Curriculum – Rural Guided Pathways

Rural Pathways colleges participate in a range of activities that help them define and attain their goals. The colleges that are new to Rural Pathways already have guided pathways work underway at their institutions. Thus, all participating colleges act as a single cohort as they continue and deepen their pathways work.

The Phase 2 curriculum also includes one new component: leadership team training delivered by Rural Pathways in partnership with the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program. A spring 2023 Aspen report concluded that robust and cohesive leadership teams are missing at many rural institutions. The leadership training helps to address this deficiency, which limits colleges’ ability to effectively tackle challenges and/or take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Six 2.5-Day Institutes

Each college sends a team of eight people to each Institute. The team is required to prepare for each Institute and develop action plans with a broader group of stakeholders following the Institute. Each Institute includes keynotes by national experts and leading institutions from the field; smaller, more interactive breakout sessions; and team working time with the support of the college’s designated implementation coach.

Aspen College Excellence Program’s Leadership-Team Training

Aspen is delivering in-person workshops at two Institutes as well as two virtual workshops per year. This leadership training is based on Aspen’s senior team curriculum, and it is designed to strengthen college leaders’ capacity to implement rural pathways reforms. Throughout the project, this work is supported by a rural pathways leadership coach.

Office Hours

Each regional team participates in two virtual office hours per semester; these sessions include the college’s project lead and other team members as needed, a member of the NCII team, and the college’s implementation coach.

Virtual Consultancies

Each college is invited to participate in two virtual consultancies per year. The virtual consultancies are led by the college’s implementation coach and involve multiple colleges. During these sessions, colleges address problems of practice with peers from other institutions.

Topical Webinars

NCII and its partners develop and host three topical webinars per year. Participants can watch in real time and ask questions; NCII also posts the audio recordings and slides online.

Site Visits

Each college has one on-site visit from its implementation coach each year. During these visits, coaches may provide professional development to the broader campus community, customize support to specific college needs, and/or generate insight on challenges and potential next steps.

NCII provides project leadership for this effort and builds on its longstanding partnership with the Community College Research Center to support participating colleges. NCII also calls on other partners to bring additional content expertise and perspectives.