STETSON UNIVERSITY BONNER SCHOLARS & LEADERS PROGRAM
CONSTITUTION
Purpose:
The purpose of this constitution is to define the rights, benefits, and expectations of the
individuals enrolled in the Stetson University Bonner Scholars & Leaders Program. All Bonner
students will be held accountable for adhering to the guidelines set forth in this constitution
and the guidelines provided by the Bonner Foundation.
Mission:
The Stetson University Bonner Program seeks to instill a life-long commitment to service in
students while enabling them to become advocates for social change. All program experiences
endeavor to challenge students to go outside the areas that they are comfortable in so that
they can gain a better understanding and appreciation of other cultures and cultural values.
Through service, the Bonner Program aspires to promote a sense of community involvement
and pride. Students are encouraged to demonstrate a commitment to community service and
make connections between their service activities and their academic life.
Bonner students view their service as an integral part of their education and instrumental in the
development of leadership and personal growth. The Bonner Program plays a critical role in
the campus wide service ethic and promotes involvement from both campus and community
groups. This partnership of Bonner students and other concerned citizens seeks to utilize the
existing programs and implement new initiatives to solve both community problems as well as
raise awareness of the larger issues facing our society.
ARTICLE I: Purpose of the Bonner Scholarship
The Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation works with participating colleges to enable
students to financially complete a four year undergraduate degree while gaining experiences
and knowledge through service to surrounding communities. The Bonner Scholars & Leaders
Program is designed to provide academic support, financial assistance, and enrichment
activities to the students within the program. Each Bonner student serves as a representative
of the Stetson University Bonner Program, Stetson University, and the Bonner Foundation.
Each Bonner student, therefore, is expected to reflect exemplary service and attitude.
ARTICLE II: Community Service Requirement
For the purposes of the Bonner Program, “community service” is defined as service provided to
individuals or communities to meet social, educational, or environmental needs. This service
may be provided directly or indirectly through a student-initiated project or a project
sponsored by a non-profit or government agency.
Ineligible Activities
The following activities will not count towards meeting a Bonner student’s service requirement
either during the school year or in the summer:
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service on behalf of a private, for-profit company or organization;
service on behalf of a political organization or campaign;
service also counting for academic credit as a part of a service-learning or communitybased research course, either at Stetson University or another institution of higher
education;
pure, scientific research in a laboratory;
activity whose primary focus is to support worship, evangelical and proselytizing
activities within a church or para-church organizations. These activities include but are
not limited to, service that focuses on religious instruction, indoctrination or conversion.
Examples include providing childcare at church in support of a worship service, teaching
in evangelical and proselytizing programs, participating in worship service, and clerical
and/or administrative work for the organization.
School Year Service
Bonner Scholars and Leaders are required to perform an average of eight hours of community
service and two hours of training and enrichment activities a week during the academic year for
a total of no less than 280 hours (140 hours each semester) to fulfill the school-year service
requirement. Six of the eight hours of service required of students each week (equaling 84
hours each semester) must be done with a local permanent service site. The other two hours
each week may be put towards ITS events, volunteer days, exploration of a new service site, or
service trips. The following specifications must also be kept in mind:
 Bonner students are not permitted to “bank” hours during any semester of service that
will then be applied to meet the service expectation in future semesters.
 No less than half of a Bonner student’s service hours must be spent in “direct, handson” community service activities such as tutoring, visiting the elderly, environmental
clean-up, building a home, or renovating a playground.
 No more than half of a Bonner student’s service hours may be spent in “indirect”
community service activities such as administrative tasks related to the Bonner Scholars
& Leaders Program or action research on behalf of a community group. This rule does
not, however, apply to those individuals serving as Senior Interns.
 No more than 50 hours from a school year service trip may count towards the semester
hours.
 Approval of all sites must be given by the Director or Coordinator of the Bonner Scholars
& Leaders Program prior to beginning hours by means of a completed community
learning agreement.
ARTICLE III: Training and Enrichment
Participation in the following activities is required of all Bonner students:
 Every Bonner student is required to participate once in a New Bonner Orientation
program, as well as yearly in fall and spring retreats.
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Bonner students are required to attend all weekly training and enrichment workshops,
including, but not limited to, All-Calls, Class-Based meetings, Issue-Based meetings, and
family events.
