Strategy 1.1.3 (Excellence in Native American Education)

Maintain an updated Excellence in Native American Education Plan and develop a regular mechanism for tracking progress.

Owners/Accountable Party

  • Tribal Relations Specialist
  • Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Actions

Near-term Actions

  • Update the Excellence in Native American Education Plan
  • Publish the Excellence in Native American Education Plan
  • Refresh the President’s Native American Advisory Council Membership and set FY24 goals

Future Actions

  • Develop online learning modules for faculty and staff to provide education regarding tribal sovereignty and its implications for designing respectful partnerships

Completed and Ongoing Actions

  • Created an Excellence in Native American Education Plan
  • Established the President’s Native American Advisory Council
  • Hired a Tribal Relations Specialist to support campus progress on the Excellence in Native American Education Plan
  • Created the Indigenous Graduate Student Association
  • Secured philanthropic gifts secured for the Indigenous First-Year Experience, Kyiyo Pow Wow, MT AIMS, and several other mentorship and student support efforts
  • Established a seed endowment for the Kyiyo Pow Wow
  • Created the Excellence in Native American Education Fund to receive unrestricted philanthropic gifts that can be flexibly used to provide direct support to Native students and funding to various programs across campus that provide support and educational opportunities for Native students
  • Established Indigenous Research and STEM Education (IRSE) to support the advancement of Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nation students 
  • Established Sloan program to cover gaps in funding to support Native STEM students
  • Added criterion for WRGP application to include programs seeking to diversify their application pool and induce recruitment