Catalyzing Change through Innovation: Insights from Rural College Leaders Program
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| Title: | Catalyzing Change through Innovation: Insights from Rural College Leaders Program |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Jess Edwards, Audrey J. Jaeger, Holley Nichols, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research |
| Source: | Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research. 2025. |
| Availability: | Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research. 706 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. e-mail: belk_center@ncsu.edu; Web site: https://belk-center.ced.ncsu.edu/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 9 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Ascendium Education Group, Inc. |
| Document Type: | Reports - Evaluative |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education Two Year Colleges |
| Descriptors: | Rural Colleges, Community Colleges, Educational Innovation, Organizational Change, Data Use, Decision Making, Organizational Communication, Community College Students, Academic Achievement, College Administration |
| Geographic Terms: | North Carolina |
| Abstract: | In 2022, the Rural College Leaders Program (RCLP) launched to provide targeted, high-impact support for 10 rural-serving community colleges. Led by the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research (Belk Center), supported by Ascendium's Educational Philanthropy and implemented in partnership with Achieving the Dream, the RCLP was a three-year, cohort-based model that provided college presidents and senior leaders with tools to support their efforts to improve student outcomes at their institutions. The program centered leadership development rooted in institutional data related to access, enrollment and degree attainment. These components aimed to build a systemic understanding of challenges and opportunities that affect student success across rural colleges. The program fostered innovation among rural-serving community colleges that encouraged them to evaluate current practices, pilot new interventions and synthesize lessons learned alongside other community college leaders and researchers. Each of the participating colleges constructed strategies to address issues based on their local contexts, needs and resources that centered around three core components: (1) A data-driven approach to identify, implement and monitor institutional change; (2) Intentional and transparent communication with internal and external stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students and community partners; and (3) Strategic support -- including guided analysis of institutional climate surveys and construction of targeted action planning -- to aid staff and faculty throughout all stages of the change process. This research brief highlights lessons learned about the three components of institutional change -- data-driven decision making, intentional communication and strategic support -- through innovative change efforts implemented in 2023 by three rural-serving community colleges who participated in the RCLP. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED679037 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | In 2022, the Rural College Leaders Program (RCLP) launched to provide targeted, high-impact support for 10 rural-serving community colleges. Led by the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research (Belk Center), supported by Ascendium's Educational Philanthropy and implemented in partnership with Achieving the Dream, the RCLP was a three-year, cohort-based model that provided college presidents and senior leaders with tools to support their efforts to improve student outcomes at their institutions. The program centered leadership development rooted in institutional data related to access, enrollment and degree attainment. These components aimed to build a systemic understanding of challenges and opportunities that affect student success across rural colleges. The program fostered innovation among rural-serving community colleges that encouraged them to evaluate current practices, pilot new interventions and synthesize lessons learned alongside other community college leaders and researchers. Each of the participating colleges constructed strategies to address issues based on their local contexts, needs and resources that centered around three core components: (1) A data-driven approach to identify, implement and monitor institutional change; (2) Intentional and transparent communication with internal and external stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students and community partners; and (3) Strategic support -- including guided analysis of institutional climate surveys and construction of targeted action planning -- to aid staff and faculty throughout all stages of the change process. This research brief highlights lessons learned about the three components of institutional change -- data-driven decision making, intentional communication and strategic support -- through innovative change efforts implemented in 2023 by three rural-serving community colleges who participated in the RCLP. |
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