Succession Planning in Rural Community Colleges

Competent leadership is essential for institutions of any size to respond to the challenges facing post-secondary institutions. However, rural community colleges are especially vulnerable to the forces of change due to aging infrastructure, accelerated retirements, and geographic isolation that often limits competent and diverse applicant pools for future leaders. As senior administrators retire at rapid rates, geographic location and scarce resources can hamper leadership continuity. Few studies have explored how the leadership pipeline is established and maintained in rural community colleges and how institutional and community values shape that process. The study highlights the extent to which the co-dependent relationship between community stakeholders and the rural community college shapes its institutional culture and leadership development.

The Impact of Financial Aid on Associate Degree Attainment for Rural Community College Students: A Comparison of Rural, Urban, and Suburban Patterns

Objective: Increasing rural community college degree attainment is very important to foster rural areas’ economic and social well-being. Rural community colleges differ greatly from their suburban and urban counterparts in financial aid patterns and student bodies. However, existing literature is vacant with respect to student financial aid and degree attainment in rural community colleges. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between financial aid and associate degree attainment for rural community college students and compare the financing patterns of the three locales. Method: Using data from Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09), we performed a series of logistic regression models that include financial aid variables and control variables from psychological, sociological, organizational, and internationalist perspectives. Results: We found rural community college students exceeded other locales in degree attainment. Logistic regression results reveal insignificant roles of Pell Grants and Federal Subsidized Loans, and negative role of Federal Unsubsidized Loans in associate degree attainment for rural community college students. Contributions: The results suggest that public subsidies, such as Pell Grants, were not sufficient to cover rural students’ unmet need for financing degree attainment, and that rural students are more cost-conscious in borrowing and spending than their suburban and urban counterparts.

Evaluating Latina Retention

Latinas are undereducated in rural community colleges. This chapter identifies the positive factors enhancing the college experience for Latinas in rural community colleges. To assess the college going experiences of Latinas attending a rural community college, and note if these experiences conform to or negate Chicana Feminist Theory, one rural community college in Oregon randomly selected 10 Latinas between the ages of 18 and 35 who took at least two terms of credit-bearing classes. Data was analyzed from interview recordings, and responses were transcribed based on a narrative analysis transcription protocol. The major findings were developed relying upon the theoretical framework of Chicana Feminist Theory. Significant themes emerging from this study related to positive factors that enhance retention including social integration and motivational factors to attend a rural community college. The retention of Latinas must embrace change and build on positive changes in the academy such as serving students' needs expressed in intentional opportunities for academic and social engagement and better access to financial and childcare resources.

Evaluating Latina Retention

This chapter explores issues and challenges Latinas face in remote-rural communities and identified key recommendations that are essential in order for Latinas to be successful in remote-rural community colleges. Ten Latina undergraduates who finished at least two terms of three credit-bearing class in a rural community college were the subjects of this qualitative study. The term Latina in this study refers to a female of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The participants named in this study are females regardless of how they self-identify ethnically who have ancestry from either of these countries.