The Appalachian Higher Education Network held its first region-wide conference, June 10-12, 2014, in Asheville, North Carolina, serving teachers, principals, higher education faculty and staff, workforce developers, and community organizers from the thirteen Appalachian states. "Increasing Postsecondary Education Attainment in Appalachia: Promising Practices/Enduring Challenges" was a robust forum for learning about and discussing successful practices used in Appalachia's elementary and secondary schools, 2- and 4-year colleges, and workforce agencies, and in communities at large to promote postsecondary education access and success.
As a strategy to connect people and organizations in Appalachia working on postsecondary education attainment issues, the conference began in collaboration with the Community Colleges of Appalachia. Dr. Walter Bumphus, President, American Association of Community Colleges, discussed "Trends and Issues in Community Colleges, including Accountability and the Next Big Thing," and highlighted a new initiative focused on identifying best practices for connecting community colleges to high schools. Mr. Earl Gohl, ARC's federal co-chair, introduced Tamara Thompson, the founder and CEO of Mockingbird Education, an organization focused on working with low-socioeconomic and marginalized learning populations, who conducted training on how to develop, strengthen and maintain partnerships. Doris Terry Williams, Executive Director of the Rural Schools and Community Trust, reaffirmed the importance of place in rural America and identified leadership challenges to be addressed. Dennis Bega, Director of Regional Operations in the Office of Communications and Outreach at the U.S. Department of Education, facilitated a plenary discussion on why connecting education, workforce development and economic development is an important strategy, and Maisha Challenger, Outreach Staff, Office of Student Financial Aid, at the Department gave participants the latest information on the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) and a direct contact to that federal office.
The highlight of the conference was twenty-four small group sessions giving participants an opportunity to hear from colleagues about their successes in promoting postsecondary education access and success – what they did and why - and to expand their professional network of assistance. Descriptions of the small group sessions, including PowerPoint presentations and PDF handouts (if applicable) are available here.