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to Digests
The Role
of the Rural Community College in Rural Community Development
A Digest from the
ERIC Clearinghouse for
Commuity Colleges.
by Jonathan Holub
Contents
Community-Based
Programming
Illiteracy-A Fundamental Issue
Technological Learning Systems
Conclusions
References
For many U.S. citizens in rural communities, the standard of living and the prospects
of a better future are diminished by a number of circumstances. As Gillett-Karam
states, "the rural United States is known by a set of identifiers that include
the words low, slow and high-low population density, low total populations, low
per-capita income, low levels of educational attainment, slow job growth, high
poverty, high unemployment, and high rates of illiteracy"(1995, p.43). These conditions
persist and are, in fact, exacerbated due to the rapid and overwhelming changes
in the national and global economy. The movement from a rural, agrarian society
to an urban industrial society was completed long ago. Today, there is the additional
burden of surviving in the newly emerging market system, a system that has catapulted
society into a global arena, not only for corporate entities, but for the general
population as well. The combination of these factors has served to further isolate
rural communities from the benefits that may be afforded them if they had greater
access to what the current economic trends have to offer.
This digest focuses on
the ways in which rural community colleges are serving their surrounding areas
in an effort to reverse negative trends and prepare community members for the
technological, economic and societal changes that are emerging at the dawn of
the twenty-first century.
Community-Based Programming
Community-based programming
(C-BP) is an effective tool utilized by community colleges to become familiarized
with and responsive to the problems facing their varying constituencies. Community-based
programming is defined as "a cooperative process that involves a series of processual
tasks in which the community college serves as the leader and catalyst in effecting
collaboration among the people, their leaders, and other community-based organizations
and agencies within its service area in identifying and seeking resolution to
major issues that are of critical concern to the community and its people" (Boone,
1992, p.2). Among the more successful programs utilizing the C-BP approach is
Project ACCLAIM (Academy for Community College Leadership Advancement, Innovation
and Modeling). This program, directed by Edgar Boone and operated by North
Carolina State University, is built on the C-BP model. One important aspect
addressed by the model is the recognition of relevant issues facing a rural community.
Once an issue is identified, the model outlines a series of processual tasks designed
to tackle it. The complete processual task list, as developed by Boone, is as
follows:
1. The staff must critically
examine the college's mission, philosophy, goals, and organizational structure
to determine if it is prepared, both philosophically and practically, to assume
the role of a community-based institution.
2. The staff must increase
their knowledge of the social, cultural, economic, and political environments
of the service area.
3. The staff must establish
a mechanism, such as an environmental scanning committee, for scanning the external
environment.
4. The issues identified
by the environmental scanning process should be ranked and confirmed as important
by both formal and informal community leaders who are not members of the scanning
committee but who have a vested interest in seeing issues resolved.
5. The college staff should
analyze, identify, and map the publics within their service region who are directly
affected by each issue identified by the environmental scan. The goal is to
identify those groups and individual leaders who will play key roles in resolving
an issue, as well as those who have any vested interests in their resolution.
6. The staff as catalysts
can initiate a dialogue among community leaders and others involved in a given
issue.
7. The college staff provides
leadership for this coalition in developing, coordinating, carrying out, and
evaluating the plan for addressing the community problem.
8. The plan requires that
coalition leaders report to their respective constituencies on the progress
of the plan and the result achieved to date.
9. Those elements of the
plan to which the college has committed resources must be incorporated into
its institutional planning and budgeting processes. (Boone and Vaughan, 1993,
pp.1-2)
Boone also advises that
any lessons that have been learned in resolving the issue at hand should be
applied to the processual tasks as other issues emerge.
Illiteracy-A Fundamental
Issue
James
Sprunt Community College, a rural institution in North Carolina has participated
in Project ACCLAIM. After completing a C-BP training program, the college determined
that the high rate of illiteracy should be ranked as one of the most serious issues
facing the county (Reichard, 1995). Illiteracy is one of the pervasive problems
that face rural communities and disables people in search of economic and educational
fulfillment. This is not only a detriment to the individual, but has a significant,
negative impact on the community (Sullins, Volger, and Mays, 1987). It is widely
recognized that in order to make any progress in rural areas, illiteracy needs
to be addressed and solutions must be presented.
The Appalachian region
has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the country. An Appalachian Regional
Steering Committee developed the following strategies designed to help community
colleges address the issue of rural illiteracy (Sullins, Volger, and Mays, 1987,
p.51). The strategies are arranged according to the respective area they address:
Policy Strategies
- Identify and work with
community opinion leaders and obtain a commitment from those leaders to work
together to identify educational deficiencies of the rural adult.
- Prepare leaders to train
others to become involved in community development activities.
- Form community coalitions
who will influence legislators as well as identify and obtain outside resources.
- Utilize every possible
means to obtain visibility for the area.
Dispositional Strategies
- Conduct a public relations
campaign promoting equal opportunity for rural adults.
