capacity building and its link to capstones

Overview: The Bonner Capstone Project, otherwise known as a community-driven variation of AAC&U’s (the Association of American Colleges and Universities) “Signature Work,” is a culminating educational activity in which students integrate and apply their learning to a significant community-engaged project with meaning to the student and to society (AACU, 2015). This is part three (of 8) of a series for Bonner Scholars and Leaders to complete an integrative community engaged signature capstone by graduation. Students are introduced to the concept of capacity building and learn techniques on how to apply that idea to their sites. They have a change to learn the skills necessary to have conversations with partners about their needs, using fictional scenarios, and then apply the skills learned to their sites using a guided worksheet. (Note, however, that staff should still be conducting such planning with sites on a regular basis and recording their project requests). Students will apply these ideas to thinking about potential capstone projects, preparing them for later phases to creating a personal work plan.

Capacity Building and Its Link to

CapstonesBWBRS Description:

Bonner Capstone Series

This is part three (of 8) of a series for Bonner Scholars and Leaders to complete an integrative community engaged signature capstone by graduation. In this workshop, students learn about capacity building and explore the types of capacity-building projects they might later do for a community partner.

Bonner Capstone #3 Session (Capacity Building Mindset) page !1

Sophomore/Junior

Key Words: Capacity building, communication, civic engagement, project planning, visioning, critical thinking, reflection, organizational skills, and site-based asset mapping

8 Themes: Second or Third Year - time this workshop to prepare students for identifying a capacity building capstone

Bonner Developmental Connections: This workshop is intended for students by their first semester of

their pre-capstone year. If the capstone is completed during the junior year, then this training should be done earlier, during the first semester of sophomore year. If the capstone is completed during the senior year, it is suggested that the workshop is completed during the first semester of junior year.

Bonner/VALUE Rubric Outcomes: This workshop will help students practice Integrative Learning by

applying concepts learned in their studies and college experiences and applying them to solve real world problems. Capstone project planning will involve reflecting on prior service experience, understanding and assessing the partners’ needs, and creating a capacity-building project to address those requests.

Focus or Goals of this Guide:

· Participants will learn the purpose and framework of capacity building. · Participants will practice designing questions to ask their respective community

partners. · Participants will take away a plan on how to approach a conversation with

community partners regarding a capacity-building project.

Materials:

· Projector · Slides (provided in guide) · Printed out scenarios (provided in guide) · Needs Assessment Brainstorm worksheet (provided in guide) · Organization Capacity Building Opportunities worksheet (provided in guide)


· Writing materials · A room or space that allows for students to break out into groups and collaborate

How to Prepare:

To prepare, make sure that you reserve a room that has space for three groups of students to collaborate. The room should have a projector for the accompanying slides. Print enough scenarios and needs assessment brainstorm worksheets ahead of time for each of your students and bring extra writing materials for your students. Reviewing the slides, activities, and handouts ahead of time will be helpful for the facilitator. For example, one slide asks the facilitator to be prepared with the college’s vision and/or mission statement in order to personalize the workshop to the school.

Brief Outline:

The activities in this workshop will be a great way to recap the expectations of capstone projects for students while teaching them to focus on one branch of the sweet spot: community. Students will practice building skills with fictional scenarios and then apply those skills to their actual service sites in order to prepare them for conducting a needs assessment. This workshop will teach students how to analyze their communities, and their placement in those communities, in preparation for devising a holistic personal development plan in the following workshop.

1) Introduction suggested time 5 minutes 2) Introducing Capacity Building suggested time 10 minutes 3) Scenarios suggested time 30 minutes 4) Reflection suggested time 10 minutes 5) Needs Assessment Brainstorm suggested time 15 minutes 6) Conclusion suggested time 5 minutes

Your Plan

This workshop is organized for a 75 minute session, but can be adjusted to fit any time slot that you may have.

Part 1) Introduction 5 minutes

Use the slides provided to guide your introduction of the workshop to students. The introduction should run as follows:


Slide 2

Slide 3

Slide 4


• Review workshop topic

• Review workshop goals

• Review workshop agenda

• Review definition of signature work

Slide 6

Introduce Brave Space rules using the guide below.

Brave Space:

Brave Space rules, also known as Safe Space rules, are conversational guidelines set at the beginning of meetings so that students and facilitators understand the expectations of one another, especially regarding difficult conversations. While students are expected to follow the rules, facilitators are purposed with enforcing them if the conversation runs awry. Though this workshop in particular is not expected to breach controversial topics, it is always a good idea to instill rules at the beginning of Bonner meetings to teach students how to have productive and respectful discussions with or without controversy.

To do this, begin by introducing the purpose of Brave Space rules (as mentioned previously) and give an example (e.g. do not talk over one another). Ask students what expectations they have of each other and make a list where every student can see it clearly during the entire meeting; a whiteboard is usually a good space to do this.


