The Rural Impact - Expanding Scope and Increasing Hope – The Transformative Role of Community Colleges with Ivy Love, Tiffany Thai and Andrew Koricich, PhD

Expanding Scope and Increasing Hope – The Transformative Role of Community Colleges with Ivy Love, Tiffany Thai and Andrew Koricich, PhD

10/10/24 • 48 min

In part one of the second episode of this series, Michelle met with Senior Policy Analyst Ivy Love and Senior Program Associate Tiffany Thai from the Center on Education & Labor at New America. Ivy Love's work focuses on community colleges, their students, and federal and state policies that support them. Before New America, Love worked as a policy analyst for the Association of Community College Trustees, as a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis and Webster University, and as a refugee orientation educator at the International Institute of St. Louis. Love is a PhD candidate in higher education administration at Saint Louis University.

Tiffany Thai comes from a first-generation, low-income background. She is passionate about transformational learning and advancing educational equity for marginalized students and their communities.

Michelle, Tiffany, and Ivy explore the critical role of community colleges in providing bachelor's degrees, particularly in rural areas, and discuss the challenges these institutions face, including resistance to program expansion, varying state policies, and the importance of adult learners. They emphasize the need for employer engagement to address workforce shortages and advocate for policies that support community colleges in meeting local educational needs.

In part two of this episode, Michelle was joined by the Executive Director of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges and a Professor of Higher Education at Appalachian State University, Dr. Andrew Koricich. His research focuses on postsecondary education issues facing rural communities, with an emphasis on rural-serving postsecondary institutions.

Michelle and Dr. Koricich discuss the benefits of community college bachelor's programs (CCB) from an institutional and policymaker perspective. They highlight how CCBs can help rural community colleges address enrollment drops, build relationships with employers, and meet the workforce needs of their communities. They also emphasize the importance of providing postsecondary options for adults who want to pursue new careers. They also explore rural serving institutions' challenges, such as financial constraints, lack of support, and the need for collaboration and regional partnerships to expand CCB programs.

Ascendium sponsors this episode of The Rural Impact podcast, believing that learning after high school transforms lives. Driven by this belief, their philanthropy focuses on systemic change to elevate opportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds. Ascendium has a particular interest in elevating rural postsecondary education and workforce training. They fund research and resources to help ensure more rural learners have pathways to good jobs that lead to upward mobility. Learn more about their Rural Impact at ascendiumphilanthropy.org, sign up for their newsletter, and follow them on social media.

Tiffany Thai comes from a first-generation, low-income background. She is passionate about transformational learning and advancing educational equity for marginalized students and their communities.

Previous Episode

undefined - A Case for Greater Investments in Rural Postsecondary Education, Training, and Career Counseling with Jeff Strohl, Ph.D. and Kayla Elliott, Ph.D.

A Case for Greater Investments in Rural Postsecondary Education, Training, and Career Counseling with Jeff Strohl, Ph.D. and Kayla Elliott, Ph.D.

In the first episode of this new series, Michelle had a compelling conversation with Jeff Strohl, Ph.D., who serves as Research Professor and Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW). Dr. Strohl was one of the Center's founding staff and served as CEW's Director of Research since 2008. In this position, he led the Center's research agenda. In particular, this focused on the intersection of education and labor market analyses and their impact on policy. While directing research, Dr. Strohl also continued his work on biases in postsecondary and labor market outcomes.

During this conversation, they also discussed CEW's data-rich report, "Small Towns, Big Opportunities: Many Workers in Rural Areas Have Good Jobs, but These Areas Need Greater Investment in Education, Training, and Career Counseling." They continue the conversation by discussing disparities between good jobs for men and women in rural areas, persistent inequality for racial and ethnic minority groups, the challenges of non-participation in the labor force, and promising occupations for workers in rural areas. Dr. Strohl also highlights how challenges in rural areas can be addressed by building rural human capital, utilizing existing human capital, and stimulating rural economic growth.

In part two of this episode, Michelle was joined by Kayla C. Elliott, Ph.D., Director of Workforce Policy at The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, America's Black think tank. Her team centers Black communities in policy debates concerning the future of work, workforce development, and access to good jobs by developing and advocating for robust policy solutions that prioritize Black workers and learners today and in the future. Previously, Dr. Elliott was the director of higher education policy at The Education Trust and held various teaching and research positions at Florida Atlantic University, where she earned a Ph.D. in higher education leadership.

Michelle and Dr. Elliott's conversation provides context to the history of Black workers and industry in the South, and they discuss the connection between policy and postsecondary education and the impact of training and career development on young Black workers today. The conversation also focuses on the Joint Center's report on the Future of Work in the Black Rural South, highlighting the region's historical significance and challenges due to automation and low-cost labor, and touches on apprenticeships, the barriers Black apprentices face, and the data challenges in understanding Black WIOA participants in the South. Dr. Elliott emphasizes the importance of addressing racial inequality, putting workers first, and prioritizing job quality in policy and workforce development.

Show Resources:

Five Charts To Understand Black Registered Apprentices in the United States: https://jointcenter.org/five-charts-to-understand-black-registered-apprentices-in-the-united-states/

An Introduction To the Future Of Work in the Black Rural South https://jointcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Intro-to-the-Future-of-Work-in-the-Black-Rural-South.pdf

Small Towns, Big Opportunities
https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/cew-small_towns_big_opportunity-full_report.pdf

Next Episode

The Impact of Collaboration Between Community Colleges and Civic Partnerships with Dakota Pawlicki and Elaine Morgan

In part one of the final episode of this series, Michelle met with Dakota Pawlicki, Director of Talent Hubs with CivicLab. In this role, he serves exemplary cross-sector partnerships focused on postsecondary attainment that have met rigorous standards for partnership health, equity, and systems change. He brings his expertise in postsecondary education, collective impact, stakeholder engagement, and change management to a network of nearly 100 partnerships, supporting their efforts to improve the human condition. Dakota also hosts Lumina Foundation's podcast Today's Students, Tomorrow's Talent, which features conversations with newsmakers and leaders in the field of learning after high school.

Michelle and Dakota begin the discussion by highlighting the work of CivicLab in advancing civic collaboration and improving postsecondary attainment in communities. He introduces the Talent Hub designation, a marker of an exemplary cross-sector partnership, and emphasizes the importance of context in community collaboration. Pawlicki shares examples of communities that have successfully addressed complex social challenges by redesigning their context and engaging multiple stakeholders. He also highlights the role of collaboration at the community level in addressing barriers to earning a college degree and achieving talent-related goals. Pawlicki advises communities to focus on role clarity, self-determination, and implementing practical solutions before seeking policy changes.

In part two of this episode, Michelle was joined by Elaine M. Morgan, CEO of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Elaine is a fifth-generation Berkeley County, SC, native with over 30 years of leadership experience. She is dedicated to fostering the region's economic growth and community development, working closely with local industries to help them expand, create jobs, and increase wages. Morgan's efforts have had a significant impact, mainly through her close collaboration with elected officials and business leaders to address emerging challenges and opportunities. A cornerstone of her work is the expansion of Community Resource Hubs across the county, offering residents critical services such as workforce training and telehealth.

In this conversation, Michelle Rathman and Elaine discuss innovative initiatives to revitalize rural communities in South Carolina, the importance of collaboration, the establishment of community resource hubs, and the challenges residents face in accessing employment and healthcare. Elaine shares insights on how these hubs are designed to meet the community's needs, the significance of measuring success through community engagement, and the role of policy advocacy in addressing essential needs.