Volume 19 Summer 2008 Issue No. 4
In This Issue:
Success by Accountability and Assessment
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ON CAMPUS
FPCC Creates Reservation Executive MBA ProgramIn January 2007, Fort Peck Community College (FPCC, Poplar, MT) started an Executive Masters of Business Administration program on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The program is offered through a matriculation agreement with the University of Mary (UM), which is headquartered in Bismarck, ND (www.umary.edu). Out of 25 students initially enrolled, 19 remain a year later.
While the program was offered to all residents in the area, 16 of the students are Native American, and many are also graduates of FPCC. The cohort is on track to graduate in August of 2008 and will create “a greater pool of resources, a greater knowledge base to call upon,” says Robert McAnally, J.D., former vice president for academic and vocational programs and current faculty member at FPCC. McAnally is also an adjunct faculty member for the UM MBA program.
“This first graduating class will produce a new core of valuable financial and economic management-credentialed individuals. The Fort Peck Reservation community and Indian Country in general must strive to provide locally based higher education through exciting collaborative arrangements such as this. If higher education is truly the path to future economic and social development for reservations, then I believe that such on-reservation, tribal college-based MBA programs are providing the right direction and opportunities,” says McAnally.
Three FPCC staff members are currently in the MBA program: Business Instructor Billie Norgaard (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), Business Manager Rose Atkinson (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux), and Grants Manager Leslie Gourneau (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux).
FPCC was recently awarded a grant from the American Indian College Fund called the Woksape Oyate: Wisdom of the People Initiative to develop and enhance the intellectual capital of the nation’s tribal colleges and universities. This grant will partially fund the three college employees.
 CELEBRATING MENTORS AND STUDENTS. KBOCC advisers and university bound students received gifts at program conclusion. Photo Courtesy of Debbie Parrish. |
Keweenaw Bay Students Prepare for Leadership
Six Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC, Baraga, MI) students participated in a summer program at Michigan Technological University (MTU) through the Michigan College and University Partnership (MICUP) program. The program is designed to assist students in the transfer process to community colleges to earn a baccalaureate degree.
Community colleges are proven training grounds for future community leaders. The MICUP program allows students to participate in a six-week summer program that addresses the opportunities and challenges for students who want to earn a bachelor’s degree. The program includes academic tutoring and comprehensive advising while students complete an undergraduate internship with a faculty member.
Two KBOCC students participated in the six-week long program: Andrea McMahon and Cory Fountaine. McMahon served as an intern with the MICUP office under the supervision of Lori Muhlig, associate program director. Fountaine served under the direction of Susan Kilpela with the Art Department.
Four KBOCC students completed research projects during the second summer session. Carole LaPointe’s project was a youth entrepreneurship program. Lauri Denomie’s project was “Ojibwe Chiefs, Then and Now.” Jerry Jondreau and Evelyn Ravindran presented jointly on the “Black Ash Tree.”
A farewell luncheon was held at MTU where MICUP Program Director Madeline Mercado Voelker presented certificates of completion. Lori Muhlig, associate program director, presented students and mentors with gifts.
EAGERLY AWAITING LONG-ENVISIONED NEW LBHC LIBRARY. L to R: Mary Agnes White Hip, Aide, Tim Bernardis, Library Director, Edwin Springfield, Technical Assistant, and Patty Brown, Assistant Librarian. Photo by Mary Hudetz |
Little Big Horn College To Double Library Size
By Brett Thomas-DeJongh
Children sit around the fireplace, listening to a storyteller weave a tale. A college student—ready to start work on a term paper—searches rows of book shelves. On the periphery, a couple of teens update MySpace pages. Little Big Horn College (LBHC) administrators take care of business on the second floor, and below them the college archives hold the history of the Apsaalooke, the region, and more.
This is the vision that LBHC Librarian Tim Bernardis has for the $7 million library center that is being built a stone’s throw from the school’s administration building in Crow Agency, MT. “Hopefully, everyone will find something here,” he says.
At 25,000 square feet, the new building is double the size of the current library, granting Bernardis room to expand the book collection and add computers. Plans for more comfortable furniture and office upgrades for the staff are in the works, too, says Bernardis, who has been librarian at LBHC for 23 years.
The students also are looking forward to the new digs. Lakisha Flores, a LBHC freshman, says she anticipates seeing more fiction on the shelves. “I know we’re college students, and we need to do research,” Flores says, “but the library we have now doesn’t have books you can read on your own time.” Leslie Smith, president of LBHC’s student government, says the increased number of computer workstations will solve a shortage she has noticed at the current library.
The college plans the library ribbon-cutting for June 11, 2008. Shane Ridley of Fisher Construction, a Billings-based company, says that construction began in late 2006. Though the foundation was finished that December, the ground froze, and they couldn’t backhoe, he says.
