We will be recruiting local affiliates (primarily colleges and universities in the Bonner Program network) that will create a community research or information bureau that looks like something like this:

The research and publishing process will be managed by participating campus-based bureaus under the direction of a lead faculty member. They will be supported by a local advisory board drawn from the local community, other faculty, and student leaders actively engaged in civic engagement activities.

Students will do the research and writing work, as part of their academic and community service roles. Specifically, the news and resources content will be gathered by students taking public policy courses, in academic internships, or supported through community service work-study placements. These positions will be advertised widely on campus, and will require participating students to have already taken one of several public policy and/or community journalism courses to be eligible for selection. We anticipate hiring three students to work full-time during the 2006 summer to complete the initial research that will enable the website to go live in the September 2006. We will then recruit three or five students to work 10 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters to keep the site up to date. The faculty project director will be the managing editor for the site.

The PolicyOptions Issue Briefs will be written by students in public policy courses.

Summary:

Local campus affiliates will have the following staff:

• research director (initially faculty on part-time basis, later as full-time staff)
• student researchers
  • part-time student interns who will conduct community and policy news and information
  • students in policy courses and graduate students assigned to or focused on specific types of research
• advisory board of community and campus leaders