DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 343 772 RC 018 631

AUTHOR Houser, SchuylerTITLE Underfunded Miracles: Tribal Colleges.SPONS AGENCY Department of Education, Washington, DC. Indian

Nations At Risk Task Force.PUB DATE 91

NOTE 17p.; In: Indian Nations At Risk Task ForceCommissioned Papers. See RC 018 612.

PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.LESCRIPTORS *American Indian Education; College Students;

*Community Colleges; Community Control; *FinancialSupport; Foreign Countries; Higher Education;'Institutional Characteristics; *IntercollegiateCoc?eration; Outcomes of Education; *School CommunityRelationship; School Holding Power; StudentRecruitment

IDENTIFIERS American Indian Higher Education Consortium;*Tribally Controlled Schools

ABSTRACTTribal colleges are attracting, retaining, and

educating a new population of Native students. These 24 institutionsare characterized by their location on reservations, governance bylocal boards, dedicated faculty and administrators, intercollegiatecooperation and collaboratioA, frugal management of materialresources, and the central role of Native spiritual and culturalvalues. Local control has been a basic premise of the tribal collegemovement, and has shaped individual colleges to meet the needs andpreferences of their communities. Facing similar problems, foundersof the first tribal colleges formed the American Indian HigherEducation Consortium (AIHEC). AIHEC provides networks for faculty,administrators, and students, and has addressed itself to legislativeadvocacy, fundraising, faculty and staff development, and sharing ofresources. Nontraditional students are the norm, and students arepredominantly female, older, residentially isolated, and poor, with ahigh school equivalency diploma and family responsibilities.Successful student recruitment and retention are related to theaccessibility and accountability of these institutions to theircommunities, simultaneous enrollment of family members, goodteacher-student relationships, financial aid, student supportservices, and good institutional social climate. Curriculum,educational philosophy, teaching styles, and teaching methods varybetween colleges, reflecting community needs and values. Successfuleducational outcomes include graduates having high employment rates,continuing on to higher degrees, and getting off federal assistanceand welfa.- as well as community economic development outcomes.HoweverJueral funding is inadequate and shrinking. Increasingfederal and state aid and private and corporate support arerecommended. (SV)

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Underfunded Miracles: Tribal Colleges

Schuyler Houser

IntroductionTribal colleges are succeeding. These 24 reser-

vation-based postsecondary institutions attract,retain, and educate a new population of AmericanIndian and Alaskan Native students. During aperiod when enrollments of some groups of urbanminority students have been declining throughoutthe nation, college enrollments of Native studentshave increased steadily in the 1980s. Tribal col-leges have expanded educational opportunitiesavailable to Native students for whom, otherwise,college would be inaccessible.

The quality of education provided by the tribalcolleges has been validated repeatedly, not only bythe performance of their students, but also byregional accrediting associatiom.. As of early 1991,six of the colleges are candidates for accreditation,14 are accredited at the associate degree level, two

Sinte Gleska ar Oglala Lakota are ac-credited at the baccalaureate level, and one ofthose, Sinte Gleska, is accredited at the master'slevel. Increasing numbers of non-Native colleges,universities and foundations institutions are ac-knowledging the value of the colleges. An ad-ministrator at The College of William & Mary, inWilliamsburg, made this clear in the written tes-timuny which she submitted to the Indian NationsAt Risk Task Force:

The (Task Force) needs to understand theambivalence with which American Indiansview Western education. Historically. it hasseparated children from their tribes and cul-ture, and left them unable to succeed ineither world. Western education did notteach any of the skills needed to survive asan Indian: prejudice against Indiansprevented them from surviving in theWestern world, even with an education.Therefore. Western education was worsethan useless. it was destructive. While thisis less true than it was 300 years ago, thelegacy remains.I have no wonderful solutions for your (TaskForce) on how to solve this problem. but I dohave one small suggestion. I believe thattribal colleges are the best hope for highereducation for many American Indians ...

