New Programs

Announcement to Offer Bachelor of Science Degree in Community Development and Graduate Certificate in Community Development

The Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University announces two new academic programs. One program is a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Development. This undergraduate major is designed to prepare students to address important social and economic issues in metropolitan centers, urban fringe areas, and rural communities. It is an interdisciplinary degree program that will provide students with theoretical, statistical, decision-making and communication skills that they can effectively apply in careers with federal and state governmental agencies, community planning groups, municipal departments, marketing firms, and other professional organizations. The program will enhance students’ abilities to: collect and analyze different kinds of data; work with community leaders, groups and publics; identify and mobilize necessary resources for development processes; and assess outcomes and impacts of community development on residents and newcomers. It will emphasize such issues as: institutional development; human capacity building; economic development; youth development; poverty; welfare-to-work; water quality; land use planning; and other issues involving the mobilization of and collaboration with diverse community groups.

The department also has created a twelve-hour graduate Certificate in Community Development. This certificate program provides students with an understanding of the principles and processes of community development. It addresses issues of decision making and leadership, human organization and communication, institutional capacity and enhancement, and resource mobilization and management. Attention is also given to special populations with respect to development processes and outcomes. The program is available to students who are pursuing any graduate degree at Texas A&M University and who meet enrollment criteria.

For additional information regarding these programs, contact Dr. John K. Thomas, Program in Rural Sociology and Community Studies, Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2261. Information is also available at the web site: http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/communitydevelopment.

Reports, Articles and Publications

• New Paper Offers a Research, Development & Policy Plan for Biofuels

  The Council for Agriculture Science and Technology (CAST) recently released a commentary titled: Convergence of Agriculture and Energy II: Producing Cellulosic Biomass for Biofuels. The paper articulates the need for cellulosic ethanol to come online to meet the demand for biofuels in a way that is sustainable and profitable. To do this, the biofuel system, from feedstocks to distribution needs further development. The authors lay out a research, development, and policy plan under the categories of resource assessment, agronomic systems, crop development, supply logistics, education, and extension. The full commentary can be found at http://www.cast-science.org/displayProductDetails.asp?idProduct=145

• New Report on Immigration and Housing in Rural America

A new report from the Housing Assistance Council examines rural immigration trends and assesses the impact of a growing rural foreign-born population on housing conditions in rural communities. Download the report at http://www.ruralhome.org/manager/uploads/Immigration2007.pdf

• New Article Explores Creative Class Growth in Rural Areas

  An article in the April 2007 issue of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Amber Waves explores the importance of the “creative class” for rural growth in the 1990s.  According to the analysis, about 11 percent of non-metro counties ranked in the top quarter of all counties in terms of the proportion of residents employed in creative class occupations.  Counties high in natural amenities, as well as those dominated by colleges and universities, were most likely to be “creative class magnets.”  New England and the mountain areas of the West were found to have higher shares of rural creative class counties than the Midwest and South.  See “The Creative Class:  A Key to Rural Growth” at http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/April07/
  Features/Creative.htm 
  Creative class data on all counties in the U.S. is available at  http://www.ers.usda.gov/
  Data/CreativeClassCodes.

• U.S. child Poverty Rates Concentrated in Rural South

  The rate of child poverty in the U.S. is higher than in most other industrialized countries, finds a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.  The report notes that child poverty is heavily concentrated in the South, and remains higher in rural than in urban areas, despite progress in the 1990s.  In the South, 19 percent of rural children were poor in 2003.  Proximity to an urban area appears to impact rural poverty rates, with nonadjacent counties having higher rates of poverty.  See “Rural Children at a Glance,” at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/EIB1/EIB1.pdf.

• Southern Growth Releases The Southern Workforce Index

  The Southern Workforce Index offers a bird's-eye view of the South's workforce development challenges. The Index is non-traditional in form and philosophy--it equates workforce and economic development and calls on states to respond on multiple fronts, not through a fragmented system of education programs. Specifically, The Index focuses on the need to tailor services to individual clients, tap into non-traditional sources of workers, and better inform students and teachers about the economy, starting at the earliest ages. The Index outlines 15 indicators for measuring the region's process and contains state-by-state data and summaries of workforce initiatives in the region. The full report can be viewed in pdf format at http://www.southern.org/pubs/workforceindex2005/workforcefull.pdf  

• Study Reveals Two-Lane Roads are Most Dangerous 
  

  Rural two-lane roads in Southeastern states are among the most dangerous roads in the nation, according to a recent national analysis of traffic fatalities by TRIP, a nonprofit transportation research group.  Among the report’s major findings is that traffic fatalities are occurring on rural roads at a rate approximately two-and-a-half times higher than on all other roads.  Factors cited in the report include poor roadway design, longer emergency vehicle response times, and the higher speeds traveled on rural roads.  Download the report and appendices at http://www.tripnet.org. 

