Tag: Rural

  • Traveling to Europe with Rural Communication Students

    Traveling to Europe with Rural Communication Students

    Hi everyone! It’s September and summer and officially over! 🙁

    Summer is one of those sacred times of year for faculty to determine the next steps of their faculty career. From my dear colleague who is focused on his retirement to new faculty members who are focused on their new research agenda, everyone is focused on renewal. Our department faculty members usually travel to work at state parks, volunteer in the community, and participate in professional development activities.

    This summer, we traveled on a study abroad experience to Scotland, Ireland, and England. This was an incredible journey with 17 students from our university. I have not traveled outside of the country for a year and the students were filled with excitement from the end of the spring semester. 

    The trip to Europe was long and uneventful. We traveled with EF Tours and it was definitely an adventure. Many of our rural students have never traveled outside of the country before this adventure and they learned many new skills along their journey. I was proud of their progress.

    During the study abroad experience, I also had an opportunity walk a mile by myself in Ireland. Previously, I have ALWAYS traveled in groups – large groups and small groups. However, when most of the attendees wanted to participate in an activity together and I had to travel back to the hotel to pick up an item – I had the opportunity be independent. I walked by myself across the city to the hotel. This prepared me for another big adventure that I had this summer. Summer 2023 was filled with solo adventure travel for this female faculty member.

    We also had an opportunity to view the Book of Kells in Ireland. It was a great experience and the library that housed the book of Kells (the Bible) was one of the most beautiful libraries I’ve ever visited.

    This was my second time to visit the palace in England. There is always a crowd at Buckingham palace and the students enjoyed snapping pictures with the statues.

    Who am I kidding? I enjoyed snapping pictures as well! It was crowded and it was definitely an adventure.

    I’ve only heard about it on YouTube from flight attendants, but Primark lived up to its reputation. The clothes were inexpensive, high quality, and were gorgeous! I was very excited to buy professor clothes at Primark!

    Overall, we had a great time. The students enjoyed themselves and I did as well. I learned a lot about European culture and I added two additional countries to my list. In fact, I added THREE new countries to my list (more about that later). Another day, another post. 😉

    Let me know if you have any questions about traveling with students. They are a trip – literally! I cannot remember the last time that I laughed so hard. Traveling with rural students enables them to be themselves while experience a whole new world.

    Until next time!

    J. Edwards

    ***

    Check out my book – Retaining College Students Using Technology: A Guidebook for Student Affairs and Academic Affairs Professionals.

    Remember to order copies for your team as well!


    Thanks for visiting! 


    Sincerely,


    Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
    Professor of Communication

    Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Rural Communication Institute

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  • When Driving Through a Rural Area, Do You Think “How Far is the Local Hospital”?

    When Driving Through a Rural Area, Do You Think “How Far is the Local Hospital”?

    As a lifelong rural resident, I think about the proximity of my home and my work to a local hospital. Actually, I always think about my proximity to a Level I hospital when traveling in a rural area or visiting a relative.

    Many rural sections of our Texas interstates are located far from a Level I hospital. This means that when I am traveling to another location in Texas, I have to be very careful to practice defensive driving because I do not want to end up in a situation when I have to be transported to a high level hospital from a rural area.

    As a result, I looked forward to this live session from the Texas Tribune for weeks. This panel highlighted the perils that many of our rural residents encounter everyday. In many of our rural Texas counties, you cannot deliver a baby in a hospital, because there is not a labor and delivery unit. Also, some of our rural counties like Shelby County, TX, do not have a rural hospital any longer.

    Which part of the video stands out to you? 

    Thanks for visiting! 

    Sincerely,

    Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
    Professor of Communication

    Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Rural Communication Institute

    ***

    Check out my book – Retaining College Students Using Technology: A Guidebook for Student Affairs and Academic Affairs Professionals.

    Remember to order copies for your team as well!

    Source link

  • Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards: A Texas Professor Focused on Artificial Intelligence, Health, and Education: COVID-19 Outreach in Rural Areas

    Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards: A Texas Professor Focused on Artificial Intelligence, Health, and Education: COVID-19 Outreach in Rural Areas

    Over the past few months, our Rural Communication Institute (RCI) team (Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards, Dr. Subi Gandhi, and Dr. LaShondra Manning) has been tirelessly providing education and outreach for the rural areas of East Texas. This outreach has been both challenging and rewarding since the pediatric vaccine was approved by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).

    Educating parents about the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. As a parent, I am always very excited to share health information, but especially this information has been very important for me.

    Here’s a workshop that we were very excited to view from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. This workshop was focused on “What About the Children: Changing the Landscape on Rural Vaccine Coverage”. It focused on health in rural areas, especially for our youngest populations.

    Also, we have been fortunate to receive funding for travel for our outreach events, shirts, and giveaways. Here’s a special shout out to the Episcopal Health Foundation in Texas, because they provided so much support for our project.

    At first, we partnered with existing vaccination clinics and these were not very well attended, but THEN we decided to venture out on our own and to create our own clinics with the health of the Texas Department of State Health Services. We have been experimenting with the best time and date for our clinics as well all content for the clinics.

    We decided a “Summer Fun and Health Clinic” approach has been the best outreach strategy for reaching the community. The mid-day clinics (before 5pm) were not as well attended for some audiences (i.e. – parents), but other times had much better attendance (after 5pm).

    Also, we partnered with Agrilife (Mrs. Clarissa Moon) and Above Average Health Care and House Calls. Agrilife provided educational outreach sessions and Above Average Health Care and House Calls offered health checks and interpretations of lab results.

    Do you have any suggestions for us? We are so thankful for our partners!

    ***

    Check out my book – Retaining College Students Using Technology: A Guidebook for Student Affairs and Academic Affairs Professionals.

    Remember to order copies for your team as well!


    Thanks for visiting! 


    Sincerely,


    Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
    Professor of Communication

    Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Rural Communication Institute

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  • Have You Seen the Rural America Placemaking Toolkit?

    Have You Seen the Rural America Placemaking Toolkit?

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Rural Development and the University of Kentucky’s Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky unveiled a free digital toolkit to help rural leaders build placemaking plans in small towns and communities across America. 

    If you are located in (or serve) a rural area and you are are looking for a free digital toolkit filled with amazing resources, please 

    The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the University of Kentucky’s – Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky just debuted their “Rural America Placemaking Toolkit“.

    This toolkit is absolutely dynamic and I encourage academic and practitioners to utilize this amazing guide. It includes:

    Creative Community Conversations

    Community & Cultural Assessments

    Public Spaces & Gathering Places

    Cross-Sector Partnerships

    Also, if you have a rural project that you would like to be considered for the toolkit, you can submit it here.

    *The Rural Communication Institute actually plans to do this soon.

    Think about sending this guide to a local mayor, commissioner, teacher, health worker, volunteer, etc.

    It is an absolutely incredible resource.

    Sincerely,

    Dr. Jennifer Edwards

    ***


    Professor of Communication

    Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Rural Communication Institute

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