Larry Kindness, LBHC’s construction liaison and building inspector, acknowledged the weather delays and other setbacks. Had the college not received $3 million from a special tribal budget bill, Kindness says construction might have been halted indefinitely. “We wouldn’t have been able to finish or furnish the building,” Kindness says.
Bernardis and Kindness spent weeks brainstorming about ways to make the college’s building a community center, too. Bernardis envisions creating photo exhibits of Crow families by researching the tribal archives to trace family trees. “We would start with an old photo,” he says. Digitizing the tribal archive is a priority, he says, because putting the archives content online provides a way to both preserve and share content with other museums.
He is working to gain access to the digital archives at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center’s Plains Indian Museum in Cody, WY, where the one-of-a-kind Paul Dyck collection will be housed. The Cody museum acquired the Paul Dyck Collection of Plains Indian artifacts and art work in September, a fact not lost on Bernardis. “Initially, [the Paul Dyck Foundation] wanted to give the collection to the Crow tribe,” he says. “Somehow it slipped through our fingers.”
The collection will not go up for several more years, as the museum catalogs and restores the items, according to the historical center’s website. If the library eventually gains digital access to the collection’s bear claw necklaces, war shirts and other beaded items, then Bernardis and other staff members could display them on flat screen televisions mounted to a wall in the new building, Kindness says.
“I don't think any other college in the country will have that,” Bernardis says.
Reprinted by permission from CrowNews.Net
A WHOLE LOT OF TALKING. At CMN, 98 faculty, staff, board members, and administrators participated in self-assessment by discussing their ideas. Photo courtesy of Ron Jurgens. |
CMN Used Conversations For Self-Study Process
By Ron Jurgens
The College of Menominee Nation (CMN, Keshena, WI) held its first “Conversation Day” in January 2008 with 98 faculty, staff, board members, and administrators attending. A Conversation Day is one of four steps in the Vital Focus Process facilitated by the Higher Learning Commission, the regional accreditation agency. Vital Focus is a self-assessment process used for multiple purposes including self-study for accreditation, entrance into the Academic Quality Improvement Process (AQIP), or strategic planning.
Conversation Day is really a series of three conversations: Conversation One used an affinity process to generate four thematic groupings (What Matters Most to the College: CMN as a Positive Change Agent, Our Culture of Teamwork and Support of Each Individual, Our Connection to the Community, and our Commitment to Growth). These groupings came out of discussions at each table where everyone’s opinion counted. Each table was represented by a mix of faculty, staff, board members, and administrators. Data from the recently completed college-wide “Constellation Survey” were used as starting points for discussion. The discussions also highlighted the importance of three of the AQIP high performance principles (Involvement, People, and Collaboration).
In Conversation Two, “What is Currently Done Well,” the group was asked to share what they believed were the strengths of CMN in the areas of effective processes, where they believed collaboration was thriving, and the core strengths of the employees. Some of the process strengths included centralized advising, assessment of student learning, and curriculum development. Core strengths of the people included being supportive, being highly qualified and knowledgeable, having a commitment to the college, and being student-centered and sensitive to community and family.
The theme of Conversation Three was “Making a Significant Difference by Acting on What Matters Most.” The conversation yielded a number of “provocative proposals” in the major AQIP process areas of understanding student and other stakeholders’ needs, leading and communicating, and helping students learn. These proposals will be evaluated by the internal planning committee for implementation into the strategic plan and next budget cycle. Also, a number of “quick fixes” were generated to address many of the minor problems inherent in any organization.
The day provided an opportunity to meet off-site, away from distractions of the office. The facilitators added to the enjoyment of the day where new friendships were made and collaborations launched.
For more information, contact Ron Jurgens, MPA, vice president of planning and operations at the College of Menominee Nation by phone (715) 799-6226 Ext. 3011 or email rjurgens@menominee.edu
Blackfeet Board Creates Its First Faculty Senate
The Board of Trustees of the Blackfeet Community College on Jan. 16, 2008, approved the formation of the college’s first Faculty Senate, as recommended by President John Salois (Blackfeet).
The formation of the senate furthers the college’s efforts to incorporate and honor traditional Blackfeet values, specifically, Ini-yimm (respect for one’s self, all other people, all ideas and each thing in the natural world) and Aoh-kan-otah-tomo (accepting everyone, embracing the unique talents and contributions of each individual) into all college operations.
Given the volume of work needed to be done to organize the senate, executive committee elections were held in the formative stages. James Petersen was elected chair; Meredith Berthelson was elected vice chair; and Samuel Thornton was elected secretary. Having already developed a senate charter, the faculty will now begin working with the college to provide input on the college’s operations, curricula, and aiding students in their academic and personal growth.