• Article: Trends in Successful Rural Economies 

“Rural America produces much more than cows and corn,” emphasizes an article in the latest issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Main Street Economist.  The article points to a number of key trends in the rural economy, including rising agricultural productivity, the emergence of services as a vital economic sector, and a move away from commodity production.  The authors point out that rural areas often don’t get credit for their dynamism because the most successful areas often “graduate” to non-rural status.  Formerly rural counties that have been reclassified as urban since 1970 grew in population by more than 80% between 1970 and 2000, the authors note, compared with a 32% growth rate for counties that were already considered metropolitan in 1970.  Access the article at http://www.kansascityfed.org/RuralCenter/mainstreet/MainStMain.htm.

• Report:  Active Living and Local Governments

  Local officials think it’s very important for local governments to provide opportunities for citizens to pursue healthy, active lifestyles, finds a recent survey by the International City/County Management Association and the National Association of Counties.  Strong community support, local government leadership, and partnerships with schools are seen as keys to success.  The report offers a number of recommendations to local governments, including:  1) recognizing the importance of local government leadership; 2) educating citizens about linkages between active living and quality of life, health care costs, and other priorities; 3) looking beyond parks and recreation exercise programs for ways to promote healthy living - such as through transportation and community design changes; 4) partnering with schools; and 5) addressing land use regulations that are barriers to active living.  Click here for the report.

• Report:  Defining The  Boundaries of Metro vs. Non-Metro Areas

  Are you confused about the new names, definitions and boundaries for metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas?  If so, a new publication from the Brookings Institution will help set you straight.  Tracking Metropolitan America into the 21st Century includes comparisons of metro areas under old and new definitions, describes newly defined “micropolitan” areas, and discusses the policy and research implications of the new system.  Download the report at http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20041115_metrodefinitions.htm.  

• Report:  Options for Rural High School Excellence

  Roughly 30 percent of Southerners live in rural areas compared to 21 percent nationally. Seeing the importance of the rural economy and workforce, the Southern Governor’s Association (SGA) released, “Options for Rural High School Excellence.” The report highlights state and local policies proven to improve rural education.  The paper identifies size as a potential advantage of small rural schools, but also points to leadership, discrimination, and financing as areas in need of improvement.  To view the report at: http://www.southerngovernors.org/indexPDF/SGANewTraditions.pdf.

• Does Education and School Quality Affect Economic Development?

  In their most recent publication, the Knowledge Works Foundation (KWF) discusses the relationship between education and economic prosperity. The paper cites research from the Brookings Institution and noted education policy authors attributing the U.S.’s success as a knowledge-based economy to a relatively well-educated workforce. The research also extends the relationship between education and prosperity to state and local economies. In a study of school districts with court-mandated public school funding, increases in education spending immediately raised real estate values. In addition, cities with a well-educated workforce and strong public school system during the last decade were the areas to experience the greatest amount of population and income growth. To view the paper online: http://www.kwfdn.org/ProgramAreas/Facilities/weiss_book.pdf

• Towards a New Metropolis: The Opportunity to Rebuild America [pdf]

  In this paper, Professor Arthur C. Nelson of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University turns his attention to the question of how the built environment of the urban areas of the United States might be reinvigorated during the coming quarter century. The 51-page paper contains a number of interesting findings, such as that by 2030 about half of the buildings in which Americans live, work, and shop will have been built after 2000. Other aspects of the report are not as surprising, such as the comment that a preponderance of this new growth will occur in the South and the West. Professor Nelson concludes the report by asking a rather pressing question: "Should we maintain the status quo in terms of development patterns, or can we envision a different pattern of growth?"

