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The Tar Heel Bus Tour stops off at Rocky Mount Mills in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on October 19, 2022. (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Resources for Community-Campus Partners

UNC-CH is a national leader in community-engaged scholarship with faculty, staff and students in partnerships in North Carolina’s 78 rural counties. UNC Rural supports this growing network collaborating on rural community-led solutions by providing additional tools to strengthen partnerships.

2024 Community Priorities: Affordable Housing, Childcare and Transportation

During our 15 Rural Community Conversations, we listened and learned from more than 150 people across the state. In response, we are elevating three key priorities at the university level while providing additional resources for productive action.

Rural Community-Campus Partner Resource List

UNC-CH has over 375 schools, departments, centers, institutes, and other entities. Many of them have partnership offerings available to rural communities and residents. As a pan-university resource, we can help make connections to these community-campus partners listed based on your needs and interests.

Resource List with magnifying glass

UNC Rural: Building Strong Rural Community-Campus Partnerships

Panelists: Jada Brooks, Angella Dunston and Al Richmond

Learn about UNC Rural’s current work and the tenets of effective community-campus partnership through the perspective of community-based partners, nonprofits, and academics. Community leaders, nonprofits, students, and UNC faculty and staff all benefit when community-campus partnerships are strengthened and supported, especially in rural areas which may have been historically underrepresented. 

From Silos to Synergy: The Future of Community-Campus Partnerships

UNC Rural is collaborating with community-campus partners on the Engaged Scholarship Series. At the first event titled From Silos to Synergy, 42 attendees representing 8 counties gathered to help shape the future of the series and increase the impact of community engaged work.

Adam Sotak welcoming everyone to From Silos to Synergy

Suicide Prevention: A Call to Action for NC’s Rural Communities

Dr. Jada L. Brooks and Adam Sotak, MSW wrote an article for Carolina Across 100 and the UNC Suicide Prevention Institute’s emerging initiative, Our State, Our Wellbeing: Partnering to Prevent Suicide in NC. The article Suicide Prevention: A Call to Action for NC’s Rural Communities describes the mental health crisis in rural North Carolina, along with the importance of valuing rural voices and assets in our solutions.

Rural North Carolina Facts

How Many Rural Counties are in North Carolina?

The NC Rural Center reports that 78 rural counties out of 100 counties in North Carolina.

  • 1 in 3 NC residents live in rural areas
  • #2 largest rural population in United States
  • #1 largest American Indian population East of the Mississippi River
  • 40% of first-year UNC students are from rural areas
  • 1 in 5 rural adults 25-44 have a college degree or credential
  • 8 state-recognized American Indian tribes
  • 45% of rural NC residents under 18 are people of color
North Carolina map with each of its 100 counties outlined and highlighted based on if a Rural County (n=78) or Suburban/Urban County (n=22).