- Encourage institutions
to establish peer support groups, provide career planning activities, establish
orientation programs, and develop non punitive grading systems.
Situational Strategies
- Lobby for legislation
to allow deductions for the costs of transportation and child care so as not
to penalize those on public assistance.
- Form cooperative agreements
with public schools for joint use of buses or establish college transportation
systems.
- Lobby for reduced student-paid
costs for public postsecondary education and to improve the present student-aid
system.
Institutional Strategies
- Identify and publicize
model cooperative partnerships.
- Develop cooperative partnership
agreements between and among agencies at all levels.
- Establish a tie between
institutional accountability for cooperation and institutional funding.
- Provide incentives to
individual faculty and to institutions to encourage their serving rural students.
- Capitalize on existing
technology such as satellite systems and cable television to provide access
to rural areas.
Technological Learning
Systems
Access is another issue
facing rural communities. Although potential students are quite willing and ready
to engage in study, rural isolation prevents some of them from pursuing further
study. A 1989 survey of 672 students enrolled in associate degree courses in the
Community College of Maine's distance education program indicated that the location
of the college course was the most important factor in the decision to enroll
(MacBrayne, 1995). That is, an isolated student would likely forego pursuing studies
if a class or program were not made easily accessible. Granting access to these
students is achieved through technology-based systems such as computer links,
cable television and video technology. Many rural programs have already had great
success in utilizing these techniques. Lackawanna Junior College, serving the
population of Northeastern Pennsylvania, has used a teleteaching/training system
in order to increase employment opportunities for its constituencies. By using
technological links between isolated students and businesses, the college is attempting
to close the gap between training and opportunity and to prevent a well-documented
career drain that faces the region (Small/Rural CCC, 1991).
The
North Country Community College, located in the Adirondack Mountains, services
two of the most sparsely populated and poorest counties in New York State. Three
technological tools are used by the college to increase economic opportunity
for disadvantaged adult, vocational students: high grade voice transmission
using directional and desktop microphones, electronic blackboards that simultaneously
transmit instructor writing to all remote sites, and facsimiles that transmit
tests and course materials.
Another positive example
of technological learning systems is being used by Iowa
Lakes Community College. Through use of the federally funded Instructional
Television Fixed Service (ITFS) broadcast channels, the rural population
of this area now has access to a wide variety of educational opportunities that
would otherwise be difficult to obtain. The system uses two channels for live,
college-level courses and one for live high school credit classes. The fourth
channel is reserved for live teleconferencing, business and industry activities
and general overflow from the other channels (Small/Rural CCC, 1991).
These examples demonstrate
the effect that technological advancement is having on the educational livelihood
of rural communities. By utilizing these technologies, people in these settings
are benefiting twofold: they are receiving much of the training that is necessary
for an increasingly competitive economy; and they are being introduced to and
working with the tools of current technology which is, in its own right, an
emerging form of literacy.
Conclusions
Despite the many difficult
issues facing rural communities, much is being done to enhance the opportunities
of this population. Community colleges, by taking a lead role in community development,
help serve the needs of their constituencies and improve the standard of living.
Future efforts must center around fostering programs that enhance the quality
of life by offering people the tools that will allow them to enjoy the benefits
that a quality education and training can provide. This is currently being achieved
through the merging of outreach programs and technology. In order to further this
symbiotic relationship between the community college and the community-at-large,
further bonds must be established between the colleges and external interests
located in their service areas. When these bonds are strengthened benefits will
occur to better serve the people of rural communities and assist them in adjusting
to a rapidly changing world.
References
Boone, Edgar J. and Vaughan,
George B. "Positioning the Community College for Community Leadership." Leadership
Abstracts, 1993, 6(3). (ED 367 426)
Boone, Edgar J. "Community-Based
Programming: An Opportunity and Imperative for the Community College." Community
College Review, 1992, 20(3), 8-20.
Gillett-Karam, R. "Women
and Minorities in Rural Community Colleges: Programs for Change." In J. Killacky
and J.R. Valadez (eds.), "Portrait of the Rural Community College." New
Directions for Community Colleges, no. 90. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1995.
MacBrayne, Pamela S. "Distance
Education: The Way of the Future for Rural Community Colleges." In J. Killacky
and J.R. Valadez (eds.), "Portrait of the Rural Community College." New Directions
for Community Colleges, no. 90. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.
Reichard, D. "The Small
Rural Community College in 1994 and Beyond: One President's View." In J. Killacky
and J.R. Valadez (eds.), "Portrait of the Rural Community College." New Directions
for Community Colleges, no. 90. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.
Small/Rural Community Colleges
Commission. Exemplary Programs and Services.Washington, DC: American
Association of Community and Junior Colleges, 1991. (ED 341 441)
Sullins, W. and Vogler,
D. and Mays, S.B. "Increasing Access to Postsecondary Education for Adults in
Rural Appalachia." Community College Review, 1987, 15(1), 46-53.
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