Rural Community College Research Articles

Classifying community colleges: How rural community colleges fit

AbstractThis chapter describes rural community colleges, compares them to their urban and suburban counter‐parts, and highlights the unique challenges they face in the twenty‐first century.

Residential living at rural community colleges

AbstractAlthough most community colleges do not have on‐campus housing, many rural two‐year colleges do. Relying on federal institutional survey data, this chapter discusses issues related to the operation of residence halls and implications for both students and rural community college leaders. The chapter concludes with recommendations for policy and practice.

The rural differential: Bridging the resource gap

AbstractRural communities have fewer financial resources, making the community colleges located in these regions central to economic development. This chapter reviews the importance of recognizing the rural differential via policy changes and offers strategies to close the resource gap between rural and nonrural community colleges.

Building Communities: How Rural Community Colleges Develop their Communities and the People who Live in them

Community colleges in rural environments provide a variety of services. There is a great deal of documentation supporting those services that are academic and economic. The noneconomic and nonacademic results of community college activities, however, have an undocumented yet significant impact on local communities. The current study focused on how the activities of rural community colleges impacted local community self-identity. Using three case studies in the rural mid-south, four primary themes were identified as outcomes of these rural colleges' actions: developing community inclusiveness, developing community pride, creating a value-added community lifestyle, and being the central defining component of the host community.

Challenges Facing Rural Community Colleges: Issues and Problems Today and Over the Past 30 Years

For over 30 years, researchers and practitioners have identified challenges unique to small, rural community colleges. The purpose of this study was to examine the distinctive problems facing rural community colleges today and the challenges those institutions must address to fulfill their mission in rural America. There are 5 current challenges commonly identified by 10 rural community college administrators in Kansas: technology use, grant writing, an evolving student population and corresponding changes to the mission, funding inequalities between institutions, and hiring qualified people. Identified challenges were compared with problems described in the literature from the last 30 years.

MEETING THE NEEDS OF NEW FACULTY AT RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES

ABSTRACT To determine what attracts faculty to rural community colleges, a qualitative study based on the theory of met expectations was conducted. The faculty members who expressed satisfaction were those who were comfortable living and working in a rural community, enjoyed the challenge of teaching students who varied considerably in their readiness for college-level work, and delighted in their students' accomplishments. In the words of one participant “if you like it here you will be fine.”

New Rural Community College Faculty Members and Job Satisfaction

To determine what attracts faculty to rural community colleges, a qualitative study, based on the theory of met expectations, was conducted. The faculty who expressed satisfaction were those who were comfortable living and working in a rural community, enjoyed the challenge of teaching students who varied considerably in their readiness for college level work, and delighted in their students' accomplishments. In the words of one participant: "If you like it here you will be fine."

THE WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA TECHNOLOGY CONSORTIUM: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

Community college presidents face an uphill struggle in preparing their institutions for the rapidly changing technological learning environment. Visionary presidents in rural community colleges are presented with yet another challenge: that of finding themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide. This article describes how presidents of 12 rural community colleges in the mountains of western North Carolina formed a technology consortium to collaboratively address critical technology issues. Integral steps in the joint venture were a combined assessment and planning process authorized by the presidents, formation of the Western North Carolina Technology Consortium, and an e-commerce project designed to meet the needs of small busi-nesses and entrepreneurs in the region. Lessons learned and implications for practice are presented for community college presidents seeking ways to collaborate.

Learning From Them Learning From Us. Participating in Citizenship Through a School/District Council Partnership Project

This paper identifies a number of problems facing school councils and examines their possible remit and function. It outlines a project aimed at improving school councils in a rural community college by fostering links with the local district council. The paper summarizes research aimed at understanding the authors' particular concept of participation and responsible action. They describe work undertaken with pupils and adults involved in this project. It concludes that as well as improving the school councils, such work can provide benefits to both partners by widening pupils' understanding of the functions of local government and providing an opportunity for councillors and council officers to connect with young peoples' perspectives.

The Influence of the Rural Community College Initiative on Increasing Civic Capacity in Distressed Rural Communities

This article discusses the influence of the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) on the development of civic capacity in distressed rural communities. RCCI was a demonstration project funded by the Ford Foundation to explore the ways that rural community colleges can act as catalysts for economic and educational opportunity in persistently poor regions. Among other factors, a qualitative assessment of the project conducted by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) concluded that, although economic and educational progress was hard to measure, there was clear evidence of increased energy for community development. RCCI was distinctive from other community-based initiatives in that it included a nationwide network of institutions and used third-party intervention to facilitate the development of collaboration between college and community rather than relying on the resources of the college alone. Examples from Appalachian colleges participating in the initiative illustrate that this process of intervention and networking resulted in increased confidence in civic involvement by both college staff and community members.

Back to the future: Surviving the pace of change

My father spent his career as a social science instructor at a rural community college in Michigan, where he is a locally recognized orator on the subject of society, culture, and the future. As a growing student, I was often enlisted in dinner table trivia quizzes that included inquiries, such as “what percentage of the Gross National Product do you think the U.S. grants in foreign aid?” (a mere one-tenth of 1%, he would instruct, rendering my guess at least 1000% too high), and where—on an imaginary chronological continuum that stretched the table length—I thought humans appeared on the planet? (I was typically about two feet off the mark). I clearly recollect his lecture notes on the book reviews ofAlvin Toffler’s Future Shock (1970), which described many cultural and societal changes that we could expect in the next 20 years. My father’s lectures forecasted our life at the turn of the century with astonishing accuracy.

