Video Transcript – Serving Rural Students in Their Hometowns
Video Transcript
[Title: Community Impact Program]
(Light, upbeat music)
[Peter Risse, Associate Dean, Extended Studies]: So at its heart, the Community Impact Program is really about building partnerships that facilitate incredible student support, and allowing and helping communities build themselves based on what their vision for themselves are, what their needs are, and the unique characteristics of each community that we’re working with. And so we deploy faculty to those areas and work with the students directly on projects that are beneficial to the local community and to what the student wants to do with their particular degree pathway.
[Mandy Fulbright, Multidisciplinary Studies, Mountain Home, Idaho]: So the Community Impact Program was a rural initiative that Dr. Tromp started. We were actually the inaugural class for this program, and what she wanted to bring awareness is how can the community impact? How can students bring something different to a rural community to economically impact it? Leadership impact it? What way can we put a rural town on the map?
[Charlie Brizzee, Multidisciplinary Studies, Fruitland, Idaho]: Well, initially when I was contacted by a representative from Boise State University with this brand new program, it piqued my interest because I’m from small town, Idaho. However, on our first class with a Zoom call with President Tromp and her sharing her vision and her story from growing up in Green River, Wyoming, she sold me completely on the program.
[Mandy Fulbright]: Online is absolutely crucial for my lifestyle. I’m a single mom. I have three amazing children and work full time. So leaving work to attend classes, to come back, to make up work – personal life is going to give, and I was not willing to make that sacrifice. So I took advantage of the program and started the community impact.
[Charlie Brizzee]: The program with being entirely online really gives me the flexibility to live the lifestyle that I want and still follow my career.
[Mandy Fulbright]: It’s made me connect to the town, for example, my classmate was my neighbor, and I had no idea. She literally lived across the street. And so I noticed one day she was driving and I noticed her car in the parking lot and I was like, we’re neighbors. So I would have never have known that without this program is that we are able to connect with other people in this town that we probably would have never interacted on a regular basis.
[Charlie Brizzee]: This program definitely changed my connection, it actually opened my connection with my local area. Although I did grow up in Idaho, I’ve only been in this area about five years, and it really enlightened and broadened the identity of this rural community for me. And, you know, I really feel that the opportunity to be involved, especially at the onset with the Community Impact Program, was very unique, not only for someone of my age, but for all of the students that were involved in the program and very appreciative for the opportunity.
(Light, upbeat music)