App State higher education professor helps create, co-directs Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges

View larger image — Dr. Andrew Koricich, an associate professor of higher education in Appalachian State University’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies. Photo submitted

ARRC co-directors

The co-directors of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC) are leading researchers on regional colleges and postsecondary education in rural contexts. Collectively, they have been researching regional colleges for nearly a decade, publishing their findings in various formats — from journal articles and reports, to full-length books and book chapters.

The ARRC team:

Dr. Andrew Koricich, associate professor, Appalachian State University.
Dr. Kevin McClure, associate professor of higher education, University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Dr. Alisa Fryar, professor of political science and director of professional programs, University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Cecilia Orphan, assistant professor of higher education, University of Denver.

Setting the bar for rural-serving institutions

App State has long served rural students and contributed to the rural economic development and social mobility of the Northwestern North Carolina region. In 2017, the university entered into an agreement with the University of North Carolina System to continue prioritizing recruitment and retention of low-income and rural students.

Of the 20,023 students App State welcomed last fall, 5,992 are rural students — more than 300 students above the UNC System strategic plan benchmark for this academic year.

In 2012, economists in App State’s Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis estimated that the university’s annual economic impact was worth $560 million to the local economy and supported approximately $36 million in additional taxes to local governments.

Additionally, according to App State’s Alumni Association, 52,287, or nearly 39%, of the more than 134,000 living App State alumni live and work in Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties in North Carolina, contributing to the state’s growing economy.

Counties with Tier 1 and 2 designations, assigned by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, are considered rural. The determining factors for assigning a designation:

Average unemployment rate.
Median household income.
Percentage growth in population.
Adjusted property tax base per capita.

Supporting rural student success

The following support programs currently in place at App State — covering pre-admission, transition and post-enrollment support — help rural students matriculate successfully.

GEAR UP Guarantee, whereby students from regional GEAR UP partner schools who meet certain qualifications are guaranteed admission to App State.
Upward Bound, a program designed to provide certain categories of high school students better opportunities for attending college. The student categories of greatest concern are those with low income, those whose parents who did not attend college and those living in rural areas.
Flexible transfer agreements with neighboring community colleges.

Additionally, App State provides the following resources, which, while not specifically targeted to rural students, enhance or enable the Appalachian Experience:

Expanded health and wellness services.
Proactive counseling, coaching and writing centers.
An early intervention team for students struggling academically.
ACCESS Scholarships that allow promising first-generation students from North Carolina a debt-free education.
Support clubs and services for veteran, first-generation, African and Native American, LGBT and Latinx students.
Resident adviser training.
Support and education from the Office of Parent and Family Services.

Edited by Jessica Stump

Posted April 9, 2021 at 8:36 a.m.

BOONE, N.C. — Exploring and explaining rural-serving higher education institutions and the roles they play regionally across the U.S. is the focus of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC), co-directed and co-founded by App State’s Dr. Andrew Koricich.

As a research collaborative and resource hub, ARRC’s four co-directors aim to build research infrastructure, produce data-driven analysis and educate a range of audiences about the role of regional, or rural-serving, institutions. Graduate students at ARRC’s partner institutions will serve as research assistants for the alliance’s projects.

Koricich, an associate professor of higher education in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies, said this hub’s contributions are important because regional colleges “play a transformative role in rural communities across the country by providing educational opportunity, workforce development and economic impact to areas with so much untapped human potential.”

ARRC’s first report, published Jan. 26 on the ARRC website, examines the status of public colleges in rural communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and recommends actions federal policymakers can take to support these institutions — both during and after the COVID crisis. The second report, currently underway, aims to develop an evidence-based, research-backed definition for rural-serving institutions.

The reports align with ARRC’s five focus areas:

Generating a greater understanding of rural-serving higher education institutions through research.
Documenting contributions of regional colleges to individuals and communities.
Defining what it means to be a regional or rural-serving college.
Advocating for regional colleges and the communities they serve.
Analyzing policies, practices and pressing issues in the public interest.

