It’s around 5:45 in the morning as a faint, white mist begins to peak the horizon in Crownpoint, New Mexico. While most of the town is asleep in the comfort of their beds, Navajo Technical University (NTU) building information modeling (BIM) major Aaron Sansosie is preparing for his day. He has a full schedule ahead of him that begins with a workout in the weight room of NTU’s new Comprehensive Wellness Center and ends nearly 14 hours later.

It’s at the Wellness Center where Sansosie feels most at home. It is an outlet for his early morning military-style routines, which bring him solace and comfort. As a veteran of the U.S. Army and an active member in the National Guard, Sansosie has been acclimated to regimented schedules for most of his life, and he thrives on disciplined order and everyday self-improvement.

Sansosie is in the last semester of NTU’s BIM program, which has him occupied with 18 credit hours of coursework, ranging from advanced architectural drafting to construction management and geographic information system (GIS) software. Because of his loaded course schedule, Sansosie is in class from 9:30 a.m. until 12:20 p.m. every day, learning autodesk software and other programs that lend their hand to 3D modeling and technical drafting.

After class, Sansosie skips lunch because his military training taught him that the human body can function off one meal a day as long as it is sustained by a steady consumption of water. So rather than spending $7 for lunch at NTU’s cafeteria, he heads to the lab where he takes advantage of the university’s tutoring and online services. It is here that Sansosie spends the remainder of the school day working on his three online courses before getting dinner and once again returning to the gym.

Around 9 p.m., Sansosie finally leaves campus, retreating for the night to read his assignments on his smartphone. It is under the light of his phone that Sansosie’s long day comes to an end, only for him to repeat this cycle in the morning.

While Sansosie’s day-to-day experience may seem grueling for the everyday college student, it’s not all that unique. What is unique and what makes Sansosie truly exceptional is that he endures all this while living and sleeping out of his truck. This arrangement isn’t due to a lack of means—Sansosie could obtain a student loan to assist with housing or the expense of his four-hour, round-trip commute from his hometown in Nazlini, Arizona. Instead, it is a decision Sansosie has made because he does not want to leave school in debt so that he can begin working towards his goals, rather than worrying about paying off loans and accumulating interest.

Such is the dedication of a tribal college student looking to make a positive change in his life, and such is the commitment it takes to overcome personal adversity. Sansosie plans on continuing his education, but at another, non-tribal university where he can pursue an advanced degree in an architectural field. Sansosie’s experience and outlook underscores the importance of tribal colleges and universities (TCUs)—and why it’s essential for them to develop four-year degrees. Native students are eager to learn and their thirst for knowledge has no limits. Therefore, TCUs must heed efforts in addressing their needs. Because if not us, then who?

Dedicated and regimented, Aaron Sansosie spends time outside of the classroom at one of NTUs labs, where he takes advantage of online and tutoring services.

Because NTU does not offer a four-year degree in BIM or any other architecture-related field, Sansosie has been looking at the University of New Mexico to continue his aspirations. While NTU’s yearly average tuition and fees is around $3,000 a year, larger universities like UNM have tuition rates nearly seven times that for out-of-state residents, which can be concerning for students like Sansosie.

But it is precisely because of students like Sansosie that NTU is working to develop new baccalaureate and master’s degree programs. Over the past six years, NTU has developed 10 accredited baccalaureate degrees and a master’s program that provide opportunities for students wanting to obtain an advanced degree close to home. Offering these programs has helped NTU to evolve with careful regard for its students, while also remaining true to its unique history as an institution that balances Western and traditional education.

THE EVOLUTION OF AN INSTITUTION

Navajo Technical University first opened its doors in 1979 as the Navajo Skills Center with the simple intention of training an unemployed workforce and putting people to work. At the time, the Diné were just a generation removed from attempts at forced assimilation, which included unwarranted military action by the U.S. Cavalry during the Long Walk campaign of the 1860s, as well as more strategic maneuvering through federally supported programs like the Livestock Reduction Act of the 1930s and boarding school education.