• Review elements of a Bonner Capstone Project

• Emphasize that this workshop is focused on the community aspect of the capstone process

If you are introducing Brave Space rules for the first time, oftentimes students are skeptical, so also come prepared with your own list of rules in case they do not come up with many. Examples include the following:

· Do not talk over one another · Listen to understand, not to respond (or practice active listening) · Speak only for yourself (by using “I” statements) · Do not repeat; instead use other techniques such as snapping to agree with what

someone is saying · No personal attacks · Ask questions · Challenge each other

Once you have devised Brave Space rules, make sure to refer back to them if the discussion portions of the workshop become unruly or off-topic.

Part 2) Introduction to Capacity Building 15 minutes

The purpose of this section is to introduce your students to capacity building, how it is different from direct service, how it fits into their Bonner capstones, and why it is important. Use the presentation slides to guide your students’ introduction to capacity building concepts. Slide 7: What is Capacity Building?


• Ask, “What is capacity building?” • Invite a few participants to respond • Note that the slide gives one of many

definitions for capacity building • Ask, “Can anyone name some examples

of a capacity-building project?” • Invite a few participants to respond

Feel free to use or modify the following script when explaining these concepts:

During the upperclassmen years of the Bonner experience, students should move into projects that build the capacity of the school, organization, or agency to deliver its programs. Sometimes this means moving from a direct service role to more of a program development, management, or capacity building role. For instance, a student who has stocked shelves at the food pantry might create a database and increase local donations for the food pantry. A student who has tutored kids after school might write new curriculum for the program. A student might also move into a social action campaign to organize and advocate for better local policies around the issues they have served.

Slide 9

Feel free to use or modify the following script when explaining these concepts: It is important to recognize that capacity building projects are developed and implemented with service organizations, so it is essential to identify needs and then address them using campus resources and your own learning.


• Tell students that this slide features the Bonner Developmental model.

• Take this time to explain where your students are in the process (either sophomore or junior year) and be clear to differentiate between direct client service and capacity building/social action.

• All nonprofits need to ensure they maintain capacity. According to the National Council of Nonprofits, capacity building is necessary to support the very foundation of the organizations that serve the populations we care about

• Emphasize the importance of a strong infrastructure and how your students can enhance this with strong capacity building capstone projects.

It is probably helpful here to elicit examples from students of: • Program Development and Training

• Communications Projects

• Volunteer Recruitment and Management

• Fundraising and Resource Development

• Research

Try to use examples from your own campus and program’s community partners.


• Review the five original types of capacity building as defined by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

• If students gave examples in the previous slide, make sure to relate those examples back to the categories provided.

Slide 12

Slide 13

Part 3) Scenarios 30 minutes

The purpose of the scenario activity is to teach students how to:

• Compare and discuss types of capacity building projects and direct service • Pursue capacity building projects in alignment with their community partners’ goals

and mission


• Review capacity-building data collected from Bonner Schools’ 2017-18 Annual Reports.

• Tell participants that this chart gives a broad overview of projects being done across the country by their peers in the program.

• Tell participants that through further analysis of Bonner schools’ Annual Reports, the Foundation has added two new categories to capacity building: disciplinary projects (such as creative projects) and social action campaigns.

• Review both descriptions on slide

• Give participants a minute or two to read the slide over

• Ask, “Do any of you have any questions any questions or concerns regarding the purpose, types, and application of capacity building projects

Use the 14th and 15th presentation slides for this activity. The 15th slide provides a sample scenario for the students to work through as a group, which should take 10 minutes as a group to complete.

The scenario on the slide is as follows:

I am a sophomore Bonner. I just switched my major to public health and my service site to a local clinic. I’m new to the academic content of my newfound passions and the community that I’m serving at my site. I am thinking about working with the clinic and forging a role in capacity building and, eventually, a capstone that addresses one of its needs while also meshing with my academic coursework and learning. What can I do to learn more about the work of the clinic and to identify various projects that I could work on that are needed?

This scenario is vague, so use the following questions to guide your students in coming up with a collective solution to address how a student can more fully immerse in their site (new or old):

• What can the student do to get to know the clinic and its programs? • How might the student identify roles at the site that involve capacity building? • What can the student do to begin formulating ideas for capstone work?

Prompt your students to provide a plan for the sample student to follow, personalizing the facilitation to your campus, your program, and your community. For the sample scenario and the scenarios following, the purpose is to teach students the skills to identify capacity building projects and to create a plan on how to pursue those projects.

The 15th slide provides instructions for students to complete their own scenarios. Randomly pass out one of each of the scenarios to your students and allow them 5 minutes to complete the worksheet. During this time, it may be helpful to pull up the 10th slide that defines the 5 original types of capacity building projects so they can refer back to it for the activity. Afterwards, have students with the same scenario group up and spend 5 minutes discussing the best possible solution. Spend the last 10 minutes rearranging the groups so that there is at least one of each scenario in a group to explain each of the best possible solutions. Once the three components of the activity have been completed, allow students to sit where they want for reflection.