No single approach or feature accounts for thesuccess of the colleges. Among the defining charac-

teristics of the colleges however, their locatiun onreservations, and their governance by local boards,are key. As institutional members of the com-munities and the cultures they serve, thecolleges are able to ident4fy and solve problems intheir own ways, with their own skills and resour-ces. The persistence and dedication of faculty, ad-ministrators, and board members are crucial;many participants have stayed with their institu-tions, despite low salaries and grueling workingconditions, since the colleges opened. These in-dividuals have developed and shared essen-tial, long-term experience. This sharing, in fact,constitutes a third vital ingredient for the successof the colleges. From the 9utset, the colleges haveserved as each others' best sources of advice, sup-port, and technical assistance. Fourth, frugal andprudent management of material resources hasbeen a hallmark of the colleges' administrativeslles (Shanley, 1989, P. 7). Finally, and mostessentially, each college acknowledges traditionalNative spiritual values, based in its own tribe'sliving culture, as central in defining its role in thecommunity. Traditional spiritual leaders wereprominent among the founders of several tribalcolleges. Their ways of looking at the world haveshaped the character, not only of their particularinstitutions, but of the tribal college movement asa whole.

Begimiings and FirstPrinciples

The first tribal colleges were founded in the late1960s and early 1970s, amidst the national fer-rnent of activism for civil rights and Native self-determination. Leaders in many Nativecommunities had come to reagnize both the valueand the vulnerability of their own trfbal ways oflife. The credibility of the federal government asthe protector of tribes and tribal cultures had beeneroded seriously through responses to such chal-lenges to established policies as the Trail of BrokenTreaties. Governmental agencies and centralizedprograms did not seem to offer promising solutionsto serious Native issues. Self-governance and thebuilding o." local institutions appeared, to somevisionaries, as the course which their communities

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Indians Nations At Risk: Solutions for the 1990s

must take if they were to survive (Lionel Bordeaux,personal communication, Jan. 11, 1991).

Higher education, and access to the abilitieswhich it develops, proved a special problem toNative people. Elected trilord officials and Elderson several reservations saw that federal policiestowards higher education were not serving Nativestudents or Native communities. Repeatedly,young people would leave their reservations toenroll in postsecondary institutions, and repeated-ly, the students would return within a semester ortwo. The distances which students had te travelcultural, social, economic, emotional, as well asgeographic often proved too large, and the recep-tion they received at their new institutions oftenproved insufficiently sustaining. Students, evenvery bright and determined students, respondedby going home.

Community leaders on several reservationsrecognized that discouragement and dropoutsserved neither the needs of individual students,nor of the tribal communities themselves. Theseleaders began to discuss the possibility of foundingtheir own local colleges. Among the early advocateswere several traditional Elders who had notreceived much formal education themselves, butwho recognized clearly the values of education fortheir tribes. These early leaders, from the outset,envisioned local institutions the colleges, locally-controlled and locally-focused. Ideas for a single,national college or university te serve all tribeshadbeen circulated in the United States since at least1911, but nothing substantive ever came of theseideas (Crum, 1989, pp. 20-23). Tribal colleges cameinto existence only as individual tribes began, oneby one, to address their own needs for postsecon-dary education.

In 1968, the Navajo Nation became the firsttribe to establish its own college, by granting acharter to Navajo Community College. Three yearslater, the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine RidgeReservation created Oglala Sioux Community Col-lege, and later in the same year, the Rosebud SiouxTribe chartered Sinte Gleska College. By 1972,tribally-controlled colleges had also been estab-lished on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reserva-tion, the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, and theHoopa Tribe had sanctioned D-Q Universita? atDavis, California.

Although these first institutions each pos-sessed a distinct tribal and institutional identity,they also shared several family resemblances.Many of these common features were taken asmodels by tribal colleges which developed sub-sequently. Each was established by a chartergranted by a tribal council; from the first, tribal

colleges were set up as independent, free-standinginstitutions, not as programs administered direct-ly by Native governments. Each college had its owngoverning beard, composed of members of thechartering tribe. Each board had an arms-lengthrelationship, at closest, te the local tribal council,te insulate the college from undue political in-fluence. The charter of each institution defined, asone purpose of the college, the serving of thepostsecondary educational needs of its own tribalcommunity. Each charter explicitly recognizedthe the college should have a special relationshipto the culture and values of the tribe served.

