Challenges and Opportunities Facing Rural Community Colleges

1. Challenges and Opportunities Facing Rural Community Colleges Randy Smith, Ph.D. President, Rural Community College Alliance Altus, Oklahoma

2. Overview • Lots of information, a short amount of time! • Need your participation • This presentation should facilitate networking among participants after the conference • Explore some challenges • Explore some opportunities (what we do well)

3. Challenges • List the two or three most important challenges facing your college • List two or three challenges facing your rural community

4. Rural Demographics • Socio-economic status of rural communities • Typically poorer • Less access to healthcare • Lack of growth/poor economy/low paying jobs • Decreasing number of high school graduates

5. Rural Demographics • Declining rural population • WOSC service area population

6. Rural Demographics

7. Rural Demographics • Palm beach County School District will experience a DECREASE of 4,145 high school students from 2008 to 2013.

8. Rural Demographics • Is your service area decreasing in population? • Is the enrollment at your college flat or decreasing?

9. Challenges • What is the most important challenge/factor facing the rural community college? • ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT!

10. Enrollment Management • The most important factor affecting rural two-year institutions • Who is responsible for enrollment management at your institution? • Who should be involved with E.M.at your institution? • Do you have a defined E.M Plan

11. The Problem • Flat or decreasing enrollment in community colleges • Greater competition for a smaller pool of high school graduates and non-traditional students • Lack of research on rural community colleges • Financial consequences of falling enrollment

12. The Challenge forRural Community Colleges • Increase enrollment at rural two-year colleges. • How? • What do students want in a college?

13. Four Categories of Factors that Influence Decision to Enroll • Student Services • (On-Campus Housing and Childcare, College Sponsored Sports) • Academic Issues • (Transferability of Credits, Academic Reputation) • Marketing • (Distance, Campus Appearance) • Personal Issues • (Cost of Tuition, Family Influence)

14. Conceptual Framework Student Services a. On-Campus Housing b. On-Campus Childcare c. Sponsored Team Sports Decision to Enroll • Academic Issues • Transferability of Credits • Academic Reputation Marketing a. Campus Appearance b. Distance of college to residence Personal Issues a. Family Influence b. Cost Independent Variables Dependent Variable

15. Activity • Please rank the following factors in the order YOU think students most desire in a rural two-year college. • Family input, Transferability, Academic reputation, Driving distance, Campus appearance, Housing, Team sports, On-campus childcare, Cost

16. Factors Influencing Enrollment • Survey of 831 Students at 8 Rural Two-Year Colleges • Average age: 29.3 • Average Miles Driven to Attend College: 25

17. Rank Ordering, Means, Standard Deviations and Dependent t-tests for Student Ratings of the Nine Factors on Importance Note. * p < .05 ** p <.01 ***p < .001 a Dependent t-tests that assessed differences in successive factors. 16

18. What does this mean? • Do you focus on academic reputation and quality of instruction? • Do you require faculty to be involved in recruitment? • Is your campus well maintained, clean and attractive? • Do you have a written E.M plan involving all areas of the college?

19. What does this mean? • Do you advertise your low tuition cost and compare costs to four-year universities? • Do you venture outside your “service area” and market your institution as a destination college?

20. The Bottom Line • Continue to maintain your strengths while slowly improving on your weaknesses. • Students are more interested in academic issues than in student services (regardless of location, ethnicity and gender) • Students go behind the scenes to really find out what is going on. Do you? • Competition is INCREASING

21. Enrollment Management • Do you have a written E.M. plan based on your SWOT? • Do you have an E.M. committee? • Have you surveyed your own students? Why do they enroll at your institution?

22. Priorities • You can always tell a college’s priorities by…….. • the way they spend their money

23. Challenges • Faculty and administrative retirements • Do you have plans now in preparation for the future? How are you going to recruit faculty? • What attracts faculty to teach at a rural college? (this is where you respond) • Lifestyle, focus on instruction, climate of the college, family reasons

24. Challenges • Failing infrastructure (strategic planning, master plan) • Increasing competition for a shrinking pool of students (distance education) • Inability to keep up with technology trends

25. Opportunities • What do two year colleges typically do better than other institutions of higher education? • INSTRUCTION. We are student centered and focused

26. Opportunities • What are the strengths of two year colleges? • Cost, location, open enrollment policy, focus on student, remedial services, change/adapt quickly to community needs • Do we get the word out about our strengths?

27. Opportunities/ Economic Development • What is economic development? • Attract new business • Grow existing businesses • Train employees • What else? • Why should community colleges be involved in economic development and partnerships?

28. Economic Development • What should be the role of the community college in economic development? • What can your college do to be involved in or improve economic development? Be specific • We are ideally suited to partner, change, and create new programs as needed

29. Summary of Opportunities • Ability to quickly change/adapt • Ability to meet demands of business and industry (partnerships) • Excellence in instruction • Low cost of attendance • Add/improve technical programs • Add/improve developmental courses

30. Summary of Challenges • Enrollment management (recruitment and retention) • Failing infrastructure • Recruiting faculty, staff and administration • Increasing competition • Inability to keep up with technology trends

31. Leadership Simplified • What is an employee’s first reaction to any decision that you make? • WIIFM: What’s in it for me? • Think about this BEFORE you make a decision

32. Leadership Simplified • The most effective thing you can do as a leader is: • Help others be successful. You work for the employees, they don’t work for you. When they are successful, you are successful • Excellent internal customer service breeds excellent external customer service.

33. Effective Leadership • Successful employees create successful leaders!! • Successful leaders create successful employees!! • Start the cycle, see what happens

34. #1 Trait of Effective Leaders • TRUST

35. Effective Leadership • Four cornerstones of effective educational leadership: • Enthusiasm • Attitude • Vision • Feedback

36. Leadership Greatness • The two most important traits of greatness (after trust) are………

37. Leadership Greatness • Initiative • And • Attitude

38. Video Clip

39. Thank you for your participation, time and attention! • Randy.Smith@ruralccalliance.org • 580-477-7890