Editor's Choice: The Worklife of Student Service Professionals at Rural Community Colleges

The literature on community colleges focuses extensively on students, faculty members and the top leadership. Noticeably absent are studies about administrators such as those who provide services for students. The researchers looked at the elements of administrative worklife at two rural community colleges. Findings reveal patterns in the nature of work, rewards, and relationships that these professionals encounter.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED: ATYPICAL DOCTORAL PREPARATION OF LEADERS IN RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES

This article discusses the Doctor of Philosophy degree program in Community College Leadership at Mississippi State University and its innovative, interdisciplinary approach to educating future rural community college administrators. The program is atypical compared to most community college programs throughout the nation and was developed based on community college presidential responses to a five-state study conducted in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee on meeting the academic and economic development needs of the rural mid-south region of the United States.

TRANSFER RATES AMONG STUDENTS FROM RURAL, SUBURBAN, AND URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGES: WHAT WE KNOW, DON'T KNOW, AND NEED TO KNOW

During the past decade much thought has been given to the merits and weaknesses of different ways of calculating transfer rates. This debate, although legitimate and necessary, has not led to research on transfer rates among colleges in different geographic locations. Furthermore, the lack of consensus and sometimes neglect in defining geographic location has reduced the reliability of the data that do exist. This article examines what is known about transfer rates by geographic location and what remains to be studied. Findings on differences by ethnic group and location also are presented. Although there are indications that students from rural areas differ from their urban and suburban counterparts, there has been little work that explores the impact of those differences on transfer rates. The need for further research on transfer rates and college location is also addressed.

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

This article reviews four major reports of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, regarding the digital divide and rural community colleges. The first report was published in 1995; subsequent reports were issued in 1998, 1999, and 2000. It is clear that a digital divide, as measured by lower penetration rates of telephone usage, personal computer ownership, and Internet access and usage, exist in rural America. These lower rates exist for nearly every category measured, including single parent households, young and old persons, minority and majority populations, persons with disabilities, adult educational attainment, and income. The reports reveal that in many aspects the divide is growing. Current data on PC ownership and Internet usage are presented for dissemination to practitioners. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this divide for rural community college students, teachers, administrators, and policymakers.

DEVELOPING CLIMATES FOR RENEWAL IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: A CASE STUDY OF DISSIPATIVE SELF-ORGANIZATION

To sustain relevance in the twenty-first century, community college programs must evolve in cadence with the shifting needs of information-age learners. Focusing on a rural community college in the Southeastern United States, this case study explored relationships among organizational climate conditions and the college's capacity to recognize and respond to changes in learner needs. Data collection techniques included participant-observation, document analysis, and interviews. A theoretical framework stemming from both dissipative self-organizing systems and organizational climate structured the interpretation of the qualitative data. Four salient themes emerged - identifying organizational structure, empowerment, communication/interdependence, and shared vision - as organizational climate conditions that set the stage for effective information processing and efficient organizational renewal. The findings point to the dissipative self-organization paradigm as a useful framework for interpreting organizational renewal in rural community colleges facing severe environmental turbulence.

The Revised Institution: The Community College Mission at the End of the Twentieth Century

Seven urban and rural community colleges in the United States and Canada were examined using a qualitative multiple-case-study design to define changes in the colleges' institutional missions during the 1990s. Group site visits, personal interviews with administrators and faculty, and policy documents provided the data, which were analyzed using an analytical framework drawn from globalization literature. Two iterations of pattern coding and content analysis identified specific themes and patterns in documents, interviews, and observations. Observational data also provided support for emerging patterns. Although most of the interviewees perceived little change in their institutions' missions during the 1990s, the data collected indicated alterations to mission based on global economic concerns. The author summarizes the mission changes at each college and suggests that a new globally oriented vocationalism dominated the community college mission at the end of the twentieth century.

COLLABORATION BETWEEN A SMALL RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND A LARGE INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION FOR CUSTOMIZED TRAINING

This study was designed to determine if a small rural community college and a major manufacturing corporationcould develop a successfulpartnership through a training program and satisfy the needs of both organizations. A program evaluation was used to partly validate the purpose of the college (i.e., to serve its community and meet the training needs of the corporation). Small community colleges are not always the expected source of training for middle managers of large corporations. In addition, a model was designed for use by others wishing to evaluate the effectiveness of the training programs of small community colleges serving large corporations.

Searching for a Path out of Poverty: Exploring the Achievement Ideology of a Rural Community College

Nationally, educational institutions are responding to changes in the postindustrial economy by emphasizing the preparation of students to enter more highly technical jobs. Schools and colleges look toward strengthening their graduates by tying classroom work more closely with the skills students need to be successful in the workplace, by emphasizing workplace values, and by teaching on-the-job behaviors that employers find desirable. In this study, a group of rural African American women entered a community college work program to seek the skills they needed to escape the welfare rolls and to prepare themselves for jobs in their community. Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "habitus " was used to help explain the contradictions and complexities in the daily lives of these women as they struggled to overcome their difficult situations and faced decisions about their futures in a rural community offering few options for long-term employment.

INTENTIONS AND GOALS AT THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: ASSOCIATING STUDENT PERCEPTIONS AND DEMOGRAPHICS

This article reports results of a statewide survey of student intentions administered to a sample representative of more than 87,000 community college students. This survey collected data on perceptions of goal attainment and reported intention shifts among students attending inner-city, suburban, and rural community colleges. Most respondents (79.2%) reported that their original intentions for enrolling at the community college had not changed over time. Among those who had changed their original intentions, 73.6% reported just one change. Students expressing initial career orientations shifted to more academic goals. Demographic, academic status, and institutional type variables were tested for signicant associations with perceptions of goal attainment and shifts in intention. A positive relationship was found between the number of credits completed and the number of intention shifts, and a negative relationship was found between the number of credits completed and perceptions of goal attainment. These findings may help community colleges respond to mandated performance indicator systems in which the connections between initial student intentions and outcomes measures such as persistence and graduation rates are seldom considered.