The ARRC project is supported by grant funding and has received more than half-million dollars to date from nonprofit organizations Ascendium Education Group and The Joyce Foundation.

Examining COVID threats and defining ‘rural-serving’

For its first report highlighting the importance of rural-serving institutions and the challenges they face due to COVID-19, the ARRC team examined 118 rural public colleges in 39 states across the U.S. — including App State — that foster access to college, support local economies, address critical workforce shortages and contribute to public health infrastructure.

Among the team’s major findings:

Rural public colleges are important partners in building public health infrastructure and battling COVID-19 in rural communities. These colleges have responded to the COVID-19 challenge by providing community members with access to testing and helping to disseminate public health information on vaccines, the report highlights.
Rural public colleges are underfunded, relative to other public colleges, and need more financial support to serve their communities through COVID-19 and beyond. As a result of revenue losses due to COVID — losses representing nearly 10% of institutions’ total budget, at times — many colleges have cut spending, meaning reduced hours for hourly workers, employee furloughs, vacant positions remaining unfilled and worker lay-offs, the report states.
Rural public colleges, which are often the largest employers in their communities, sustain local economies and fuel community development. On average, these colleges employ more than 500 people, not including third-party contractors, according to the report. Nearly half of schools included in the report host a business or technology development center to aid local businesses and 64% house a museum, contributing to the cultural preservation of rural populations.
Through their graduates, these colleges address worker shortages in high-demand local industries, including teaching and nursing. According to the report, “… top degrees awarded by rural public colleges align with major industries in rural communities, including education, health professions, business, hospitality and tourism, and natural resource management.”

Read the full report.

In addition to defining rural-serving institutions through its second report, the ARRC team will create a range of data products and interactive and customizable data tools to promote research about these institutions. These resources will be made publicly available on the ARRC website.

“We are excited about the potential this definition will have to build capacity and infrastructure for research on these institutions, establish peer networks between rural-serving institutions, inform policymaking and guide philanthropy,” Koricich shared.

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ARRC co-directors

The co-directors of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC) are leading researchers on regional colleges and postsecondary education in rural contexts. Collectively, they have been researching regional colleges for nearly a decade, publishing their findings in various formats — from journal articles and reports, to full-length books and book chapters.

The ARRC team:

Dr. Andrew Koricich, associate professor, Appalachian State University.
Dr. Kevin McClure, associate professor of higher education, University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Dr. Alisa Fryar, professor of political science and director of professional programs, University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Cecilia Orphan, assistant professor of higher education, University of Denver.

Setting the bar for rural-serving institutions

App State has long served rural students and contributed to the rural economic development and social mobility of the Northwestern North Carolina region. In 2017, the university entered into an agreement with the University of North Carolina System to continue prioritizing recruitment and retention of low-income and rural students.

Of the 20,023 students App State welcomed last fall, 5,992 are rural students — more than 300 students above the UNC System strategic plan benchmark for this academic year.

In 2012, economists in App State’s Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis estimated that the university’s annual economic impact was worth $560 million to the local economy and supported approximately $36 million in additional taxes to local governments.

Additionally, according to App State’s Alumni Association, 52,287, or nearly 39%, of the more than 134,000 living App State alumni live and work in Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties in North Carolina, contributing to the state’s growing economy.

Counties with Tier 1 and 2 designations, assigned by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, are considered rural. The determining factors for assigning a designation:

Average unemployment rate.
Median household income.
Percentage growth in population.
Adjusted property tax base per capita.

Supporting rural student success

The following support programs currently in place at App State — covering pre-admission, transition and post-enrollment support — help rural students matriculate successfully.

GEAR UP Guarantee, whereby students from regional GEAR UP partner schools who meet certain qualifications are guaranteed admission to App State.
Upward Bound, a program designed to provide certain categories of high school students better opportunities for attending college. The student categories of greatest concern are those with low income, those whose parents who did not attend college and those living in rural areas.
Flexible transfer agreements with neighboring community colleges.

