Creating Welcoming Campuses for

Students from Rural Communities

Linda Rains

Dr. Margaret Healy

University of North Dakota

NASPA Conference, March, 2009

Seattle, Washington

Introduction

• Linda Rains, MS

– Assistant Director for Student Involvement

– University of North Dakota

• Margaret Healy, PhD

– Associate Professor, Educational Leadership

– University of North Dakota

Session Outline

• Rural definition

• Statement of problem

– Identify population in study

• Describe themes

• Findings

• Discussion

Definitions

What is your definition for:

• Urban

• Suburban

• Rural

Definitions

• Census

– Exclusion – not an urban area

• Office of Management and Budget

– Metro and Non-metro

• National Center for Education Statistics

– City, suburban – large, midsize, small

– Town, rural – distant, fringe, remote

Definition, continued

• Economic Research Service, Department of Agriculture

– Metropolitan Counties – by size

• Metro 1, 2, 3

– Nonmetropolitan Counties – degree of urbanization and proximity to urban area

• Nonmetro 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

ERS Definitions

The Economic Research Service (ERS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) classifies geographic areas using Rural-Urban Continuum Codes that distinguish metropolitan counties by size and nonmetropolitan counties by their degree of urbanization and proximity to metropolitan areas.

Metro Counties

Metro 1 - Counties in metro areas of 1 million population or more

Metro 2 - Counties in metro areas of 250,000 to 1 million population

Metro 3 - Counties in metro areas of fewer than 250,000 population

Nonmetro Counties

Nonmetro 4 - Urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area

Nonmetro 5 - Urban population of 20,000 or more, not adjacent to a metro area

Nonmetro 6 - Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, adjacent to a metro area

Nonmetro 7 - Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, not adjacent to a metro area

Nonmetro 8 - Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, adjacent to a metro area

Nonmetro 9 - Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, not adjacent to a metro area

Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, number of counties and population

Code Number of counties 2000 population

Metro counties:

1 413 149,224,067

2 325 55,514,159

3 351 27,841,714

Nonmetro counties:

4 218 14,442,161

5 105 5,573,273

6 609 15,134,357

7 450 8,463,700

8 235 2,425,743

9 435 2,802,732

U.S. total 3,141 281,421,906

Rural Students

• Generally

– White

– Low income

– Two parent homes

– Parents graduated high school – few have bachelor degrees

– One-fourth K-12 from rural areas, occupy 40% of school buildings

College Aspirations

• 54% rural apply for college

– Higher for Urban and Suburban

• ND – 69% of high school graduates go directly to college – national average 57%

– ND - #37 in nation to graduate after 6 years

Barriers for Rural Students

• Lower economic status families • Parents have lower educational attainment • Limited access to a broad curriculum• Homogeneous communities• Exhibit low self-esteem• Intellectually, rural students are on par with their urban

counterparts, but are unprepared and/or under-prepared for college level work.

• Physical size of the institution, • Lack of faculty contact • Building of new relationships

Statement of Problem

• What do students from remote rural communities experience as they transition to large university?

Population

• Nonmetro 9 counties (2500 or fewer population, not adjacent to a metro county)

• Fewer than 10 attending selecteduniversity from that county

• Attended same high school for three or more years

• Went directly to college following high school graduation

• First college experience was at selected institution

Participant Demographics• 10 counties Nonmetro 9 – 7 represented • 59 students

– 19 responded - 1 declined, 3 made appointments, didn’t show, 15 interviewed– 13 transcribed – 2 dropped, did not attend selected school in fall after high

school graduation

• 10 women, 3 men– 5 first year, 2 second year, 4 third year, 2 fourth year

• Community size 4 under 499, 2 between 500 and 899, 5 more than 900, none over 1200, class size 14 to 43

• Some schools co-oped, some consolidated• 7 first generation, 4 mothers only degree, 1 father only degree, 1 both

parents have college degree• Majors – nursing, political science, education, psychology, pre-dental,

business, accountancy, physical therapy. • 6 grew up on farms, 7 grew up in town• 2 student siblings

Findings

Meta-theme: Home

• The environment and relationships in which and with whom the individual interacts that are predictable and consistent

Constructs

• Environment – places and things the individual comes into contact with on a regular basis

• Relationships – the personal contacts the individual has, which includes self-reflection

Themes

• Each construct supported by the themes of:

–Safety

–Familiarity

–Identity

–Involvement

Safety

• The feeling of well-being an individual experiences. Within a community, this feeling maybe a result of the assurance that no harm will happen to the person as a result of being in the community. Individuals are comforted by the knowledge that others have their best interests in mind. Relationships may be described in familial terms and may refer to not only family members and extended family members but also to neighbors and friends who are seen as family.