Freshmen Bonner Scholars must be enrolled in Bonner Scholars Program first year
seminar course
Freshmen Bonners must plan and execute a First-Year Service Trip.
Sophomore Bonners must plan and execute a Sophomore Exchange with another school
in the Bonner network.
Junior Bonners must take part in the “Junior Legacy Project,” as detailed by the Stetson
Bonner Handbook.
Senior Bonners must make a Senior Capstone Presentation, including an Exit Interview
and a Presentation of Learning and Community Impact. The opportunity for loan
reductions will not be offered to those who do not complete this presentation.
ARTICLE IV: Reporting Responsibilities
Every Bonner student must utilize bwbrs.org to prepare for, track, and reflect upon service
experiences. This process, repeated every semester that a student remains in Bonner, involves
the submission of:
 A Community Learning Agreement (CLA) for a student’s primary service commitment(s),
which should be in place no later than four weeks into each semester.
 Monthly hour logs, signed by all supervisors, either electronically or by hand, are due on
or before the fifth of each month. Please note that although hour logs are only turned
in once per month, logging must occur on a weekly basis.
 One or two Service Accomplishments at the conclusion of the semester.
ARTICLE V: Bonner Scholarship and Financial Aid Package
The Bonner Scholarship is a four-year scholarship that provides financial support to full-time
students for a total of eight semesters. All Bonners are also eligible for a number of different
AmeriCorps Education Awards.
Off-Campus Programs
Bonner students participating in off-campus programs (semester abroad, etc) are still eligible
for Bonner assistance as long as they continue to meet the service expectation of 10 hours per
week during the school year. Bonner Leaders will, however, be ineligible to continue with their
AmeriCorps scholarship program while abroad because of governmental regulations. Hours
may also be completed during the winter or summer break prior to or immediately following
the off-campus experience.
Summer Support
All Bonners Scholars are required to take part in two Summers of Service. Bonner Leaders are
also strongly encouraged to take part in this additional leadership opportunity. In order to fund
this experience, Bonner students may apply for financial assistance of varying amounts to
conduct internships and service experiences over the summer vacation.
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ARTICLE VI: Deficiency
Because the Bonner Program is multi-faceted, there are three different ways that one can be
considered deficient.
Grade Point Average
Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0.
 If a first year student does not earn a 2.0 GPA in his or her first semester, the student is
placed on Bonner academic probation. If the student is able to earn a 2.0 for the
following semester, the student may remain in the Bonner Program, but will remain on
Bonner academic probation until his or her cumulative GPA reaches 2.0.
 If any other Bonner student fails to earn a 2.0 for the semester, that student will be
placed on Bonner academic warning as long as the cumulative GPA remains at 2.0 or
above. If the cumulative GPA falls below 2.0, the student will be put on Bonner
academic probation.
 A student who does not earn a 2.0 in two consecutive semesters is put on probation
even if the cumulative GPA is above 2.0.
 A student who is on Bonner Academic Probation must earn at least a 2.0 GPA in each
semester while on Probation, or the student will be removed from the program.
School Year Service
 Any Bonner student who has completed fewer than 140 documented hours for any one
semester will be considered deficient for that semester. Deficiency will be handled on a
case-by-case basis but will follow the procedure outlined below:
 If a Bonner student has logged between 100 and 140 hours of service, the student can
make up the hours during the winter or summer break immediately following the
deficient semester. Upon completion of these “make up” hours, the student will no
longer be deficient and will promptly be removed from probation.
 Bonner students may receive this “extension” up to 2 times during the four years of
participation.
 Students who complete less than 100 hours in any one semester will be required to
repay the difference between their logged hours and the 140 hour requirement to
Stetson at a rate of $8.92/hour. This rule also applies to those individuals who quit the
program during a semester, either formally or informally (as defined by no longer doing
service hours). The required payment will be due by the end of the following semester
or at the time of the student’s removal from the program, whichever comes first. In
addition, the student will be put on probation for the following semester.
 If a Bonner student is deficient in excess of 40 hours for any two semesters during
participation in the Bonner Program, he or she will be dismissed from the Program.
Participation
 Bonner students must attend every scheduled Training and Enrichment activity unless
the student requests (and receives) an excused absence due to academic, athletic,
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personal emergency or health-related reasons. To be valid, this excuse must be emailed
to bonner@stetson.edu within 72 hours of the missed event.