Unfortunately these tactics have had a long-term negative impact on the Navajo Nation, which today has some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the United States. The Navajo Skills Center emerged out of this environment, which helped integrate Western education and training into Navajo livelihood, while remaining committed to promoting Diné language and culture in the classroom.

With this foundation in place, the Skills Center was successful in educating the Diné in programs like carpentry, medical assisting, culinary arts, and construction, while also reinforcing cultural identity. After six years of successful operation, and as the institution began to turn its focus on the growing influence of computers, the Navajo Nation’s tribal council affirmed the institution’s success and approved a name change to the Crownpoint Institute of Technology (CIT).

As CIT became more tech-oriented, it also began to establish strategic partnerships and relationships with outside agencies such as NASA and Sandia Laboratories that could enhance experiential education and career pathways. At the same time, CIT began strengthening its relationships internally by engaging in service learning projects that benefited the various communities of the Navajo Nation. The institution implemented programs like “Internet to the Hogan,” which leveraged national resources to link high-speed internet access to the remote Four Corners area of the Navajo Nation. CIT used such projects to help reinforce instruction and provide future employment opportunities for its students.

In 2006, CIT became Navajo Technical College, and while its name changed, its ability to develop relevant degree programs and forge productive and strategic relationships persisted. The college was able to build on this progress, and by 2011 had developed three Bachelor of Applied Science degrees in digital manufacturing, information technology, and new media. Each degree helped Navajo Tech refine its focus, and in 2013, again with the approval of the Navajo Nation Council, the institution became a university.

NTU began as the Navajo Skills Center in 1979, focusing on vocational education like construction and the building trades. Today, the university boasts a variety of advanced degrees but continues to offer the same certificate programs that helped establish its identity.

Today, NTU offers 10 baccalaureate degree programs, including a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing and new media; three Bachelor of Applied Science degrees in information technology, advanced manufacturing, and IT-new media; and Bachelor of Science degrees in early childhood multicultural education, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, environmental science and natural resources, and biology. NTU complements each of these degree programs with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Diné culture, language, and leadership, which the Higher Learning Commission also accredited as a master’s degree program in 2013.

While NTU has made a strong push for offering more advanced degrees, it has maintained a commitment to the vocational certificate and associate degree programs that helped establish the institution’s identity. NTU has strengthened these programs with national accreditation and certification so they don’t serve merely as feeder programs into the four-year degrees. They can stand alone and provide value to students wishing to immediately join the workforce.

Providing this balance in its educational offerings has allowed NTU to adapt to the progressing times, while actively addressing the various needs of its students amidst the complexities of the Navajo Nation’s socioeconomic landscape. By operating with Western and traditional values, NTU has been able to remain innovative in its approach to higher education, better providing for the Navajo Nation and students like Aaron Sansosie.

A REGARD FOR THE FUTURE

To understand how NTU has been able to develop four-year programs and transition into a university, you must first understand students like Aaron Sansosie and their situation. Sansosie is from Nazlini, Arizona, which, like Crownpoint, has suffered historical trauma that has hampered its growth and trapped many of its community members in cycles of poverty. Although this has negatively impacted the land and the communities of the Navajo Nation, it has instilled a sense of inherent resiliency in its people that has allowed for adaptation for purposes of survival.

At NTU, Sansosie has found purpose at a unique intersection in his life. While his past military experience set him on course to pursue higher education at NTU, much of his motivation stems from his regard for the future. “What motivates me is I have four sons…and I’m their hero. Even though I’m old, I still want to let them know I’m able to go to school,” he explains. “One day my oldest son will go to college, and I want to be there for him. I want him to have a better education and to have less of a struggle than what I’m going through.”

“One day my oldest son will go to college, and I want to be there for him,” says Sansosie. “I want him to have a better education and to have less of a struggle than what I’m going through.”

