Date of Award
Summer 8-23-2025
Document Type
Dissertation in Practice
Degree Name
Ed.D. in Higher Education
Organizational Unit
Morgridge College of Education, Higher Education
First Advisor
Cecilia M. Orphan
Second Advisor
Michelle Tyson
Third Advisor
Carrie B. Hauser
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Allocation of resources, Colorado, Higher education, Quantitative methodology, Rural consciousness, State and local governing boards, Uniqueness, Way of life
Abstract
Evolving economies in Craig and Salida, CO, spurred community interest in joining Colorado Mountain College’s taxing district and bringing the college to their communities. When they sought to join, Craig had a local college embedded in its community that was governed by a state-level board; in contrast, Salida had no local college of its own. The two communities’ pursuit of a locally governed college raised a question about governing boards and whether one type of governing board might serve rural communities better. Using a framework of rural consciousness, this nonexperimental, cross-sectional, quantitative study employed data gathered from a survey instrument to compare and analyze two sets of variables––state- and local-level governing boards in Colorado––and their relationship to the constructs of rural consciousness. The purpose of my study was to explore whether state- and local-level board members demonstrate a rural consciousness in their decision-making and whether these two types of boards exhibit rural consciousness differently. The evidence indicates that the two types of governing boards exhibit rural consciousness in similar ways, except when considering the uniqueness of a rural community’s character as board members craft policy. As one of the first analyses of the exhibition of rural consciousness in higher education, this study provides empirical evidence regarding the relationship between board type and policy creation, which may assist policymakers and community leaders as they contemplate community colleges serving rural communities.
Copyright Date
8-2025
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Steven J. Skadron
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
138 pgs
File Size
1.4 MB
Recommended Citation
Skadron, Steven J., "Exhibiting Rural Consciousness: A Study of State and Local Level Governance in Rural Higher Education" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2654.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2654