Email: kpenning@email.wcu.edu

Phone: 828-227-3322
Office Address: 122 F Reid Gym

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy in Foundations and Adult Education, Kansas State University.
• Education Specialist in Community College Physics Teaching, Pittsburg State University.
• Master of Science in Physics, Pittsburg State University.
• Bachelor of Science in Physics, Pittsburg State University.
• Associate of Arts, Coffeyville Community College.

Teaches:

• Community College Administration and Teaching

Research interests:

Evaluating the ability of the small rural community college to fulfill its historic mission. Evaluating the impact of rural community colleges upon measurements of rural poverty. Unique problems and opportunities associated with small rural community colleges.

Personal Statement:

I love the American community college. The community college is the only institution of higher education in the world that claims to take students from where they are in ability to wherever their dreams can take them. This is a wonderful educational experiment to determine if every segment of society can benefit from some form of education beyond the legally required minimum. Like all experiments, the community college can fail. It is incumbent upon everyone who might benefit from the community college to see that they play their part in the grand experiment and to work diligently to make sure the American community college system does not pass from the forefront of today's education to a dusty footnote in history.

Recent publications:

• (Spring 2005) The challenges facing rural community colleges: Issues and problems today and over the past thirty years. Community College Journal of Research and Practice (With Karvonen and Williams)
• (Fall 2004) Rural community colleges and economic development: Leaders' perspectives on collaboration Journal of Applied Research in the Community College Vol. 11, No.2, 33-43. (With Williams)
• Building Institutional Capacity at Rural Community Colleges Through Consortia, ERIC Document Clearinghouse Number JC030052, 2002. (With Williams)
• (2002) Collaboration in professional development Planning for Higher Education, 31,1 39-45. (With Williams)
• (Summer 2002) Helping faculty refine their classroom role in a learning college. Academic Leadership, 9 (1) 10-13.
• (Summer 2002) Community college enrollment as a function of economic indicators. Community College Journal of Research and Practice 26, (5) 431-438 (With McGinty and Williams)
• (Summer 2001) An assessment of the community college's influence on the relative economic development of a county. Community College Review 29, (1), 1-17. (With Pittman and Hurley).
• (2001). A primer for community college consortium building. Academic Leadership, 8, (11), 3-6. (With Williams).
• (Winter 2000-2001) Community building and the rural community college. The Rural Educator, 22, (2), 20-23.

In print:

• “Appalachian Two-year Colleges” in Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, forthcoming 2005) 500 words

Research Papers Presented:

• Rural Community College Leaders Perspectives on Collaboration and the Impact of Collaboration Has Upon Economic Development - A presentation at the Rural Community College Alliance Conference, Myrtle Beach, SC. Oct. 3-5, 2004. (With Williams) Juried
• “Building Institutional Capacity at Rural Community Colleges through Consortium Partnerships” – Rural Community College Alliance Conference. October 8, 2002, Memphis, TN. (With Williams). Juried
• “Perspectives on the Ability of Technology to Solve Significant Problems Faced by Small Rural Community Colleges” National Rural Education Association. October 26, 2001. Albuquerque, NM. Juried
• “An Assessment of the Community College's Influence on the Relative Economic Development of a County” North Carolina Association for Research in Education. March 22, 2001. Charlotte, NC. With Robert B. Pittman. Juried
• “(Forget the Classroom) Students Get More With Distance Education” 6th Annual Lilly Conference on College Teaching – South, February 12, 2000, Athens, GA. With John Casey Hurley and Victoria Faircloth. Juried
• “Teaching for Learning at the Community College: What I Wish I Had Been Told,” National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, May 27, 1998, Austin, Texas. Juried.