• Rural Governance Innovations Focus of New Report -- Innovations in rural governance are the focus of the just-released 2003 Annual Report of the Center for the Study of Rural America. The report emphasizes that new governance “is the bookend challenge to building a new economy in rural regions throughout the nation,” along with the need to build new engines of economic growth. It cautions that old institutions that were created for yesterday’s economy can impede partnerships that are essential to progress in the 21st century. The report emphasizes that rural areas need a way of governance “that allows a region to make economic decisions quickly and efficiently – and in line with the new economic opportunities.” Four innovations in rural governance are highlighted: 1) Northeast Minnesota Higher Education District; 2) Texas Office of Rural and Community Affairs; 3) Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence; and 4) Discovery Park at Purdue University. 

Funding Opportunities

• The Rural Information Center has a new web page dedicated to "Federal Funding Sources for Rural Areas" which is available at:  http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ric/funding.php.

• GRANTS.GOV Provides Information on 800 Government Grants Programs

Grants.gov is a new website that improves the process of identifying and applying for federal government grants. The interagency project was headed by the Department of Health and Human Services, which awards more than half of all federal grants. Grants.gov provides information on more than 800 grant programs involving all 26 federal grant-making agencies. The site uses a standardized format across agencies and includes a Find Grant Opportunities feature to help applicants find potential funding opportunities. The Apply for Grants section simplifies the application process by letting applicants download, complete and submit applications for specific grant opportunities from any federal grant-making agency.

New Books

• The American South in a Global World

  The University of North Carolina has released a new book, The American South in a Global World.  One of the most interesting concepts, introduced by James Peacock, former director of the University Center for International Studies, is that the Southern identity is having to shift from simply "we're not the North" to one that reflects its global interdependence.  The 300-page book costs $25 in paperback.  To order, call 1-800-848-6224.  The book helped to inspire, "Fast Forward: Mobilizing the South for Prosperity in a Global Economy."  A summary of that report can be found at http://www.southern.org/pubs/fastforward-exec.pdf or, for the full version, visit http://www.southern.org/pubs/gsc-fastforward.pdf

• William W. Falk, Michael D. Schulman, and Ann R. Tickamyer have edited a new book, Communities of Work: Rural Restructuring in Local and Global Contexts, which is being published by Ohio University Press. Many of the chapters of this book are written by SRSA members.

• New Guidebook Released for Conducting Challenging Community Dialogues

  Public Conversations Project has released an updated guidebook entitled Constructive Conversations about Challenging Times: A Guide to Community Dialogue. The book contains instructions for conducting a two-hour dialogue on a challenging issue or event, from convening the group to facilitating the actual dialogue. Additional community dialog tools are also available for download. 

Other Publications

• A new fact sheet from Child Trends looks at the connections between neighborhood quality and child well being and creates a Neighborhood Support Index based on parent perceptions of support from neighborhoods. The fact sheet includes a state-by-state listing of the proportion of children living in the most supportive neighborhoods. Download the fact sheet at http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends2007_09_18_FS_NeighborhoodIndex.pdf
  
• The Smart Growth Network and the International City County Management Association recently published a follow-up volume to Getting to Smart Growth, a 2002 publication that featured 100 tools for implementing smart growth principles. The new volume, aptly named Getting to Smart Growth II, adds 100 more tools to the mix, including actions that the private sector can take to promote more livable communities. Among the Southern examples highlighted are Atlanta's Land Bank Authority and Kansas City's Country Club Plaza. 
  
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service recently published Rural America at a Glance, The 2007 edition highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas.  The brochure is aimed at providing data for decision makers to use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas.  Download the brochure at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/EIB31/  

Electronic Resources

• New Online Workforce Housing Toolkit

  This toolkit provides information on more than 30 housing strategies, from accessory units to density bonuses. In addition to the strategies, this toolkit includes links to other housing resources, including local communities using these strategies, relevant publications, funding sources, housing data and other housing toolkits. Access the toolkit at http://www.orangecountyfl.net/cms/WorkforceHousing/HousingTools.htm

• Online Tool Helps Communities Evaluate Pros and Cons of "Big Box" Stores

The Orton Family Foundation has developed an online tool to help communities think about how "big box" stores may affect their community's economics, environment and community character. The interactive format enables users to see the economic, environmental, social, and visual effects that would result from the assumptions and choices they make. The Big Box Evaluator is available at http://www.bigboxevaluator.org

• New Toolkit Helps Business Incubators Measure Their Economic Impact

  The National Business Incubation Assocation has released its first guide to help business incubators collect and disseminate economic impact information. The new tool describes ten data points that all incubators should track, provides tips for ensuring cooperation from clients and graduates, offers advice on how to analyze data, and makes suggestions for getting information out to stakeholders and the public. The toolkit is available at http://www.nbia.org/impact (there is a minimal charge for non-NBIA members to access the electronic data collection documents).