Additionally, App State provides the following resources, which, while not specifically targeted to rural students, enhance or enable the Appalachian Experience:

Expanded health and wellness services.
Proactive counseling, coaching and writing centers.
An early intervention team for students struggling academically.
ACCESS Scholarships that allow promising first-generation students from North Carolina a debt-free education.
Support clubs and services for veteran, first-generation, African and Native American, LGBT and Latinx students.
Resident adviser training.
Support and education from the Office of Parent and Family Services.

About the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies

The Department of Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian State University prepares traditional and nontraditional students to assume educational leadership roles in community colleges, universities, public schools, public libraries and related educational settings through active scholarship, reflection, professional discourse and interdisciplinary programs of study based on the integration of theory and practice. The department, housed in App State's Reich College of Education, offers a doctoral program in educational leadership, as well as support courses in educational foundations and research. Learn more at https://les.appstate.edu.

About the Reich College of Education

Appalachian State University offers one of the largest undergraduate teacher preparation programs in North Carolina, graduating about 500 teachers a year. The Reich College of Education enrolls more than 2,000 students in its bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist and doctoral degree programs, with offerings that span multiple fields — from teacher preparation, counseling, and therapy, to higher education, school and student affairs administration, library science, educational leadership and more. With over 10,000 alumni employed in North Carolina public schools, there is at least one Reich College graduate in every county in the state. Learn more at https://rcoe.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

ARRC co-directors

The co-directors of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC) are leading researchers on regional colleges and postsecondary education in rural contexts. Collectively, they have been researching regional colleges for nearly a decade, publishing their findings in various formats — from journal articles and reports, to full-length books and book chapters.

The ARRC team:

Dr. Andrew Koricich, associate professor, Appalachian State University.
Dr. Kevin McClure, associate professor of higher education, University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Dr. Alisa Fryar, professor of political science and director of professional programs, University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Cecilia Orphan, assistant professor of higher education, University of Denver.

Setting the bar for rural-serving institutions

App State has long served rural students and contributed to the rural economic development and social mobility of the Northwestern North Carolina region. In 2017, the university entered into an agreement with the University of North Carolina System to continue prioritizing recruitment and retention of low-income and rural students.

Of the 20,023 students App State welcomed last fall, 5,992 are rural students — more than 300 students above the UNC System strategic plan benchmark for this academic year.

In 2012, economists in App State’s Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis estimated that the university’s annual economic impact was worth $560 million to the local economy and supported approximately $36 million in additional taxes to local governments.

Additionally, according to App State’s Alumni Association, 52,287, or nearly 39%, of the more than 134,000 living App State alumni live and work in Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties in North Carolina, contributing to the state’s growing economy.

Counties with Tier 1 and 2 designations, assigned by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, are considered rural. The determining factors for assigning a designation:

Average unemployment rate.
Median household income.
Percentage growth in population.
Adjusted property tax base per capita.

Supporting rural student success

The following support programs currently in place at App State — covering pre-admission, transition and post-enrollment support — help rural students matriculate successfully.

GEAR UP Guarantee, whereby students from regional GEAR UP partner schools who meet certain qualifications are guaranteed admission to App State.
Upward Bound, a program designed to provide certain categories of high school students better opportunities for attending college. The student categories of greatest concern are those with low income, those whose parents who did not attend college and those living in rural areas.
Flexible transfer agreements with neighboring community colleges.

Additionally, App State provides the following resources, which, while not specifically targeted to rural students, enhance or enable the Appalachian Experience:

Expanded health and wellness services.
Proactive counseling, coaching and writing centers.
An early intervention team for students struggling academically.
ACCESS Scholarships that allow promising first-generation students from North Carolina a debt-free education.
Support clubs and services for veteran, first-generation, African and Native American, LGBT and Latinx students.
Resident adviser training.
Support and education from the Office of Parent and Family Services.