1. Creating Service Programs that last: The Coalition of Projects Model Bonner Summer Leadership Conference 2010 Heather McNew Schill, M.Ed. Coordinator, Student-led Service Programs Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service (CELTS) Berea College

2. Welcome to the session Who is in the room? Please share your name, school and why you came to this session Who am I? Coordinator of Student-led Service Programs at Berea College Supervise around 80 college students (through the Berea College Work Study Program), which coordinate 10 community service programs and supervise approximately 200 college student volunteers using the Coalition of Project Model

3. The Coalition of Projects Model I first learned of this model at the 2002 COOL Conference. I attended a day long forum called Building It Up: A One Day institute on building and strengthening campus-based community service programs led by John Hoang Sarvey. John was a staff member at COOL, who later went on to work as the Executive Director of City Year. The Model Consists of the following: Umbrella organization of multiple projects Issue or neighborhood focused projects Group coordination of volunteers Cascading Leadership structure Coalition-wide support functions for the projects Systematic training of project leaders Systematic exchange of challenges and best practices among projects Systematic quality improvement process New Project incubator Office space that’s student-oriented, has a “hang-out” quality

4. Umbrella organization of multiple projects- The Model Cannot be just one single student organization, but instead it should be a system of several organizations Overall program serves as an umbrella to combine resources, expertise and effective systems Each program has its own leadership and volunteer base Project Leaders (students) feel the primary responsibility for their project, not their staff supervisor Project Leaders are developed from among volunteers

5. Umbrella organization of multiple projects- How It Works in CELTS Each of the 10 Student-led Programs are officially recognized as a separate club/organization CELTS serves as the umbrella for student-led community service and academic service-learning Student Program Coordinators are responsible for the leadership of their specific program. They are responsible for the selection and training of their volunteers No one can become a team member in a program with out first being a volunteer

6. Issue or specific community focused project- The Model Each project/program has a specific and unique focus: Focus could be on specific issues, a specific community, or organizational affiliation Volunteer recruitment is made on the basis of specific issues rather than the general concepts of volunteerism or community service

7. Issue or specific community focused project- How it works in CELTS Each of the student-led programs has a different issue focus and population served. Two have affiliations with national organizations Each program recruits its own volunteers at the annual Volunteer Extravaganza, where potential volunteers choose the specific program in which they wish to work

8. Group Coordination of Volunteers- The Model Volunteers work in groups or teams, rather than individual placements This encourages informal (or formal) orientation, reflection and accountability This leads to a sense of community and support

10. Student Coordinators are responsible for the orientation, reflection and accountability of their team members and volunteers

12. Cascading Leadership Structure- How it works in CELTS This is the exact structure of our student-led programs Students begin working for us as volunteers and are able to move their way up to Team Members, Program Coordinators and CELTS Student Director Student leaders develop skills which they in turn help teach the younger students- both volunteers and team members The Training Cycle

13. Coalition-wide support functions for the projects- The Model There is a coalition-wide group of student leaders who help support project leaders in areas such as recruitment, funding, training, etc. Project Leaders know and utilize the assistance they can receive from coalition-wide leaders Coalition-wide leaders are experienced and ideally have former project leadership experience

14. Coalition-wide support functions for the projects- How it works at CELTS In CELTS, the coalition-wide student leaders are called the Student Leadership Team These three students represent the three areas of CELTS programming: Student-led Service Programs, Bonner Scholars and Academic Service-Learning All three of these students have previously served as a Student Coordinator in their particular program area

15. Systematic training of project leaders- The Model Project Leaders participate in a comprehensive training program which covers all the different areas of project management, including volunteer recruitment, funding, program development, community relations, reflection, etc. Sometimes this training is also offered as an academic course

17. Student Coordinators also attend a separate training each week in addition to the all student meeting above

21. Systematic quality improvement process- How it works in CELTS Student Coordinators are required to submit program updates monthly and an annual end of the year report, used to evaluate each program Each student worker (both Team Members and Student Coordinators) in CELTS receives a formal mid-term and end of year evaluation of their work and on-going informal Recently, a quantitative study showed that both CELTS student workers and volunteers graduated at a significantly higher rate and had a significantly higher GPA than those who did not work for CELTS or volunteer with CELTS The student-led programs of CELTS do not have an external funding board. All funding comes from Berea College, however, our Bonner Scholars Program is endowed by The Bonner Foundation

22. New Project Incubator- The Model The umbrella organization should have a clear system for adding or developing new projects which includes criteria and expectations Coalition staff should be able to articulate the value of joining the coalition

27. Thanks for coming! Heather McNew Schill CPO 2170 Berea College Berea, KY 40404 (859) 985-3804 Heather_Schill@berea.edu