• New On-Line Toolkit Available for Community Development and Planning

  Pathways to Planning is a new on-line tool to help communities diagnose and address their planning issues and needs. The tool, which was developed by the Orton Family Foundation and the Vermont Forum on Sprawl, covers eight key topics, including development patterns, transportation, natural resources and the environment, historic resources, open space, agriculture, the town center and housing. After completing a series of questions in each of these areas, users are offered advice and resources aimed at their community’s particular needs and circumstances. Access the tool at http://www.surveycafe.com/VtForum/entry.asp

• New Equitable Development Toolkit Available On-Line

  A new Equitable Development Toolkit offers communities a range of strategies aimed at providing opportunities for affordable housing, good jobs, and environmental safety to families of all income levels. The Toolkit contains ideas for encouraging the redevelopment of abandoned or underutilized industrial properties; promoting minority contracting; developing affordable housing; ensuring that families earn living wages; and preserving green space. Access the Toolkit at http://www.policylink.org/EDTK/overview.html

• Southern Growth Policies Board has added a comprehensive list of resources on both the regional and national level to assist in researching topics in the community development; globalization and trade; innovation and technology and workforce disciplines.  Visit http://www.southern.org/main/tools/tools.shtml and view the list of links for a broad range of topics.

New Listserv Focuses On Rural Space If you're interested in spatial aspects of rural spaces and locales, the new listserv, RuralSpace-L, is now available for subscribers. RuralSpace-L is open for rural sociologists and members of other disciplines. This list welcomes questions and comments on both theory and methods of spatial analysis involving rural locales. A note on your research activities involving spatial theory or methods is highly welcomed.

To subscribe send "subscribe ruralspace-l" (w/o quotes) in the body of an email message to majordomo@Lists.MsState.Edu. If you have a signature block automatically appended to your outgoing e-mail, put the word "end" (no quotes) on a separate line after the "subscribe" command. That will instruct Majordomo to ignore everything else in your message.

• GIS Data: http://data.geocomm.com/

  This online resource for GIS and geospatial data has compiled data from a wide range of GIS Web sites located on the Internet. Some of the data is free once you set up a user account to be part of the GeoCommunity, with additional data available for a fee using the Premium option. Downloading may require the user to be proficient in GIS and own relevant software. Download options include: Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) Data, USGS Digital elevation Models (DEM), Digital Orthophotos (DOQ/DOQQ), and FEMA Flood Data. Bundles of data available for purchase include: VECTOR MAP (VMap) Level 1, National Wetlands Inventory, TIGER Data & U.S. Census Resources, data by individual states in the U.S. as well as data on countries around the globe. The majority of the datasets are in ARC/INFO E00, SHP, DLG, TIGER, and DEM formats.

• Updated School District Demographic Information Available On-Line

  The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has released an updated version of its School District Demographic System. The tabulation provides more than 100,000 demographic characteristics per school district. The data system also allows you to create your own demographic map of the school district. To view this, see: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds. Another NCES publication profiles nearly 6,600 postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal student financial aid programs are profiled. The report looks at tuition, fees, and other costs, as well as the number of degrees conferred during the 2001-2002 school year. See the report at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004154.
  

• National Association of Manufacturers Statistics Available Via On-line Database
  The National Association of Manufacturers has created a database of manufacturing establishment data. The data includes numbers of establishments and employment by congressional district and by state. Harris Selectory provided the data. The list of manufacturers by congressional district resides at www.nam.org/mfgdistricts and the list by state resides at www.nam.org/mfgstates.

Journals Seeking Submissions

• CITYSCAPE Seeking Papers in Housing & Urban Development and Policy

Cityscape, published three times a year by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research, is accepting submissions to its new Refereed Papers section.  They are seeking papers in all areas of housing and urban policy, including economic opportunity and self-sufficiency, homeownership and housing finance, housing technology,  regulatory barriers to affordable housing, rural housing, housing for persons with special needs, subsidized housing, university partnerships, urban revitalization and community development.  For more information, and to view current and prior issues, visit the Cityscape website, at http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/cityscape.html 

• International Journal of Environmental Research

Based at the University of Tehran, the International Journal of Environmental Research (IJER) is “concerned with all aspects of environment.” On the journal’s homepage, visitors will also learn that some of the specific fields covered within the publication include natural disasters, environmental design, and risk assessment and management. The journal was started in early 2007, and the executive manager is Professor Karbassi. Currently, there are three complete issues of the journal available online, and interested parties may also wish to read up on how they can submit their own pieces of scholarly work for consideration.

