Historically, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) have been teaching institutions serving the role of higher education in tribal communities. For many tribal students, mainstream or Western education is incompatible with Indian traditions and ways of learning (Cunningham & Parker, 1998). TCUs provide small classrooms and community environments that are better embraced by Native students and are often considered pathways to success within tribal communities.

Tribal colleges have been operating with congressional funds since before 1994 and increasingly, research initiatives sponsored by the USDA, the Department of the Interior, the National Science Foundation, and NASA have become popular. These initiatives have emerged for good reason. For example, there are few researchers at TCUs, and integrating culturally relevant research into educational curricula can assist with student retention rates. By capitalizing on generations of knowledge and practice, traditional ecological knowledge can provide a great model and lead to improvements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research. Research initiatives targeting TCUs are beneficial to students, communities, and faculty, but they often struggle due to the young nature of the institutions and their research support offices. Moreover, larger federal institutions and 1862 land-grant institutions are not aware of the history and operational constraints of TCUs. Nonetheless, the rewards of strengthening research initiatives outweigh the challenges and these opportunities should continue to be pursued (Mortensen et al., 2001). The goal of this paper is to present two case studies where strengthening initiatives have been implemented at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) to improve research capacity.

SIPI is a two-year institution and part of the Bureau of Indian Education. It serves all federally recognized tribes in the United States, and Alaska Natives, and is known for its strong STEM programs. The two case studies describe initiatives aimed at improving research capacity at TCUs, as well as the associated challenges and rewards. We hope that these examples and lessons learned can be used as models for TCU research development and can enhance the best practices of doing research in these institutions.

CASE STUDY 1: THE NATURAL RESOURCES PROGRAM

In an effort to expand and increase its institutional research capacity, SIPI received funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA). The goal of this project was to partner with the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) at New Mexico State University (NMSU), New Mexico’s 1862 land-grant institution, and the United States Forest Service to build stronger infrastructure for SIPI’s research capacity and to identify obstacles to achieving this goal. SIPI collaborated with NMSU to provide a workshop for tribal college faculty on conducting short- and long-term research, offer opportunities to publish in peer-reviewed journals, and devise educational webinars on topics of interest for TCUs. In addition, this collaboration worked on building a culturally appropriate herbarium and developing culturally appropriate methodologies for best practices in preserving cultural legacy on tribal campuses. Since the implementation of this project, eight SIPI students have participated, three have graduated and continued on at four-year institutions in natural resource programs, and five were retained and continued on in the next trimesters. Engaging students in culturally relevant material contributed greatly to student retention in this project.

Table 1. Benefits of Conducting Research at 1994 Land-Grant Institutions

Building capacity at SIPI and expanding the knowledge acquisition ability has helped to foster projects at pueblos near Albuquerque. Using examples from the ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Jornada Long-Term Ecological Research sites, and NMSU’s Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center provided a good model for TCU researchers. However, we recognized building capacity is more than doing good research. Building capacity comes with the responsibility of disseminating information and ethical and culturally sensitive data management—something that is not a standard feature in non-tribal research initiatives.

Lessons learned from these projects were disseminated through two workshops conducted at the First American Land Grant Consortium (FALCON) annual meetings in 2014 and 2015. In addition to presenting the lessons we learned, we used these workshops to engage the broader TCU community by generating discussions about issues surrounding the current state of research capacity at their institution. We asked participants to identify the benefits of conducting research (Table 1) and the barriers to conducting research (Table 2).

As part of this project we identified other barriers to doing research at TCUs, such as limitations with information technology (IT) infrastructure and the need for repositories for data and metadata. When hosting webinars at SIPI, the IT infrastructure was slow; this caused problems with the connectivity. As tribal colleges grow and receive funding for infrastructure improvements, strengthening IT resources and digital storage capacity is essential. Careful consideration must be taken when storing, processing, and utilizing data from tribal lands and communities. Data repositories for natural resource projects, including monitoring, can facilitate long-term analysis, which can provide powerful teaching tools as well as important information about changes in the environment. Strengthening IT within TCUs is essential to building research capacity.

