Southwestern College, Winfield, KS
Educational Framework and Goal Assessment
During the Fall Semester, the board of students (Southwestern College Philanthropy Board) will be assembled within a month following the start of the school year. The first month of school will be spent recruiting students for the board and making preparations for the class. The board will be comprised of student representatives from the four service-learning groups on Southwestern CollegeÕs campus which include: Leadership, Discipleship, Entrepreneurship (Students in Free Enterprise, SIFE), and Sustainable Energy (The Green Team). The board will consist of eight to ten student representatives, at least two representatives from each organization listed above.
During the fall semester, the student board will meet bi-monthly for an extended seminar where they will: learn about philanthropy, develop a board vision, and work to understand grant criteria, requests for proposals, community asset mapping, and collaboration among givers and recipients. The seminar format will include content presentation by an expert immediately followed by related work (i.e. content presentation on Request for Proposals and then the philanthropy board will develop a request for proposal which they will use for their spring giving cycle.) Students will connect their class work with their field work and will put into action the information they are learning regarding philanthropy and community action. This is a style of education that these four service-learning organizations already practice. Students will learn about current issues and topics related to philanthropy, non-profits, grant writing, RFPs, etc. through current articles, journals, books, and speakers in the field at their bi-monthly seminar and lab.
Educational Goals for the SC Philanthropy Board include:
- SC Philanthropy Board students will collaborate with their fellow board members as well as community non-profits and community board members. This goal will be monitored by date, time, and organization with whom the board members interact.
- Students will be required to reflect on the process and the results through facilitated real-time discussion as well as development and use of a board blog. Progress on this goal will be assessed by the course facilitator.
- Students will inform their practice with research indicated by annotated footnotes on documents developed. The satisfactory completion of this goal will be assessed by the professor of leadership studies.
- Students will articulate their learning through the development of a board manual for year-two users to follow. The satisfactory completion of this goal will be assessed by the executive director of the community foundation.
The students will also utilize the Kids Impact Cowley County (KICC) Youth Philanthropy Board, a collaborative project between Southwestern College and the local community foundation, Legacy, as a field laboratory; meeting with them during their grant cycles to observe their decision-making process. Legacy is a philanthropic endowment for Cowley County and the surrounding areas. KICC is a group of high school students learning about the needs and resources of their local community. As a part of their organization they discover the power and influence they can have on their community through philanthropy and award grants that specifically benefit the youth of Cowley County. The Legacy Foundation and Southwestern College have partnered on the KICC project for over five years by providing two paid internship opportunities for third-year members of the Leadership Southwestern team, who direct the high school philanthropy board.
Support in Development of Grant Making Process
The SC Philanthropy Board will meet six times during the fall semester. In conjunction with the fall semester, the students will be credited one hour of college credit for their work. The spring semester will also consist of a second one hour credit course for the board. During the spring, students will meet eight times to: review RFPs, select grant recipients, and distribute the $15,000 in funds. In addition, board members will represent the SC Philanthropy Board in major community organizations such as United Way and the Philanthropic Educational Organization. Students will observe board procedures and report back to the SC Philanthropy Board. They will also act as consultants during the process of awarding the grant funds.
Supporters include:
- Cheryl L. Rude, Ph.D. — Associate Professor of Leadership Studies
- Pam Moore — Executive Director of Legacy
- Dick Merriman, Ph.D. — President of Southwestern College, Chair of Kansas Campus Compact
- Paul Bean — Vice-President Institutional Advancement at SC
- Laura Morgan — Senior Student, 4th year Leadership Team Member
Ongoing Financial Support
With a portion of the administrative budget from the Students4Giving Grant, the SC Philanthropy Board will hire a Southwestern College Computer Science student to set up and design a website for the philanthropy board and foundation. The website will include a location for organizations or individuals to donate money to the philanthropy program. To enhance the success of the subsequent years, the Legacy Foundation and Southwestern College have agreed to support the philanthropy board in the amounts of $3,000 each. We are currently in the process of seeking out other options and supporters. In addition, the Legacy Foundation and Southwestern CollegeÕs Institutional Advancement office are both willing to help us search for other supporters and donors in the upcoming months.
We have a solid start and the support of several strong and trusted community organizations. Over the last ten years, Southwestern College has been successful in receiving and implementing grant funds exceeding $150,000 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Kansas Health Foundation, and other local foundations. We have a passionate and educated body of students who consistently seek opportunities to apply their education beyond the classroom. Our students, within one service-learning program alone, contributed over 3408 volunteer hours during the 2007-2008 year, with over 600 people served. If progress is allowed to proceed through the receiving of the Kansas Compact Grant, there is little doubt that the Board will continue to impact service projects throughout the state as a sustainable and effective resource.
