{"id":696,"date":"2021-12-14T15:24:53","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T15:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.tarleton.edu\/rci\/?page_id=696"},"modified":"2025-10-30T02:21:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T02:21:17","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/","title":{"rendered":"Rural Communication Institute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Rural Communication Institute (RCI)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>We are pleased you are visiting the website of the Rural Communication Institute at Tarleton State University. The Rural Communication Institute (#ThinkRuralComm) is focused on helping people live, learn, and thrive in rural areas of Texas, the United States, and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To serve as the primary resource for rural communication in the United States while connecting individuals in rural areas with resources to help them live, learn, and thrive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Objectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Serving as a research and informational resource focused on rural communication for governmental organizations (national, state, local), educational institutions, and non-profit organizations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Preparing rural populations for the future with innovative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Addressing and developing best practices for rural education, housing, and health.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Providing high impact experiences for rural scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If your organization would like to form a partnership with the Rural Communication Institute, please contact us: 254-307-8211 or&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:jtedwards@tarleton.edu\">jtedwards@tarleton.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Meet Our Rural Communication Leadership Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"mailto:jtedwards@tarleton.edu\">Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards<\/a>, Executive Director\/Content Expert<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"mailto:gandhi@tarleton.edu\">Dr. Subi Gandhi<\/a>&nbsp;Assistant Director\/Content Expert (Rural Health)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Meet Our Rural Communication Scholars<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>TBA<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Meet Our Rural Communication Undergraduate and Graduate Student Fellows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our Rural Master&#8217;s, Doctoral, and Communication Practitioner Fellows are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>CareyLyn Ryan, Tarleton State University, Industry Fellow<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Alba Zarate, Tarleton State University, Industry Fellow<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lauryn Harris, Tarleton State University, Industry Fellow<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ahmet Aksoy, Texas Tech University (Faculty Fellow)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Amber Taylor, Texas Tech University (Undergraduate Fellow)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mark Mazuera, Tarleton State University (Undergraduate Fellow)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Renata Maron, Industry Fellow<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, RCI hosts an annual Rural Communication Summit each fall. Connect with&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:jtedwards@tarleton.edu\">jtedwards@tarleton.edu&nbsp;<\/a>for more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-advgb-columns advgb-columns-wrapper\" id=\"advgb-cols-87e3bb30-ecde-4bd9-8618-1250fb59c295\"><div class=\"advgb-columns-container\"><div class=\"advgb-columns advgb-columns-row advgb-is-mobile advgb-columns-2 layout-12-12 mbl-layout-stacked gutter-20 vgutter-10\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-advgb-column advgb-column advgb-is-half-tablet advgb-is-full-mobile\" id=\"advgb-col-f602346a-b9ff-49bc-ab99-f67e1926811c\"><div class=\"advgb-column-inner\" style=\"border-style:none;border-width:1px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-advgb-button alignfull is-style-squared\"><a class=\"wp-block-advgb-button_link advgbbtn-4df862d8-f613-4ff3-aa5e-bac198d1f40e\" href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/EpdhjaeC6wvCkQgF8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span>Rural Communication Scholars Program Faculty Application<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-advgb-column advgb-column advgb-is-half-tablet advgb-is-full-mobile\" id=\"advgb-col-f815c0be-b3a3-47ac-a4be-3d7068ebf077\"><div class=\"advgb-column-inner\" style=\"border-style:none;border-width:1px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-advgb-button alignfull is-style-squared\"><a class=\"wp-block-advgb-button_link advgbbtn-c8d97bf0-fac0-4061-9fe4-0eba4a9a20ca\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLScMuu6lxIopNJM6-VS6kBiaIAjKFdVmVaMFtHMOk3ITOmeLsw\/viewform?usp=sf_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span>Rural Undergraduate and Graduate Fellow Application<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.canva.com%2Fdesign%2FDAEuEBi5sFE%2Fview&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cwebmaster%40tarleton.edu%7C0375fa6060324a63423a08d9a2e1de2f%7C2c5ee638a96349c0ac26828dd9b78d5e%7C0%7C0%7C637719913239733389%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=P%2BAU6P%2BkS5EXF1Qyum0Zjmn9F1WMMc%2FeSrYt2dBq7WU%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Texas Social Media Month &#8211; November 2021 (Final)<\/a>&nbsp;by jennifertedwards<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rural Fellows (Past Years):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Shitara Taylor, Tarleton State University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Anna Laurent, M.A., Tarleton State University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sydney Brown, Tarleton State University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Angela Castillo, Texas Wesleyan University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rural Scholars (Past Years):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ava Francesca Battocchio &#8211; Michigan State University (Lansing, MI)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clinton Brown &#8211; Marshall University (Huntington, WV)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Courtney Cole &#8211; Regis College (Weston, MA)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Xuewei Chen &#8211; Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ashleigh Day &#8211; University of Texas at Tyler (Tyler, TX)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Subi Gandhi &#8211; Tarleton State University (Stephenville, TX)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allison Hahn &#8211; City University of New York (New York City, NY)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kevin Hales &#8211; University of Missouri (Columbia, MO)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Son Mai &#8211; McNeese State University (Lake Charles, LA)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rob Patterson &#8211; University of Virginia\/McIntire School of Commerce (Crozet, VA)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nicola Ritter &#8211; Texas A&amp;M University (College Station, TX)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ashli Stokes &#8211; University of North Carolina &#8211; Charlotte (Charlotte, NC)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bryce Tellmann &#8211; South Dakota School of Mines &amp; Technology (Rapid City, SD)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bradley Wolfe &#8211; Ridgewater College (Nicollet, MN)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<br><a class=\"twitter-timeline\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thinkruralcomm\" data-height=\"600\" data-width=\"400\">Tweets by TSU Rural Communication Institute<\/a>\r\n<script async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script>\n<style class=\"advgb-styles-renderer\">.advgbbtn-4df862d8-f613-4ff3-aa5e-bac198d1f40e{font-size:18px;color:#fff !important;background-color:#4f2d7f !important;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px !important;padding:10px 30px 10px 30px;border-width:1px !important;border-style:none;border-radius:50px !important;}.advgbbtn-4df862d8-f613-4ff3-aa5e-bac198d1f40e:hover{box-shadow:1px 1px 12px 0px 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The Rural Communication Institute (#ThinkRuralComm) is focused on &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":580,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-696","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/","display_name":"keegan"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 6 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on December 14, 2021","modified":"Updated on October 30, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on December 14, 2021 3:24 pm","modified":"Updated on October 30, 2025 2:21 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_img":false,"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":834,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/696\/revisions\/834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/rci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}