Upon the first unexcused absence in one academic year, the Bonner student will receive
a written warning via email from the Program Coordinator.
Upon the second unexcused absence in one academic year, the Bonner student will
receive a verbal warning from the Program Coordinator.
Upon the third unexcused absence in one academic year, the Bonner student will be
immediately placed on probation and will need to meet one-on-one with the Program
Coordinator within a week to discuss the ways missed training hours will be made up.
Upon the fourth unexcused absence in one academic year, the Bonner student will be
subject to expulsion from the program, pending a hearing with the Program
Coordinator.
ARTICLE VII: Dismissal from the Bonner Scholars & Leaders Program
Bonner students will be dismissed from the Bonner Scholars & Leaders Program for the
following reasons:
 Cheating on hours.
 Violating College policies or participating in organizations or events inconsistent with
the mission and goals of the institution.
 Being deficient on documented service hours in excess of 40 hours for a combination of
any two semesters during participation in the Bonner Program. Leniency may be
extended to first semester Bonner students who demonstrated good effort towards
service during the exploration process, but took longer to obtain a CLA commitment.
 Being deficient on attendance in Training and Enrichment activities as outlined above.
 Having below a 2.0 cumulative grade point average for two consecutive semesters or
earning a semester GPA lower than 2.0 while on academic probation.
ARTICLE VIII: Appeals
Any deficient semester or pending dismissal from the Bonner Program may be appealed to the
Program Coordinator. The appeal process is as follows: The Bonner student will submit, in
writing, to the Coordinator a letter explaining the reason(s) for the deficiency. Upon the
Coordinator’s receipt of this letter, the student must meet with the Coordinator within three
business days for an individual conference. After this meeting, the Coordinator will respond by
letter to the student within three business days with a decision. If the Bonner student is not
satisfied with the Coordinator’s decision, he or she may appeal to the Division Vice President.
The Vice President’s decision will be conveyed to the Bonner student by letter within three
business days. The decision of the Vice President will be considered final.
ARTICLE IX: Returning to the Program
Any student that chooses to leave Stetson or the Bonner Program also chooses to forfeit his or
her scholarship position. Unfortunately, because of the competitive nature of the program,
vacated spots cannot be reserved or held. Those students that are able to return at a later date
may reapply for program. If spots are available, applicants may be allowed to rejoin the Bonner
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Program, pending a review by the Bonner Program coordinator and Vice President of Campus
Life.
ARTICLE X: Leadership Structure
The active role of Bonner students in the leadership and vision of the program is considered
very important at Stetson University. Committees and other leadership roles can be used
toward indirect service hours.
One way to serve in a leadership role is to apply to represent Stetson at the annual Bonner
Congress Meeting. As representatives, two students share their vision and Stetson’s vision of
the future of the Bonner Program with representatives from participating schools, as well as
report back any new programs or ideas that are discussed at the Congress.
Bonner students may also apply to serve one-year terms as a Lead Team member. Each spring,
current Lead Team members will need to reapply for their position for the following academic
year. The Lead Team is advised by the Bonner Senior Intern(s).
Roles and Responsibilities for Bonner Lead Team
 Serve on a leadership team that meets weekly and steers the vision and direction of the
Bonner Program
 Mentor up to 10 Bonner students in their service experience, providing frequent
communication and support
 Assist with Bonner Trainings, Enrichment, and other Activities as requested by Bonner
Staff and Senior Intern(s)
ARTICLE XI: Ratification of the Constitution
The constitution shall be ratified and amended by the same process. The constitution and
amendments must be passed with a three-fourths vote of the Leadership Team. It must then
be given to the Director of the Bonner Scholars & Leaders Program for approval. Upon
approval, the constitution will be presented at a large group meeting and must pass with a
three-fourths majority vote with at least two-thirds of the Bonners present and voting. The
Coordinator of the Bonner Scholars & Leaders Program may also amend the constitution at his
or her discretion to reflect programmatic changes communicated by the Bonner Foundation.
This document was developed on January 05, 2006, and last amended on August 8, 2011.
PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN THIS SECTION
Bonner Scholars & Leaders:
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Please provide your signature below to indicate that you have read and understand the
contents of the Stetson University Bonner Scholars & Leaders Program Constitution, and you
agree to the terms and commitment as described by the Constitution.
Signature: ______________________________________
Date: ________________
Print Name: _____________________________________
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