In 1994 the Ford Foundation launched the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) as a "national demonstration project to help community colleges in distressed regions move their people and communities toward prosperity. It challenged community colleges to become catalysts for economic development and supported aggressive efforts to increase…

This newsletter discusses development projects in developing nations, including the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Peru. The following major articles are included: (1) "Radio Santa Maria: A Case Study of Participatory Evaluation" (John K. Mayo, Charles B. Green, and Miguel E. Vargas); (2) "Instruction by Audio Conference: An…

This document presents a rationale and procedures for a series of workshops on land use planning. It was developed initially as a response to the need for information and materials for land use planning in rural Alaska. A four cycle planning model is provided and a suggested format is offered for an individual workshop session. Each session…

The author discusses the Rural Development Degree Program (village-based, experientially oriented degree courses at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks), which is aimed at developing local leadership to mediate the impact of the dominant external forces and to maintain a modicum of social and cultural integrity. (CT)

Reviews findings of a four-year study designed to identify and measure the impacts of Federal decisions about the risks associated with large development projects on rural Alaskan populations. Addresses the consequences of off-shore oil and gas development activity. Consequences reinforce an urban bias and sustain dependencies on declining…

A bimonthly report describes a recent work to determine the use of satellite educational television in remote and isolated rural communities, especially those inhabited by native Alaskans. It is believed that educational satellite communication has its greatest potential in Alaska because of these conditions. The report describes the scope of the…

Alaska's efforts toward sustainable development include protecting the subsistence lifestyle by involving indigenous people in stakeholder decisions about whaling and fishing quotas and offshore oil drilling; developing rural energy, water, and sewage infrastructures; using telecommunications to bring health care and education to remote areas; and…

The title reflects the first and major article in an issue of this newsletter devoted entirely to communication satellites. This series of articles on the potential and applications of communication satellites in development projects is concerned with their development for commercial and public service, development in the Pacific region, SPACECOM…

Examines effects of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act within broader context of rapid social change. Considers viability of rural Alaska village life and economic and social relevance of traditional Native culture. Suggests expansion of state/federal programs imposing welfare dependence are a powerful force in undermining traditional…

The Alaska Native population experienced substantial advances in physical health, education, income, and housing between 1970 and 1980. Despite these gains and the 1971 passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), the Alaska Native population remains at a disadvantage in all areas relative to the Alaskan non-Native population and…

Numbering approximately 62,005 and representing 15.3% of the total Alaska population in 1975, Alaska Natives are a finite and predominately rural subpopulation. However, a significant portion of the Alaska Native Work Force (estimated at 13,854) now resides in the major urban areas and is available to the Statewide Work Force. Statistics from May,…

Faced with the need to build new social and economic institutions following the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Alaska Natives formed 12 regional non-profit making corporations. One of these, Northwest Arctic Inupiat (NANA), is bringing a human resources development approach to the area in an effort to develop enduring economic and…

Rural Amrica has been experiencing dramatic changes in the transition toward a socially and culturally diverse society. This study is a first effort to explore multicultural reform in rural schools. Multicultural education is the process by which the school environment is modified to accommodate cultural differences as well as to teach the role…

To assist state-level educational policy makers, information about the needs of rural adults and barriers to their participation in educational programs was studied in seven northwestern states. Telephone interviews gathered information from educational providers (approximately 6 in each state) and 47 rural adult learners from the region. In each…