Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9680-6525

Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Not Listed

Committee Chair

Margaret Stout

Committee Co-Chair

Michael Dougherty

Committee Member

Peter Butler

Committee Member

Hodjat Ghadimi

Abstract

Rural communities across the United States are experiencing profound social and economic transitions that demand innovative, asset-based approaches to community development (CD). This study responds to calls from West Virginia (WV) community development practitioners, funders, and university leaders for a standardized, contextually relevant framework to assess and track community well-being. The objective of this study was to develop a university-led community indicator project in West Virginia (WV CIP) that incorporates best practices recognized by the literature as critical to successful community-based indicator projects, specifically, the identification of scientifically and normatively grounded indicators rooted in a conceptual framework (the Community Capital Framework) and developed through robust stakeholder involvement. To achieve this objective the following research questions were answered:

1. What multi-dimensional and/or community capital indicators have been identified and used by previous academic and practitioner efforts to measure community changes in rural and Appalachian contexts?

2. Which multi-dimensional and/or community capital indicators do experts and professional community development (CD) stakeholders—including researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and funders—working in WV perceive as most important to measuring changes in WV communities’ assets?

3. How do expert and community stakeholder perceptions compare regarding which indicators are most appropriate for guiding CD policy and practice?

Using a phased, participatory research design, the project combined a literature review, expert evaluation, stakeholder workshops, and a three-round Delphi process to identify indicators relevant to the WV context. The final set of 85 indicators achieved high levels of agreement among participants and was subsequently validated through community consultations. Results revealed strong alignment between expert and practitioner perspectives on the importance of shared indicators for improving coordination, evaluation, and collective action, while also highlighting gaps—particularly around social and relational dimensions such as trust, engagement, and local agency—that remain difficult to quantify.

The WV CIP represents the first structured, participatory effort to develop a statewide CD indicator framework rooted in both empirical rigor and community experience. While not intended as a final or prescriptive model, the resulting framework provides a practical foundation for measuring community change, informing policy, and advancing collaborative governance across rural and Appalachian contexts. Future work should expand this framework through qualitative measures and capacity building initiatives that strengthen communities’ ability to generate, interpret, and act on local data to foster equitable, sustainable development.

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