Another way to disseminate information is through peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed journals and articles, which offer knowledge and innovative ideas. Collaborating with successful mentors to assist in the process of writing, editing, and submitting articles is an effective way for tribal college faculty to contribute their findings and knowledge to the research community. Relationship and trust building is one of the keys to finding good mentors. Seeing more articles originating from tribal colleges in mainstream journals would give a new perspective to current science and propel it into an era of sustainable research and technology.

One initiative of this project was to build a herbarium that would engage students. SIPI currently has a small herbarium with Latin names placed on each specimen. Based on feedback from students and community members, we added Native names to a subset of the herbarium. To protect culturally sensitive information, we only used names that have been published in books or are considered widely known. Providing the Native names for plants in the herbarium helped engage students and also facilitated learning about the location of where the plants are found, because many of the plant names include locational as well as ecological information. Much of this effort was student led; in fact, five students presented research posters at FALCON and at a meeting jointly held by the National Science Foundation and USDA-NIFA in 2015. The students’ independent projects involved them selecting plants used in their communities, which they researched to learn more about their cultural, food, and structural values. Students were very engaged in this project and some collected plant specimens to display and give away, demonstrating how culturally engaging curriculum can stimulate learning.

CASE STUDY 2: ENGINEERING PROGRAM

The TCU engineering initiative was created on March 11, 2004, when 11 TCUs met at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss incorporating engineering and pre-engineering studies into their curricula. At that meeting, the participants formed a TCU engineering working group, in which they committed themselves to work together, help solve mutual problems, share best practices, and support one another in developing, implementing, and sustaining engineering curricula. Educating Native American engineers was largely a dream in those days. TCUs could generally offer their students some basic science, mathematics, and humanities courses, but an engineering or engineering technology degree usually required the student to transfer to a nearby mainstream institution to receive the bulk of the engineering curriculum.

Table 2. Institutional Capacity, Community Awareness and Support, and Faculty Support Barriers to Conducting Research at 1994 Land-Grant Institutions

As a group, the progress of the TCUs since 2004 has been stunning. Today, there are 12 TCUs in the working group: Blackfeet Community College, Chief Dull Knife College, College of Menominee Nation, Fort Peck Community College, Haskell Indian Nations University, Navajo Technical University, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, Salish Kootenai College, Sitting Bull College, United Tribes Technical College, White Earth Tribal and Community College, and SIPI. Two members offer a total of three full baccalaureate degree programs in engineering. Six more members now award Associate of Science degrees in pre-engineering with transfer to a cooperating mainstream institution. In addition to a pre-engineering degree, one member also offers an Associate of Applied Science with three options to prepare students as engineering technologists. Finally, four member TCUs have pre-engineering degrees in the planning stages that allow students to take some basic science, mathematics, and humanities courses that will transfer to a cooperating mainstream institution. The demand for engineering at TCUs is growing, and today all students can be accommodated, though they may be required to attend more than one institution to complete a degree.

The TCU engineering initiative has now seen all TCU-educated engineers graduate and enter the workforce. NASA and the National Security Agency (NSA) are among those agencies that have hired TCU engineering graduates.

SIPI has implemented a 1+1 structure for its pre-engineering program. First, students are advised to complete one year of enrichment in math, science, English, computers, and communication. Second, the students are advised to enroll in a one-year certificate program to gain practical and hands-on skills that prepare them for entry-level engineering jobs, and at the same time help with their retention and transition into pre-engineering. The certificate program is a safety-net program in a dual-degree setting with pre-engineering.

SIPI has heavily integrated research and development, as well as industry-standard software tools and packages such as MultiSim, LabView, AutoCAD, MATLAB, SumitT IV, Co-ventor, Homer, and others into its pre-engineering curriculum. Students are trained in the use of these tools and encouraged to employ them for class assignments, homework, tests, projects, etc. SIPI’s pre-engineering program, in collaboration with SIPI National Science Foundation TCUP II and National Science Foundation Advanced Technical Education Associate of Science in Engineering and Engineering Technology programs, NASA Johnson Space Center, and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, has offered its TCU Engineering Education Summer Institute for the tribal college’s faculty and students.