As his past and future have guided Sansosie, so has NTU’s mission, whose aim is to not only provide college readiness programs, certificates, associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degrees, but also to foster cultural and environmental preservation and sustainable economic development. NTU has had to reconcile its history by acknowledging the past atrocities of Western expansion and assimilation, and it has used this as a tool to reinforce identity and purpose. In finding the balance between the dichotomies of its history, NTU has been able to succeed in establishing unique programs that actively address issues of the past while providing solutions for the future.

Recently, students in NTU’s Bachelor of Applied Science degree program have been working with NASA and the Colorado-based company Koveva Inc., studying methane seepage within the Four Corners region. They have been designing solutions to capture the seepage and to use it for energy and economic development for the Navajo Nation, while minimizing threats of other forms of natural resource extraction. The students have been working closely with the local chapters in the Four Corners region, and they’ve been doing it with careful regard for the environment and the people in the area.

Projects like this help NTU provide layered benefit to the Navajo Nation while allowing its programs and students to serve as catalysts of change. With culture and language as the basis of its operations, NTU is able to engage in appropriate research that can properly impact the development of the Navajo Nation according to the wants and needs of its people. Projects like this help reaffirm NTU’s identity as a tribal university, while providing meaningful learning opportunities for its students.

ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF THE NAVAJO NATION

In addressing the needs of the Navajo Nation and developing baccalaureate and master’s degrees that serve its students, NTU has had to evolve in numerous ways. It has expanded its infrastructure, developed creative solutions in attracting and retaining qualified instructors, and developed collaborations and partnerships with outside organizations that can help sustain NTU’s various goals.

Under the requirements of the Higher Learning Commission— NTU’s accrediting agency—institutions offering advanced degrees must have proper resources in place that contribute to the success of student learning. Some of these requirements include having proper learning space and library resources, as well as having qualified instructors with the appropriate levels of education and experience.

NTU has accomplished this through a series of strategic partnerships that include working hand-in-hand with the Navajo Nation and the State of New Mexico. Last year, for example, NTU was able to leverage these partnerships into developing two multimillion- dollar facilities that accommodate student learning: a new library complete with national databases and online resources, as well as a new student union building equipped with state-of-the-art classroom and study space.

Faculty and staff retention has always been a challenge for NTU because of its remote location, which has forced the university to adapt to this obstacle as well. To circumvent this problem, NTU has invested internally in staff through professional development plans and has worked with organizations like the American Indian College Fund in providing employees financial help to build their credentials. By investing internally, NTU has made a commitment to the long-term success of its programs by ensuring they have a solid instructional base of people from the community.

Such collaborations and partnerships are needed for TCUs to offer four-year degrees, and they have allowed NTU to improve its operations as a community-based institution. NTU has become creative with how it functions and is using its various programs to stimulate change within the Navajo Nation. Last year, the university entered into an agreement with the Office of the Navajo Nation President and Vice President. NTU will be using its advanced manufacturing degree program to create a manufacturing industry utilizing 3D printing capabilities and computer numerical control router technology. Initiatives like this make it possible for NTU to operate as an agent of change, while directly benefiting its students.

WHAT’S NEXT?

With high regard for the needs of the Navajo Nation, NTU continues to offer and develop advanced degrees that have the potential to affect the socioeconomic conditions of the region. This identity has helped establish NTU as one of the premier universities in the Four Corners and has transformed it into a reputable research institution.

While much has been done to push NTU and the Navajo Nation into the future, more must be accomplished to properly address the needs of students like Aaron Sansosie so they don’t have to struggle off the reservation to get a degree. NTU’s next mission is to develop a Ph.D. program in Diné culture, language, and leadership, which it hopes will further revitalize the culture and traditions of the Navajo Nation and stimulate progress moving forward.

With a strong identity rooted in both Western and traditional worlds, NTU and its various programs of study are essential to the future well-being of the Navajo Nation and must be supported to bring about change. Students’ lives depend on that support.

 Daniel Vandever is the communications director at Navajo Technical University.