• The International Review of Modern Sociology Seeks Submissions

  The International Revew of Modern Sociology is committed to publishing sociologically related and academically engaging papers with an explicit cross-cultural and comparative focus.  All submissions must neither be under review elsewhere nor have been previously published.  Manuscripts may be submitted electronically as a Word document to:  Sunil Kukreja (kukreja@ups.edu) along with

  • A title page with the name of the author(s) and institutional affiliation(s), if any

  • An abstract of no more than 150 words

  • A biographical statement of the author(s)--maximum 100 words

  • The paper should not be longer than 30 typewritten pages (including references and notes) and in size 12 font

  • Papers should conform to the APA style

  • A processing fee of $30 (payable to IRMS) must be submitted before the paper will be reviewed.

  • Hard copy submissions (please submit 3 copies) should be sent to:  Sunil Kukreja, Department of Comparative Sociology, CMB 1057, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA 98416

Conferences Seeking Papers

• CALL FOR PAPERS: Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) and the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society (AFHVS)

Theme: Resilient Culinary Cultures: Disaster, Innovation and Change in Foodscapes

Where: New Orleans, Louisiana

When: June 4-8, 2008

The conference is hosted by the University of New Orleans in the Historic French Quarter. Paper, panel, roundtable, and events proposals should be sent to Program Chair, Alice P. Julier, no later than February 4, 2008. Follow this link for more information about the conference: http://www.afhvs.org/2008mtg.html

 

Other

• Grant to Establish Nonprofit Associations in Southern States   

A grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will help the National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) establish new nonprofit associations in 15 states, including Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.  The aim of the associations will be to strengthen their state’s nonprofit organizations through advocacy, professional development, network building, research and information sharing, and other activities.  For more information, contact NCNA at (202) 962-0322 or visit their Web site at http://www.ncna.org.     

• Rural Business Investment Program Designed to Promote Job Creation in Rural Communities

The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a new, initiative to promote economic development and job creation in rural areas. The Rural Business Investment Program (RBIP) licenses companies for matching venture capital funds dedicated to the nation’s rural businesses. The program is similar to existing SBA venture capital programs. Companies “must identify targeted Rural Areas and demonstrate how they would assist those areas through disciplined, profit-oriented investing in rural enterprises and through hands-on technical assistance to rural enterprises…” At least 75 percent of RBIC investments, measured both by dollars invested and number, must be made in Rural Business Concerns—an enterprise whose principal office is located outside a standard metropolitan statistical area or within a community with a population of 50,000 or less. See the SBA description of the program at http://www.sba.gov/INV/RBIP/.

• Southern Growth Releases New Community Toolkit

  A new toolkit from Southern Growth Policies Board, Globally Positioning the South, is designed to help communities plan their future in the global economy. Materials are available to guide citizens in a discussion of possible approaches, including making sure that businesses have access to information about global markets and new technologies, that the workforce has the skills needed in today's global marketplace, and that communities are making civic connections that will help them build stronger communities and businesses. Feedback and input from these community meetings will be used in developing Southern Growth's 2004 Report on the Future of the South. Also available are placemats that provide fun facts and games to get citizens thinking about their community's connections to the global economy. The placemats can be used in conjunction with a community discussion forum, or at any type of lunch or dinner gathering. For more information on these materials, see www.southern.org/placemat.asp or contact Linda Hoke at lhoke@southern.org.

• Rural Housing and Economic Development Gateway Launched

The Housing Assistance Council has launched the Rural Housing and Economic Development Gateway to connect rural organizations with information, technical assistance, training, and investment capital in the areas of economic and community development. Gateway staff are also available to answer housing and development questions in English and Spanish at 1-877-RURAL-26 (1-877-787-2526) or gateway@ruralhome.org.  

• Free Local Government Environmental Toolkit Available

  Looking for resources on Brownfields, smart growth, military base reuse and other environmental issues? The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) has produced a toolkit that could help. The Local Government Environmental Toolkit, available on CD-ROM, contains publications, fact sheets, and other resources that ICMA has produced to help local government officials meet their environmental and economic development challenges. Request a free copy of the toolkit by calling (877) 865-4326 or emailing lgean@icma.org with your name mailing address, and phone number.