Three research and development groups and a total of seven teams attended the Summer Institute. Graduate students from the University of New Mexico, NMSU, and New Mexico Tech, along with students and faculty from SIPI, Salish Kootenai College, Diné College, Oglala Lakota College, and Little Big Horn College, joined one of the three research groups, based on their interest. The Summer Institute included six weeks of intensive workshops, courses, and research and development experience activities at SIPI and a one-week visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The university or industry partnership provided support for SIPI pre-engineering courses.

SIPI pre-engineering students are encouraged to choose community-based research and development, and to challenge problems related to sustaining and developing natural, energy, and human resources (Acker et al., n.d.). Students have participated in several Indian energy program competitions.

SIPI assists with scholarships to help retain students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, but also to encourage students in developmental courses to stay in college and pursue STEM careers. Students are linked to each other as well as to graduate students, instructors, and industry professionals via a pyramid model crafted by SIPI’s Department of Advanced Technical Education. SIPI student interns are usually under the direction of graduate or post-doctoral students who also serve as mentors. Increasingly, the graduate students are SIPI alumni who are enrolled at nearby universities. The projects frequently put the interns into one-on-one contact with community college and university professors, as well as industry professionals. And some SIPI students have managed to leverage their on-campus internship experiences for internships with federal agencies and corporations.

With support from the National Science Foundation, SIPI developed a program that leads to an Associate of Science degree in engineering and engineering technology. The new curricula includes an enrichment year to help the students get up to speed in math and science so they can compete when they transfer to universities. The program also brings faculty from other TCUs to SIPI for summer professional development workshops. These programs serve as networking and learning opportunities for SIPI’s student interns. The interns are involved in outreach activities at the Bernalillo School District where half of the students are Native American. They assist with school presentations, robotics competitions, and summer STEM camps. In addition to easing students’ financial burdens, the internships help students gain interpersonal and professional skills by interacting with people who share their interest in STEM. Faculty note a tremendous change in students’ self-confidence as they go through the SIPI model.

CONCLUSION

The two case studies summarized here demonstrate how research at tribal colleges is not only imperative to sharing knowledge but also to providing professional development opportunities to students and faculty in the form of workshops, webinars, collaborative projects, recruitment and retention, and internships. From these two case studies, we demonstrate large infrastructure needs such as IT, as well as increased administrative support to manage the influx of grant-related funding at tribal colleges.

Both of these case studies have outlined the importance of student engagement through STEM projects. Research at tribal colleges also helps retain faculty by facilitating their interests, and it raises the profile of these colleges, which can facilitate further collaborative efforts. With regard to building research infrastructure at tribal colleges, we hope that these two case studies help with ideas for implementation strategies. We recommend designing programs that are driven by community needs and include participatory approaches to identifying priorities rather than being dictated by outside entities. The pre-engineering program at SIPI has found a good model that is working well for this program, and the Natural Resources program is finding pathways to make research easier and more fluid.

 Erin T. Riley, M.S., has taught science at SIPI and Little Big Horn College; Nader Vadiee, Ph.D., is chair of the engineering program at SIPI; Amy C. Ganguli is an assistant professor of range science at NMSU.

Acknowledgement: The authors would like to thank USDANIFA for the funding for this project, and Jill Lee for helping compile the tables.

REFERENCES

Acker, T.L., Vadiee, N., & Atcitty, S. Jemez Pueblo Solar Power Study (n.d. [ca. 2014]). Retrieved at http://nau.edu/ CEFNS/Engineering/ Mechanical/Research-and Labs/ Energy/_Forms/JEMEZ-PUEBLO-SOLAR-POWER-STUDY— ACKER—198—Final/

Cunningham, A.F., & Parker, C. (1998). Tribal Colleges as Community Institutions and Resources. In J. Merisotis & C. O’Brien (Eds.), Minority-Serving Institutions: Distinct Purposes, Common Goals. New Directions for Higher Education, No. 102 (pp. 45–56). San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.

Mortensen, M., Nelson, C.E., & Stauss, J. (2001). Survey of Tribal Colleges Reveals Research’s Benefits, Obstacles. Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education, 13(2), 28–32.