3rd and 4th Year Rotation, focused on Capstone Projects, at the 2017 Fall Directors and Coordinators Meeting

1. The Bonner Senior Capstone
Putting Community Engaged
Signature Work Into Action
with Kelly Finn, Ariane Hoy, & Dave Roncolato
Bonner Fall Directors Meeting 2017

2. Introductions
Kelly Finn
Siena College
kfinn@siena.edu
Ariane Hoy
Bonner Foundation
ahoy@bonner.org
Dave Roncolato
Allegheny College
droncola@allegheny.edu
a little context...

3. Intended Outcomes
● Share
● Think
● Apply
● Create

4. Agenda
1. Reflecting on our own expertise
■ Your students...
■ The Civic-Minded Graduate & Key Frameworks
2. Four prominent models to get there
■ What fits your campus
■ Where are you at
3. “Roots” and “Branches”
■ Purpose + Partner + Student = Project
4. “Trunks” and “Bark”
■ Academic Learning + Mentors + Recognition
5. Lessons from practice
■ Next steps and priorities

5. Drawing on...

6. Part 1
Reflections
And
Frameworks

7. What is it?
“Community Engaged Signature Work” or a Bonner
Capstone requires just 3 things:
● Work: A significant project by the Bonner
○ by junior/senior year
○ individual or team based
● Real Purpose:: A real community beneficiary or
partner or an issue-oriented social action or project
with a tangible purpose in mind
● Learning: Draws on and applies the student’s
academic learning (with or without credit)

8. Think of a student
Think about your current Bonner
senior and/or any alum from your
Bonner Program who did a rockstar
project, during their junior and/or
senior year.
If you can’t think of a past student,
think of a current student who
could have such a project.

9. Discussion
1. What was or could be the project? What
was the outcome (result)?
2. What was or could be the process this
student took (or could take) to connect
his/her academic learning and the project?
3. How did the project (or could it) contribute
to the person’s post-graduate trajectory or
next steps after graduation?

10. The Civic-Minded
Graduate

11. An effective capstone
Educational
Experiences
Identity
Civic
Experiences
The sweet spot!
place
career/
vocation
personal
qualities
Bonner
work
other
involvement
major...minor...
coursework
experiential
learning

12. A Bridge to the Future
Educational
Experiences
Identity
Civic
Experiences
The sweet spot!
A great capstone pulls it together &
bridges to life after graduation...

13. Signature Work
● The LEAP Challenge calls
on colleges and
universities to build
pathways where all
undergraduates to
complete a substantial
“cross-disciplinary
project in a topic
significant to the student
and society, as part of
the expected pathway to
a degree(AAC&U, 2016).

14. Recognize your expertise
Bonner staff are legitimate teachers and
educators who shape the
experiences and
learning of students.
This is the Learning Paradigm at work.

15. Learning Paradigm

16. Part 2
Examples and
Four Prominent
Models

17. Let’s look at examples

18. Learning
Purpose
Impact
The paper
The
community
forum
The report
Why the student is doing this?
What question the community
wants to answer?
The disciplinary lens
The marketable skills

19. Some examples of “learning”...
Learning is another way of saying “a
research question” (Academese)...

20. Projects can make an impact
Many different “products” can be produced
(on and off campus audiences)

21. Local Food Deserts

22. School to Prison Pipeline

23. Policy Research

24. Teacher Training

25. Health Disparities

26. Culturally Relevant Health Care

27. 4 Main Models
● Co-Curricular: Enhancing the Bonner
Junior/Senior Year and POLs
● An integrative requirement: a structured
experience and/or course
● Coupling: linking with existing academic
structures, like senior/honors projects
● Hybrid: Bridging across available structures
(interdisplinary programs, minors, etc.)

28. Co-Curricular
● Leverage your Bonner Program. Use co-curricular
trainings. Good fit for well-developed
sequential programs.
● Enhance the Senior Presentation of Learning. Beef up
advising and reflection work so that students
take on a significant project and present it to
others.
● Share the POLs to gain visibility on campus, such
as with Provost and key faculty, building
credibility for its rigor. Use as a stepping stone
to credit-bearing model!
(Carson-Newman, Stetson)

29. Integrative Requirement
● Link with an established structure or create one like a
course or series of meetings over at least one
semester.
● May involve “seminar” or course. May work with a
minor targeted at Bonners.
● Assign a staff member to work with the seniors. Best
to create as a distinct, autonomous structure
that can involve Bonners and other students.
● Build capacity for 1-1 advising. Create forms and
processes. (Siena)

