All social work education brings challenges and perhaps the most enjoyable challenges are found in small programs and in  rural program, and especially in small rural programs.  Obviously my bias is reflected in the preceding comment.  Small and rural programs differ from each other as much as they differ from large and urban programs.   Small programs differ greatly from one another depending on location, university/college setting, type of student attracted,  faculty experience and  credentials, and in available resources.  Small programs also differ from one another depending on the reason or reasons that each small program is small.

 

Location impacts a program in a variety of ways depending on the program.  Programs in comprehensive public universities in small rural areas [those universities in the state college system, often descended from normal schools as opposed to the flag ship schools] generally attract students from the local area.   Many students of this type have traveled little and reflect the values and norms of the region.  Depending on the location, there is often little diversity in terms of race and ethnicity among the students.  Social class often is similar as well.  

 

Students in small rural programs in comprehensive public universities  are often likely to have shouldered adult responsibilities at an early age or are likely to be nontraditional adult students.  In small rural areas many young women have their children earlier than in other areas.  Many are single parents.  [Interestingly, this is also a characteristic of large inner city public universities].   This means that most students work 20 to 40 hours a week to pay for the necessities of life and have little leisure to devote to many of the fun and enriching activities of traditional undergraduate college life.  Financial problems are frequent as are health problems, both for the student and for members of the student’s family, both extended and nuclear.  Health problems can relate to lack of good health resources as well as to financial issues. Nontraditional students are less likely to be idealistic and more likely to be pragmatic.  Many also transfer from community colleges. 

 

Many times the community college courses were taken over a long period of time.  Other students began as traditional four year college students and then dropped out either for financial reasons or to assume adult responsibilities.  This means that even though transcripts may demonstrate similar courses, prior expectations and content may vary greatly.    Heavy work loads, health issues, financial issues and student family responsibilities mean that programs of this kind must shape program policies and practices to meet the needs of students who are overstretched by life without sacrificing educational quality.  A further issue is that many students have a variety of work experiences that have given them an understanding of the way the world works that may be at variance with the text books or the experience of their professors.   A classroom with many non traditional students can be very challenging for the professor since these students question more and are much less deferential. 

 

Another type of small rural program is found in small private often denominational colleges.   These programs tend to attract students who are traditional age, have fewer financial issues, are more diverse in terms of social class, and who are more likely share a common set of values.  These students are more likely to be engaged in the residential life of the college/university and to be more idealistic about becoming a major force for change.  This group also has more time to interact with one another around class issues and are living in close proximity so are more likely to work together and carry social work class projects and concerns into their college life.  Social work becomes a vocation rather than a major leading to a job.   

 

Some programs are small because college/university enrollment is limited to control for quality.  Other programs are small because they cannot attract many students even though the host university is quite large.  Often, in this kind of program there is great pressure on the social work program to grow or be faced with closing.    The program is faced with heavy recruiting responsibilities and pressure from the university to keep students in the major even if not well suited for social work.  The reverse situation often arises as well.  The program grows so rapidly that it is difficult to hire faculty to keep pace with the growth and the program becomes overly dependent on the use of adjuncts or has difficulty maintain sufficient quality field placements.  

 

Small rural programs vary greatly.  The only constant is variety coupled with a strong desire to serve the needs of the program’s constituency.  In this lies the both the challenge and the joy of the small rural program.