Rural Community College Initiative Merrill Wilcox Piedmont Community College Alan Barefield Southern Rural Development Center (662)

The Beginnings Began as a demonstration project funded by the Ford Foundation and managed by MDC, Inc of Chapel Hill Multi-state initiative that included Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia schools Focused on increased involvement in economic development and educational access to programs

The New Phase Round One Coordination of the program was assumed by the NCRCRD and the SRDC in 2002 Ford Fdn felt that the program’s focus need to be changed from one of demon- stration to one of institutionalization RRDCs ties to the land grant system seemed to be the ideal vehicle

Round One States Southern Region Mississippi East Central Community College North Carolina Carteret Community College Piedmont Community College Western Carolina Partnership Haywood CC, Southwestern CC, Tri-County CC Texas Coastal Bend College Howard College

Round One States North Central Region Minnesota Northeast MN Higher Education District (5 colleges) Rochester Community and Technical College New Mexico Eastern New Mexico University – Roswell Eastern New Mexico University – Ruidoso Mesalands Community College North Dakota Fon du Lac Community College United Tribes Technical College Williston State College

Round Two States and Schools Southern Region Florida North Florida Community College Louisiana Louisiana Delta Community College

Round Two States and Schools North Central Region Alaska Hawaii Nebraska Little Priest North Dakota Fort Berthold Turtle Mountain

Land Grant Ties Extension agents, specialists, or district directors serve as “coaches” Coaches do not provide technical assistance or even educational programs, they focus on guiding the college team to include: Unheard voices (civic engagement) Equitable economic development Increased access to educational programs

Community College Team Each college team as a leader that handles the day-to-day RCCI business The “Core Team” is made up of 4-6 interested persons who have an intense interest in the program The expanded team is more representative of the entire community; it should help to organize data, develop the strategic plan, and present the strategies to the community.

East Central Community College Previously involved in a 16 county, 2 state economic development partnership that has tremendous political support Many areas of focus with the above partnership, but RCCI programs will likely be training for unlicensed child care providers and business skills training for agribusiness firms

Carteret Community College One county service area, but county is 100 miles long w/ 3 distinct divisions that do not “get along” Vast marine educational and research resources Major problem for the “native” sector is a rapidly declining fishing industry Project is to develop a seafood brand that can compete on a regional level

Piedmont Community College Two county service area, but distinct political disagreement within the counties and towns Project is to develop two separate vision to action plans and then merge them with an overarching goal of greater economic and social development collaboration between the political entities

Western Carolina Partnership Three colleges with a total 6 county service area located in western NC Area is experiencing tremendous growth in tourism industry Project initially focuses on developing a customer hospitality certification program that will train local workers This will hopefully lead to other small business development programs such as BR&E, business skills training, etc.

Howard College Formed four committees from the Expanded Team: Jobs and Economic Growth, City-County Partnerships, Education, Community Beautification Major projects include highway infrastructure beautification, convention center, partnerships with service area high schools

Coastal Bend College Developed four subteams to cover the service areas of individual campuses Priorities identified in focus group sessions include: Transportation and childcare are barriers to educational access Unskilled workforce as barrier to economic development