Part 4) Reflection 10 minutes

Following the presentation of scenarios, the facilitator will guide reflection on the purpose of the activity and how the skills the students practiced can be applied to their service sites. Ask students the questions provided on the presentation slides and have a few students share their answers. The goal is to link the skills the students practiced in the hypothetical scenarios to what they may encounter as they move forward in pursuing their own capstone projects. Questions include:

• What did you learn from the activity? • Why did we do this activity? • How might you apply what you learned moving forward?

Part 5) Needs Assessment Brainstorm 15 minutes

Use the 17th slide in the presentation to introduce the Needs Assessment Brainstorm Worksheet. Slide 17

Part 6) Conclusion 5 minutes Use the 18th slide to help conclude your workshop.


• Encourage participants to think about the scenario activity, what they learned about capacity building, and their placement at their own sites to fill out the worksheet

• Allow for 10 minutes of quiet reflection or allow students to group up by site and discuss possible ways to discover and address needs collectively

• During this time, the facilitator should also walk around to clarify directions or answer any questions that the students may have

Credits:

Developed in 2018 by Ashlee Renich-Malek, Bonner Alumna at Stetson University.

The following are references that helped guide the making and compilation of this training:

National Council of Nonprofits. (2018). What is Capacity Building? National Council of Nonprofits. Retrieved from https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/what-capacity-building

Handouts:

The handouts for this training are as follows: • Capacity Building Scenarios (pgs 12-15)

• Scenario 1 (pg 12) • Scenario 2 (pg 13) • Scenario 3 (pg 14) • Scenario 4 (pg 15)

•Needs Assessment Brainstorm Worksheet (pg 16) •Organizational Capacity Building Opportunities Worksheet (pg 17)


• Review the workshop goals • Pass out the Organizational Capacity

Building Opportunities worksheet and task participants with the next step in the capstone process: using the worksheet to have a guided conversation with their community partners about possible capstone ideas

• Inform participants that the next workshop in the series will focus on the other two areas of the sweet spot: academics and identity/vocation.

https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/what-capacity-building

https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/what-capacity-building

Capacity Building Scenarios

Scenario 1:

I am a volunteer at an environmental education center. Over the past year, I have helped maintain animal habitats and have served as a docent for our exhibits. My supervisor is starting to give me a few more responsibilities regarding our next environmental clean-up, including designing advertisements and recruiting volunteers. I have some ideas on how to most efficiently increase the number of volunteers who attend, but I’m not sure how much authority I have at the center. I have a good relationship with my supervisor, but she’s hardly around and often busy. I think my experience on the ground and working with visitors to our center has allowed me to gain a unique insight on how to encourage others to care about our event, but I may be most helpful in serving as a docent on the day of our event since that is what I am most experienced with. What should I do to develop myself professionally and propose my ideas in a respectful way?

What is the potential capacity building project presented?

What do I need to do to proceed with pursuing this potential capacity building project?



Scenario 2:

I am a volunteer with an evening adult English as a Second Language program. During our most recent assessments, our students have shown that their reading comprehension skills are stagnant. My supervisor tasks me with designing a new program to help improve the scores. I’m not really sure where to start since I’ve never developed curriculum before. It’s difficult to incentivize increased involvement in the ESOL program for full-time professionals who are already opt into our program with the little free time that they do have. Maybe I can just read to them more or bring in more interesting books. What should I do?





Scenario 3:

I am a volunteer at a homeless shelter and resource center. My entire two years I’ve been volunteering here, I’ve been completing necessary, but low-responsibility tasks, such as filing papers and working the front desk as secretary. My supervisor is not really involved in my development and is hesitant to give me more responsibility due to the sensitivity of the clients we work with. My professor who teaches my systemic poverty class introduced me to a grant that could apply and be very applicable to my site, but I would have to work with my supervisor to obtain some of the necessary information. What do I do?





Scenario 4:

I am a volunteer at my local Boys and Girls Club. Usually, I help with homework and help keep the kids engaged, but from my observations, there’s a lot of room for growth, especially when it comes to meeting the learning needs of the kids. This can be done by collecting and analyzing data based off of their report cards and volunteers’ interactions with them at the Club, such as what learning techniques work best. I first need parents’ permission in order to collect data and release grade reports, which is nearly impossible to since they are busy, full-time professionals. I also fear that if I spend more time researching than with the kids, I will lose my relationship with them. What do I do?




Needs Assessment Brainstorm Worksheet

The purpose of this worksheet is to reflect on your experiences at your site thus far, your personal development, and the mission of your organization to prepare you for conducting a needs assessment at your site.

Describe your service experience thus far (observations, positions, responsibilities, community served, supervisors, etc).

What research have I done regarding my community partner and the population it serves?

What possible capacity building capstone project ideas do I have?

What questions do I have for my supervisor?

Date I plan on meeting with my site supervisor:


Organizational Capacity Building Opportunities

Below is the content for the form that partners use to identify capacity-building projects for their site. These are implemented by staff. As you (as Bonners) think about your own role, identify areas where you might be able to integrate such work. How might you discuss these projects with your site supervisor?


capacity building and its link to capstones

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