Due to geographic location, population base, and other factors, rural two-year colleges face unique challenges that urban and suburban institutions do not.  In order to meet these unique challenges, rural colleges must often organize, plan and operate differently than their urban and suburban counterparts.  This interactive session will explore the challenges facing rural two-year colleges as well as discussing their possible solutions.  Current research and best practices will be presented and participants will explore several topics as they relate to rural two-year colleges.  This session is highly interactive and includes small-group work and presentations. 

Topics that will be discussed include the following:

Culture/Community/Demographics; Economic Development; Future Challenges/Strategic Planning; Academic Programming; Marketing and Enrollment Management; and Leadership/Governance/ Operational Design.

Randy Smith, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Western Oklahoma State College, Altus, OK.

Back by popular demand!  Take away from this session specific training on how to find information about YOUR college as well as sample information that you have generated!  Using RUPRI/CIRC Dynamic Report Generator, a state of the art tool that can provide you immediate information, you can:

• Benchmark for AQIP accreditation
• Conduct sophisticated environmental scans
• Link various federal data sects to local needs
• Provide abundant info for all your grant seeking needs

Bring your laptop.  RCCA provides the wireless internet access and you go home with the best information available about YOUR rural community college.

Note:  This session repeats at 2:45 p.m.

Steve Katsinas, Director of the Education Policy Center, University of Alabama and

Chris Fulcher, Director of RUPRI’s Community Information Resource Center.

One Map is Worth 1000 Words: Using GIS Mapping System to Tell Your Story to Funders, Policy Makers and the Public, Las Cruces Room

Back by popular demand!  Take away from this session specific training on how to find information about YOUR college as well as sample information that you have generated!  Using RUPRI/CIRC Dynamic Report Generator, http://circ.rupri.org/nircc/default.htm, a state of the art tool that can provide you immediate information, you can:

• Benchmark for AQIP accreditation
• Conduct sophisticated environmental scans
• Link various federal data sects to local needs
• Provide abundant info for all your grant seeking needs

Bring your laptop.  RCCA provides the wireless internet access and you go home with the best information available about YOUR rural community college.

Note:  This session repeats at 2:45 p.m.

Steve Katsinas, Director of the Education Policy Center, University of Alabama and

Chris Fulcher, Director of RUPRI’s Community Information Resource Center.

Town and Gown:  How College Towns Rekindle Local Workforce Connections and Civic Commitment

Modern college towns help communities aspire to make downtowns more attractive, vibrant and livable, thus attracting students, faculty and entrepreneurs.  Recent articles in the American Association of Community Colleges Community College Times have reported on the work all over the United States by our two presenters.  Hear more and get your questions answered at this pre-conference session.

James Samels, President and James Martin, Academic Vice President, The Education Alliance, Framingham, Massachusetts.

Red Hot, Rural & Ready! Opening Reception, Yucatan Ballroom
Cedar Lodge Singers perform as we give honor to place.  The Cedar Lodge Singers are comprised of multi-talented young native students of the University of New Mexico-Gallup.  They represent different national Indian tribal groups. 

Heavy hors d’oeuvres served.
Sponsors and exhibitors are set up within the ballroom.

Presiding:  Joe Sertich, President of the Northeast Minnesota Higher Education District and RCCA Chair.

Keynote:   Reed Dasenbrock, Ph.D., New Mexico Cabinet Secretary of Higher Education.

Are You Using Google, Blogs, Wickipedia, Text Messaging, Mobile Marketing & E-mail to Increase Enrollments?   

Today’s community college students are getting younger and more computer savvy than ever before – many of our students do not remember the world without computers and internet access.  Learn how to effectively market to Gen Y and Gen X and continue enrollment increases.  We will focus on e-communication and you will see how other community colleges are red hot and ready to market to today’s youth! 

