Rural Matters

John has an extremely informative discussion with Tom Morris, Associate Administrator for Rural Health in the Human Resources and Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Rural Americans are dying at an earlier age and at a higher rate than urban Americans, notes Morris, and also are victims disproportionately of “excess deaths,” such as certain chronic diseases and opioid addiction, which could be prevented through timely intervention. Education and better access

John chats up Randy Smith, whose organization, the Rural Community College Alliance, represents 2/3 of all community colleges in the United States, and 1/3 of all community college students in the country. Smith described some of the challenges facing rural community colleges, including the commute to the college, technology, and economic obstacles. Despite these challenges, rural colleges have a huge impact on local economic development. Funding formulas for rural colleges are all over the map

Recorded live from the recent Virginia Rural Health Association’s 2017 Rural Health Providers Conference, John chats up Summer Sage, president of the VRHA Board of Directors, and two keynote speakers — Robert Pack, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs & Professor of Community and Behavioral Health at East Tennessee State University and the Principal Investigator on a drug abuse research program in Appalachia; and Maggie Elehwany, government affairs and policy vice president for the National Rural

John chats with Kari Oyen, assistant professor of School psychology at the University of South Dakota and president of the South Dakota Association of School Psychologists about mental health issues in rural America and the role of school psychologists.  According to Oyen, because of the lack of resources in many rural areas, there’s a greater need for a systemized approach for dealing with pressing mental health issues in rural settings. In South Dakota, there is enormous problem with suicidal

Recorded live at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education at Ohio State University, this episode features a riveting discussion with Mara Casey Tieken, author of Why Rural Matters, and professor of education at Bates College in Maine. Mara talks about the importance of rural schools, which educate 20 percent of the school children in the United States and are critical to local rural economies. John and Mara discuss the growing importance of school closure policies to rural communities and

John has a fascinating chat about DACA with Jordan of the Center for Rural Affairs. You’ll find out what DACA is an acronym stands for, the ins-and-outs of this controversial program, why some rural areas in Nebraska are actually increasingly in population, the average age of the DACA beneficiary (you’ll never guess), and whether or not there’s a path to citizenship under DACA.

In this inaugural episode. John discuss several major cutting-edge rural education issues, including teacher shortages, innovative recruitment practices, and Internet connectivity, with Allen Pratt, the executive director of the National Rural Education Association. Pratt has recently taken over the helm of NREA, the voice of rural schools and communities, and the oldest established organization of its kind in the U.S., representing rural teachers, administers and school board members.