About RCCI
During
RCCI's demonstration phase, 1994-2001, The
Ford Foundation provided multi-year grants to 24 community and tribal
colleges. The demonstration
was managed by MDC, Inc. and assessed
by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
The resource materials available on this website were produced
during RCCI's demonstration phase.
Starting in 2002, the Ford Foundation is supporting a new phase of the Initiative, intended to spread RCCI philosophy and practices to additional rural community and tribal colleges. The new, four-year program will offer learning events and technical assistance to participating community colleges. The new program is being managed by two USDA-supported regional rural development centers, the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) at Mississippi State University and the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) at Iowa State University. They will involve land grant universities as partners to provide technical assistance and support to local RCCI sites.
Another
outgrowth of the RCCI demonstration is the Rural
Community College Alliance (RCCA), a membership organization of rural
colleges working to improve educational and economic prospects for their
communities. The RCCA is a
network for peer learning through conferences, campus/community visits,
and technical assistance. It
intends to become a national voice for rural community colleges and to
spread RCCI philosophy and practice widely to rural colleges throughout
the country.
During
RCCI's eight-year demonstration phase, the Ford Foundation and MDC
cultivated relationships between RCCI colleges and institutions in Namibia
and South Africa that were facing similar challenges in serving rural
populations and leading rural development efforts.
In particular, RCCI colleges hosted visits by faculty,
administrators, and community leaders from the University of Namibia's
Northern Campus. MDC
continues to provide assistance to the University of Namibia and other
colleges and universities in Southern Africa that seek greater engagement
with their communities.
The RCCI also spawned the creation of the RCCI Appalachian Cluster. The five Appalachian-based RCCI demonstration colleges have teamed up with five nearby colleges in Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia to create a regional peer learning network. The Cluster convenes annual conferences and periodic learning days to focus on five programmatic areas: small business development, cultural tourism, developmental studies and student retention, leadership development, and distance learning.