Democrats Choose Carol Juneau for DNC Committee
CAROL JUNEAU: Native Credentials Committee for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Photo courtesy of C. Juneau. |
In January, Montana State Sen. Carol Juneau (Hidatsa and Mandan) of Browning was elected to the Credentials Committee for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Juneau was one of six Native Americans chosen by the Democratic National Committee to sit on or chair standing committees for the party's national convention, which takes place on August 25-28 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Juneau was president of Blackfeet Community College from 1976 until 1982. She also has served in the Montana House of Representatives and is the treasurer of the Montana Indian Democratic Council. She also serves as vice chair of the Montana Democratic Party and is on the State Executive Board of the Montana Democratic Party. She is a member of the Montana Advisory Council on Indian Education and is president of the Montana Indian Education Association.
The Credentials Committee is charged with coordinating issues around the selection of delegates and alternates to the Democratic National Convention and probably will meet in the summer, according to a Democratic National Committee news release. The committee will issue a report that will be the first official item of business at the convention in August.
“The Democratic Party has always been a champion of Indian Country, and this historic election is no different,” says Frank LaMere, chair of the Democratic National Committee's Native American Coordinating Council and a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. “Chairman [Howard] Dean understands that America’s strength comes from its diversity and has worked hard to make the DNC and our 2008 convention representative of our nation.”
 STUDENT DESIGNS BLANKET OF THE YEAR. Thomasina Stevens (Fort Peck Sioux/Mandan/Hidatsa), a student at Fort Berthold Community College in North Dakota, was selected to showcase her horse design for the Pendleton Mills Company. Stevens is the winner of the 2007 Student Blanket of the Year Competition. Her blanket design will be featured as one of the American Indian College Fund blankets. She is currently student teaching at New Town School and plans to graduate with a four-year degree in secondary science in collaboration with Turtle Mountain Community College. She is enrolled in the Native Ways of Knowing program (see this issue’s Talking Circle). Stevens is pictured with her daughter, Sissy. Photo courtesy of Carmelita Lamb. |
 THE LEECH LAKE TRIBAL GRADUATE. The thunderbird reflects Anishnaabe cultural symbolism. Illustration courtesy of LLTC. |
LLTC Uses Thunderbird To Visualize Graduates
By Rachael Brash
When looking at assessment, one of the main questions that must be asked is how relevant the assessment plan is to the institution. An assessment plan cannot truly become alive on a campus unless it is meaningful to the college community and represents the characteristics unique to that institution. This is the challenge Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC, Cass Lake, MN) undertook this year when developing an assessment plan.
The faculty wanted to know how to properly define assessment as it relates to their tribal college. We focused on identifying what our graduates (or learners) look like when they complete their studies. We realized that would help lead us to our own perception of how to define and do assessment. To direct that process, we looked toward our institutional mission, values, and learner outcomes.
It became clear that we lacked a unified vision of a graduate and thus it was difficult for many of us to tie all the different elements (mission, student learning objectives, and values) together. To link these factors, we decided to create a visual representation of a graduate to help with this process (see chart):
Tail: The tail of the bird is the foundation. It provides steering capabilities, balance, and stability. Our institutional aims, resources, and practices are the “rudder” for the learners – enabling them to properly guide themselves through life.
Body: The body of the thunderbird encases the vital organs – the seven Anishinaabe values. They keep the learner strong and healthy.
Wings: The wings allow the thunderbird to hover, soar, and glide. Each of the six student learning outcomes makes the wings more effective, allowing the learner to be more successful when he or she takes flight after graduation.
Head: The learner is represented at the head of the thunderbird. The head allows the learner to look in many directions to see the world from multiple angles, leading the rest of its body through life.
We chose the thunderbird because of the symbolism within the Anishinaabe culture. It also ties together our curriculum with our facility, which will be in the shape of a thunderbird upon completion. Since introducing the learner framework last fall, the college community better understands how all the different pieces of the institution come together to increase the learner’s ability to succeed. The framework has helped to unite our ideas, academic disciplines, and co-curriculum into a common understanding.
When our assessment plan is fully employed, our decisions and actions will be based on our learner model so that we meet our mission of providing quality education grounded in Anishinaabe culture. This will ultimately lead to fulfillment of our institutional vision: To be recognized as a center of academic excellence that advances Anishinaabe worldviews and empowers life-long learners to become fully engaged citizens, stewards, and leaders.
For more information on Leech Lake Tribal College or this article, contact Kyle Erickson (director of institutional advancement) at (218) 335-4286 or Rachael Brash (director of assessment) at (218) 335-4288.
Initiative Honors Past 3 Haskell Presidents
Haskell Indian Nations University (Lawrence, KS) has announced Indigenous and American Indian Studies Professor Julia Goodfox as the first scholar of the Dr. Gerald E. Gipp Scholar Exchange Program. Goodfox is an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. She is active in her discipline, including sponsorship of the American Indian Studies Club, co-director of the Indigenous and African Experiences in the Americas Seminar, and development of the Haskell Writing Center. Goodfox has been teaching at Haskell since August of 2005.