Familiarity

• The knowledge of places and people that provide consistency in daily routines and new or unknown people, events or behaviors are infrequently encountered.

Identity

• The characteristics or traits an individual perceives as unique to a community, themselves or others and define the community or individuals to outsiders. These traits may be locally or regionally identifiable but may not extend beyond the area. There may be a sense of pride associated with identity.

Involvement

• The activities that a community, its members or individuals engage in that provide continuity, consistency or membership.

EnvironmentBefore College

• Safety– Trust people

– Don’t lock doors

– Not get abducted

– Get help even if don't know you

• Familiarity– Know everyone's house

– Same teachers every year

– Elementary and high school in same building

After College

• Safety– Look for someone I know

– Don't talk in class

– People don't care about you

– Class overwhelming

– Don’t ask directions

• Familiarity– Get lost in all people

– No one knows my background

– Make map to classes

– Longer here, more comfortable

EnvironmentBefore College

• Community Identity– Support school - sports

musical, etc.

– School name source of pride

– Lose identity when name change

– Extends to other towns in area

• Involvement– Families run community

– People transfer for sports

– Provide scholarships

After College

• Community Identity– No one asks questions in class

– Tests are hard

– No one stops to help

– Leave for high school games

– Go to college games

• Involvement– Fair - you can't do it all like in

high school

– Class offers involvement

– Not this year

RelationshipBefore College

• Safety

– Same people from K on

– Know history of all

– Like a big family

– No choice in friends

– Have relationships with teachers

• Familiarity

– Same teacher/room every year

– Relatives teach

– History of teaching connection

– Hard adjusting to new people

After College

• Safety– Only one from class here

– Thought would fit in

– Came late, behind curve

– Random roommate

– Faculty don’t know student

• Familiarity– Maybe friends - not enough

time

– Relieved suitemate in class

– Loose track of high school friends

– High school friends important

Relationships

Before College

• Identity– Could be self - wild, crazy,

rebel

– Confident in abilities

– Talk in class Know place

• Involvement – In everything

– Most do sports someway

– Be part to get things done

After College

• Identity– Figure out who you are

– Pick new identity - make it good one

– Confidence shaken - not smart

– Don't shout/sing in class

• Involvement– Not involved

– Invited to club

– Comfortable, will get involved next year

Implications

• For University

• For Community

Suggestions for Campuses

• What next?

References

DeYoung, A. (1994). Children at risk in American rural schools. In Robert J. Rossi (ed.), Schools and Students at Risk: Context and Framework for Positive Change, 229-251.New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Economic Research Service. (2007). Measuring rurality: What is rural? Briefing Room. Retrieved July 13, 2007 at http://www.ers.udsa.gov/Briefing/Rurality/WhatIsRural.

Farmer, F. L. (1997). Rural, Definition of. In G. A. Goreham (Ed.), Encyclopedia of rural America: The land and people (pp. 623-626). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

Hart, L., Larson, E. & Lishner, D. (2005). Rural definitions for health policy and research. American Journal of Public Health, 95(7). 1149-1155.

Khartti, N., Riley, K. & Kane, M. (1997). Students at risk in poor rural areas: A review of the literature. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Education.

Loveless, T. (2003). How well are American students learning? With special section on homework, charter schools and rural school achievement. The Brown Center Report on American Education. Retrieved on 9/16/2007 from http://www.brookings.edu/gs/brown/bc_report/2003/2003report.pdf.

References continued

Murphy, M. (1984). The adjustment of rural high school students to a large, urban university: The identification of stressors and coping behaviors. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Texas, Austin.

Office of Management and Budget. (2000). Standards for defining metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. Federal Register (65)249, 82228-82238. (FR Doc. 00-32997). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office

Peters, D. (1990). Factors affecting institutional departure by rural freshmen.Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Denver, Denver, CO.

Provasnik, S., KewalRamani, A., Coleman, M., Gilbertson, L., Herring, W., & Xie, Q. (2007). Status of education in rural America. (DOE Publication No. NCES 2007-040). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Rocha, E. & Sharkey, A. (2005). Education: The state we’re in. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress.

United States Census Bureau, retrieved October 1, 2007 from http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/epss/glossary_r.html.