadily growing skills and how these skills need to be maintained to successfully carry out one’s service work. “While college courses and practical experience with community agencies will help students develop these competencies, your training program should also take the following skills and competencies into account.”2

Created in 2003-2004 through collaborative efforts of the entire Bonner community (students, administrators, community partners, and Foundation staff), the Bonner Skill Sets were created to connect to and complement both the Common Commitments and the Five E’s. It is the hope that every Bonner graduate will gain and grow in each of the 24 skills listed below by the end of their time in the program.

Personal Skills

• Active Listening
• Balance/Boundaries
• Communication
• Decision Making
• Organization/Planning
• Reflection
• Time Management

Leadership Skills

• Conflict Resolution
• Delegation
• Planning
• Public Speaking
• Running a Meeting
• Teamwork
• Working with Diverse Groups

Professional Skills

• Budgeting
• Evaluation /Research
• Event Planning
• Fundraising
• Grant Writing
• Marketing/ Public Relations
• Mediation
• Networking
• Public Education/Advocacy
• Volunteer Management