30. Coupling
● Link with existing academic structures such as
senior or honors projects.
● Leverage general education, interdisciplinary
programs, or majors that have capstones.
● Good for schools that are taking on significant
curriculum changes that can be experiential or
community engaged.
● Direct attention and time to creating avenues of
cooperation and communication across
departments and with faculty. (Allegheny)

31. Hybrid
● Bridge across available opportunities and work
concurrently to develop them (i.e., minor or
certificate in leadership, poverty, public health)
● Develop clear working criteria that position students
to do significant project with their Bonner site
or another partner and get credit or recognition
for it in other avenues.
● Be really clear about what is going to count or not;
more individualistic than programmatic
(Birmingham-Southern)

32. Which is best for your campus?
Take some time to think
through:
● Relevant knowledge
● Infrastructure
● Institutional Culture
● Center Leaders Positionality
● Community Partner
Development
● Student Involvement

33. Major Recommendation
● Begin to integrate
with this year’s
freshmen (or next
at the latest)

34. Case Study: Siena
● Certificate in Community Development (18
credits) required for Bonners
● Yearlong capstone with a committee
comprising faculty and community mentors
● Series of workshop sessions on writing
productivity, academic writing, and getting
ready to publish
● Periodic meetings with faculty mentors
● Publication and presentation requirements
(in sessions, on campus and in national
venues)

35. Case Study: Siena Certificate in
Community Development

36. Case Study: Siena Certificate in
Community Development

37. Part 3
Roots
&
Branches

38. Let’s imagine what we
want to do differently?

39. How to identify projects
How do you build in
conversations with partners
to identify, record and share
their requests?

40. Partner Meetings
● Focus Groups with partners
by issue
● Introduce possibilities elicit
their interests
● Use Capacity-Building Form
● Washington & Lee model

41. Broker Projects
● Draw on your deep
knowledge of partners to
connect students (and
faculty)
● Use advising, trainings, and
meetings to guide students
● High-Point model
● Stetson model

42. Case Study: Siena
● Some students just know what they want to do… they are not the
norm. Here are some questions we ask:
○ What is a persistent issue at your site?
○ What do you want to do after Siena and how can this capstone
help you get there?
○ Is there a new area in your site you would like to explore? An
organization you would like to connect them to?
○ Is there a faculty member you really enjoy working with? What
would motivate him/her to engage as in this work with you?
○ Is there a project already happening on campus that you could
join?
Careful, what they tell you right away is often not a capstone need.
Some sites have trouble separating your Bonner duties from
capstone duties

43. Case Study: Siena

44. Case Study: Siena
● Partners are involved as projects are being developed and
ideas are being generated
● Our goal is that partner voice is included in every project
and the project aligns with the goals of the
organization
● Often, the Bonner site supervisor is not the best person
to supervise the project. It is important to find the right
person in the organization to mentor the project
● Worked with and across departments to build faculty
members who are allies for us
● Collaboration to include our capstone in major specific
capstones

45. Let’s Discuss Implications
● What method of gathering
partner requests works for us?
● What are the implications for
training?
● What are the implications for
advising?
● What are the implications for
student leader/intern roles?

46. Part 4
Campus-Wide
Integration,
Including Faculty

47. Changing Culture

48. Vehicles for Credit
● Majors (existing capstones)
● General Education
● Minors, Certificates, or Concentration
● Independent Study
● Faculty advisors (recruited individually by
students)

49. Sharing Strategies
● Individual advisors: connected to Bonners
● Reading Group: to build buy-in
● Faculty Fellows: to position in integrative
leadership roles
● Designated Capstone: create and teach a course,
or link with existing one
● Link to major or minor: find way for students to
get credit in their academic areas

50. Part 5
Case Study
&
Next Steps

51. Case Study: Siena
● Started our Certificate in Community
Development formally in 2012 but began
requiring it in 2013
● Capstone has been woven into our COMD
certificate
● 2013-2014, 2014-2015 were both challenging
in terms of getting student, faculty and
partner buy-in
● Beyond 2015, project rigor and impact has
increased significantly

52. Integrative Learning
Meaningfully synthesizes connections among
experiences outside of the formal classroom
(including life experiences and academic
experiences such as internships and travel
abroad) to deepen understanding of fields of
study and to broaden own points of view.

53. Return to your Self-Study
● How can you move the
needle?
● Prioritize areas for
most investment of
time and strategy.
● What other resources
and supports are
desired?

54. Next Steps
Take a moment to finalize your
next steps and share them.