The Influence of the Rural Community College Initiative on Increasing Civic Capacity in Distressed Rural Communities

This article discusses the influence of the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) on the development of civic capacity in distressed rural communities. RCCI was a demonstration project funded by the Ford Foundation to explore the ways that rural community colleges can act as catalysts for economic and educational opportunity in persistently poor regions. Among other factors, a qualitative assessment of the project conducted by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) concluded that, although economic and educational progress was hard to measure, there was clear evidence of increased energy for community development. RCCI was distinctive from other community-based initiatives in that it included a nationwide network of institutions and used third-party intervention to facilitate the development of collaboration between college and community rather than relying on the resources of the college alone. Examples from Appalachian colleges participating in the initiative illustrate that this process of intervention and networking resulted in increased confidence in civic involvement by both college staff and community members.