The Gipp Scholar Exchange Program is one of three new initiatives designed by Haskell President Linda Sue Warner (Comanche) to honor Haskell’s former American Indian presidents. The new scholar program is a multi-faceted educational opportunity established to promote academia. In addition to academic exchanges between colleges and universities, the program provides professional development -- Gipp Scholars are encouraged to pursue post-baccalaureate degrees through reduced teaching loads and sponsored sabbatical leave. As a Gipp Scholar, Goodfox will assume a full sabbatical leave for the 2008 calendar year to complete her dissertation in American Studies at the University of Kansas.
Gipp served as Haskell’s first American Indian president from 1981 through 1989. He is currently the executive director of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), a nonprofit organization of tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). The consortium is comprised of 37 higher education institutions located in 15 states and one Canadian province. Gipp has served as a program director at the National Science Foundation and executive director for the Intra-Departmental Council on Native American Affairs. He was also the first American Indian appointed as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Indian Education, as well as the first American Indian director of the American Indian Leadership Program at Penn State University. He is an enrolled member of the Hunkpapa Lakota Nation from the Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota.
The two other new Haskell initiatives are the Dr. Robert “Bob” Martin International Education Program and the Dr. Karen Gayton Swisher Instructional Mentorship Program. The Martin program was created to globalize Haskell Indian Nations University. It includes three elements: curricular exchange between tribal colleges and universities, study abroad, and service learning/field school outreach projects. Martin served as Haskell’s second American Indian president from 1989 through 1999. He is currently the president of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, and is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
The Karen Gayton Swisher Instructional Mentorship Program is designed to provide practiced K-12 teachers with mentorship strategies to enhance the quality of experience for the first-year teacher. The Swisher Mentor will engage in training at Haskell during the summer months to assist in the transition of the first-year teacher to the K-12 setting. Swisher served as Haskell’s third American Indian president and Haskell’s first female president from 1999 until 2007. Swisher is an enrolled member of the Hunkpapa Dakota/Nakota/Lakota Nations from the Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota.
The Haskell Presidential Honor Programs are directed by the newly formed Haskell Research Education Dissemination (RED) Center. The role of the RED Center is to become a centerpiece for research; a national repository and clearinghouse for Indigenous research by and about Indigenous people. Academic foci include business, education, environmental studies, Indigenous and American Indian studies, and health.
Additional information on the Haskell RED Center can be viewed on the Haskell Indian Nations University website (www.haskell.edu), or contact Judith Gipp, director, at (785) 749-8470.
 OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR. Vice President of Academic Affairs Sister Therese Gutting (left) presents a Lester Jack Briggs Pendleton blanket to Roxanne DeLille. (The American Indian College Fund created the blanket in 2004 to honor Briggs, who served as president of FDLTCC until his death in 2001.) Photo by Tom Urbanski. |
Roxanne DeLille Named FDLTCC Educator of Year
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College faculty member Roxanne DeLille was selected by the students, faculty, administration, and staff of the college to receive the 2007-2008 Outstanding Educator Award. As the recipient of this campus award, DeLille is now nominated for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees’ Award for Excellence in Teaching.
DeLille teaches Speech Communication and American Indian Studies courses at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC in Cloquet, MN). She has taught at the college since 1998, and some of the courses include Interpersonal Communication, Intercultural Communication, Anishinaabeg of Lake Superior, Contemporary Indian Concerns, and Mass Media. DeLille completed the Luoma Leadership Academy and is active in campus and community events. She is a resident of Duluth and is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe.
The balloting process for the award was open to all students and employees at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. All full-time faculty members were eligible for the award.
To be recognized as a Board of Trustees’ Outstanding Educator, faculty members must demonstrate consistently exemplary teaching and provide evidence of their contributions to student learning. Outstanding Educators are expected to demonstrate expertise in their subject areas, as well as achievement and skill in areas demonstrably related to teaching, such as advising, mentoring, pedagogical development, and service to students, the college or university, and to the system.
All Outstanding Educators receive a framed certificate and silver medallion suitable for wearing with academic regalia. All were invited to an awards event in April at which Outstanding Educators and Board of Trustees’ Awardees for Teaching Excellence were honored.
 HONORING AIHEC LEADER. Retiring Executive Director Dr. Gerald E. Gipp and his wife Ginny were honored by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) board and staff during the powwow held at the AIHEC conference in Bismarck, ND. AIHEC Board officers led the honoring procession, L to R, front row: First Vice Chair Ferlin Clark, Dine College president; Dr. Gipp; Treasurer James Shanley, Fort Peck Community College president; and Second Vice-Chair Cynthia Lindquist Mala, Cankdeska Cikana Community College president (second row, behind Clark). Photos by Dennis Neumann. |