Presenter:  Kathi Swanson, President, Clarus Corporation

Session B, Tampico Room

Achieving the Dream

This session is about successful student work undertaken by community colleges participating in “Achieving the Dream.”  Community Colleges Count takes place on the campus, in the classroom, and in the administrative offices. But in some cases, even the best efforts by colleges may plateau or stall due to widespread cynicism or ineffective community engagement and leadership—particularly in areas where significant disparity along economic, social, or racial lines exist among groups.  This panel discussion highlights community engagement strategies colleges are using to overcome long-held views and practices that inhibit student success.

Presenters:  Lynn Barnett, Vice President for Academic, Student, and Community Development, American Association of Community Colleges, Carol Lincoln, Senior Program Director, MDC, Inc., and Laura Meeks, President, Jefferson Community College, Steubenville, OH

Session C, Las Cruces Room

Leveraging Inefficient and Failing Infrastructure to Accomplish Capital Improvements

In this valuable and thought provoking presentation, attendees will learn how campus renovations can be made possible through the combination of life cycle repair/replacement funds and by capturing future labor and energy savings. Energy savings projects or performance contracts are often funded through energy and operational savings without consideration of future reinvestments requirements. When capital funds are combined with guaranteed savings, a synergy takes place that provides improvements and technology not accomplished via either funding mechanism individually.

Presenter: Mike Moore, TAC Energy Solutions

Session D, Taos Room

Listening Session with Community College Presidents

The purpose of this session is to learn about the challenges and achievements of rural community colleges, and to seek advice on how the Department of Education can potentially help colleges with their efforts to provide high-quality postsecondary education to students in rural America.   Department of Education officials will facilitate a conversation with community college presidents centered on the critical issues raised in the Secretary’s Commission on Higher Education Report:  affordability; accessibility and accountability as they relate to rural community colleges. 

Presenters:  Pat Stanley, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges, Richard La Pointe, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary, Gail Schwartz, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges, United States Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education

I Can See Clearly Now: Management from 30,000 Feet

Too often, leaders routinely manage problems and challenges by using one approach to handle problems.  This often prevents them from seeing old problems in new light or finding more promising tools to work on recurrent challenges.  How do we know if what we see as a leader is what’s really there?  How do we avoid championing the wrong strategy or tackling the wrong organizational problem?  This workshop can offer strategies on how to view your organizational challenges from different perspectives and develop action plans consistent with the insight you glean from a multi-frame analysis. 

Presenter:  Anthony M. Hassan, Major, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

Session F, Tampico Room

Create Animated Online Characters that are Ready to Talk with Your Students & Staff

This presentation provides examples of actual implementations of avatars and 3D tools that Western Oklahoma State College is using to enhance course content, internal training and to enhance communication on campus.  Various types of tools for web applications, webinars, and presentations are discussed and demonstrated.

Presenters:  Scott Charleson, Director of Instructional Support, Lynn Null, Child Development Program Director, and Kent Brooks, Chief Technology Officer, Western Oklahoma State College.

Session G, Las Cruces Room

Rural Education Partnerships that Promote Social Equity & Opportunity

Austin Community College District is a national leader in innovative college-going outreach programs.  ACC pays special attention to rural school districts.   The presentation will highlight opportunities for a continuum of community services, from dual credit to an articulated nursing program delivered via technology.  

Presenter:  Barbara Mink, Professor of Fielding Graduate University, Board Member of Austin Community College District, Austin, Texas

Session H, Taos Room

Impacting Educational Achievement for Children in Poverty-Stricken New Mexico

This panel offers an overview of a combination of resource sharing and partnerships that have created a very successful program impacting the achievement of children in their area, including university-based services. 

Presenters:  Carlos Carillo, Elementary School Principal and Jane Batson, Division Chair, Eastern New Mexico, Roswell.

Native American Economic Enterprises Workshop and Acoma Sky City Tour

Conference attendees will immerse themselves into the local environment and experience a Southwest Sense of Place as we tour Acoma Sky City, oldest continuously inhabited community in North America!  Gather in the ballroom to pick up box lunches for the chartered bus ride to the Acoma Pueblo.  Step on guides will share history and stories of the area while traveling.  Please wear comfortable walking shoes, bring sunscreen, hats, and dress in layers for weather changes.  Bring your cameras and cash for a small camera permit and other purchases.

Travel by air-conditioned bus to Acoma Sky City with step-on bus guides, Dr. Cecilia Perrow,  a historian, and Star Gonzales, the Director of the Grants/Cibola Chamber of Commerce.

For more information about this beautiful cultural site please visit:   http://www.skycity.com

Two millennia of history built atop a sheer-walled, 370-foot sandstone bluff in a valley studded with sacred, towering monoliths, Sky City has remained suspended in time for two millennia. This mesa-top village is known worldwide for its unique art and profoundly rich culture.  Pottery, hand coiled and tempered with walls so thin that they ring with the clarity of a bell have been revered by art collectors for more than a century. Visitors can purchase this exquisite pottery directly from the artists along the tour route in the village, or from the expansive gift shop at the Sky City Cultural Center.  A museum displaying ancient examples of Acoma pottery takes visitors back in time to the roots of this incredible art form.  For nearly 2,000 years, Sky City has served as the physical and spiritual hub for the Acoma People.

At last year’s RCCA conference a memorandum of agreement was signed between RCCA and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges.  Much progress has been made since then to develop cross-border projects, along with impacting federal policy in both the US and Canada.  ARC partners will present this exciting update. 

Presenters:  Marcie McLaughlin, Constituent Outreach Director for the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI),  Brian Bender, Senior Manager for the Sector Liaison Unit, for the Association of Canadian Community Colleges and Senior Manager for the Rural and Remote Community Initiatives, Terri Anne Boyles, Vice President of Member Services and Pubic Policy, Association of Canadian and Community Colleges. 

Partnerships and Governance:  College Partnerships Meeting the Needs of the Community and the Governance Models for Success

Innovation in partnerships and governance is needed by communities and colleges to improve both education delivery and community engagement. 

Presenters:  Kathy Baxter, Associate Vice President, Research, Development, and Governmental Affairs, Meridian Community College, Meridian, Mississippi, Roy Smith, Regional Workforce Development/Customized Training Director, Iron Range Resources/Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Eveleth, Minnesota, Sue Collins, Vice President for the Northeast Minnesota Higher Education District, Chisholm, MN.

Session J, Tampico Room

A Place of History, Health & Hope:  Tribal Colleges Role in Building Community and Student Assets

Panelists will facilitate a discussion about Place and Monday's Acoma Sky City Tour.  This session will be your opportunity to reflect on what was seen and heard on the tour, relate it to your work, and offer suggestions on how you might incorporate those lessons in your college to provide culturally relevant education, no matter where your Place might be, to support underserved students.

Presenters: Mary Emery, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Iowa and Denise Wartes, Rural Alaska Honors Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Session K, Las Cruces Room

Leading College Innovation through Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP)

Central to the ability of a college to adapt and sustain success in this dynamic environment is leadership focused on building and supporting a process of continual innovation as part of the institutional culture.  Is your college ready to respond to evolving community needs, new educational opportunities and to meet the changing needs of students and employers?

Presenters:  Larry Sanderson, Director of Community Affairs, University of New Mexico, Gallup and Felicia Casados, CEO, New Mexico State University-Grants.

Session L, Taos Room

Geothermal Campus Application

The earth’s constant temperature of 55 degrees is used by Linn State Technical College in both the heating and cooling of campus buildings, including an airplane hangar.  Savings in energy costs are significant.  Technology, economics, curricular implications and partnering with a rural electric cooperative will be parts of the presentation.

Presenters:  Donald Claycomb, President, Linn State Technical College, John Nilges, Vice President, Administration and Finance, Mark Boyer, Manager of Marketing and Technical Services, Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, Linn, Missouri.