Local control, therefore, has been a basicpremise of the tribal college movement since itsbeginnings, and each of the colleges regards it asan essential requirementfor the building of a suc-cessful organization. The responsibilities whichaccompany local control provide importantsafeguards for each college. A tribe which wants itsown college must make explicit commitments, bygranting legal authority through a charter, andoften by providing financial resources, facilities,and organizational support for the start-up. In fact,many Native governments have continued to pro-vide resources to their colleges. Uncommittedmoney is scarce for most tribes; however, build-ings, land, and services have all been provided, aswell as political support in dealing with federaland occasionally state governmental agencies.

Local control, over the long-term, is shapingindividual colleges to meet the specific educationalneeds of their communities. The institutions arediverse, and become more so as they mature; eachhas its own history, educational philosophy, limita-tions, and resources. Curricula, both academic andvocational, reflect the social, economic, and cul-tural situations of individual reservations. Localneeds and preferences set the pacing of collegedevelopment and innovatiov. Styles of manage-ment and human relationships within the or-ganizations are grounded in the cultural values ofthe communities they serve (Houser, in press).Local control ensures that the colleges do not standapart from their communities. Instead, the institu-tions focus community energies and activities on awide range of issues.

The Value of Mutual SupportWhile local control was one of the initial

premises of the tribal colleges, founders of the firstinstitutions likewise saw that their colleges,despite geographical and cultural separation,faced many problems m common. So they built anorganization which would allow for continuing in-terchanges of information and mutual support. In

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'nibs' Colleges

October, 1972, presidents of the six existing col-leges met in Washington, D.C. The plans whichemerged from their conversations led, by June,1973, to the formation of the American indianHigher Education Consortium (AIHEC) (Stein,1990, pp. 189-19). While local control was one ofthe initial premises of the tribal colleges, foundersof the first institutions likewise saw that theircolleges, despite geographical and cultural separa-tion, faced many problems in common. So theybuilt an organization which would allow for con-tinuing interchanges of information and mutualsupport. In October, 1972, presidents of the sixexisting colleges met in Washington, D.C. Theplans which emerged from their conversations led,by June, 1973, to the information of the AmericanIndian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC)(Stein, 1990 pp. 189-19). The consortium now in-cludes, as full members, the 24 tribally-controlledinstitutions, reservation-based colleges and twoaffiliate or associate members: Southwest IndianPolytechnic Institute and Haskell Indian JuniorCollege, both controlled and funded directly by theBureau of Indian Affairs.

The network which has evolved throughAIHEC is a unique source of strength for the tribalcolleges. The college presidents meet quarterly asthe AIHEC board of directors. These meetingsserve as continuing information exchanges for allinstitutions, and, in effect, training sessions fornew presidents of colleges. The frequency andregularity of these meetings, and the considerableexperience of many of the participants, rnakesthem a sustaining resource for the tribal colleges.

The AIHEC network has expanded beyond thepresidents to incorporate college faculty, ad-ministrators, and students. As time, work, andmoney permit, staff visit each others' institutionsto share information and build skills. A specialtradition has grown up around accreditation. Col-

/ leges preparing for external reviews from theirregional accreditation agencies regularly arrangepre-visits from administrators and faculty fromother tribal colleges, to insure that institutionalsystems are in good shape for inspection. Mostcolleges report that the reviews during these pre-visits (which are usually done at no cost to thecollege) are at least as rigorous as, and somewhatmore skeptical than, the reviews conducted by theaccrediting agencies themselves. On a day-to-daybasis, colleges share copies of institutional docu-ments curricula, policies, forms, internalstudies, grant proposals as part of th eir commit-ment to mutual support. This sustained commit-ment is particularly noteworthy; it occurs despitethe fact that the tribal colleges must regularly

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compete against each other, contesting for limitedfederal and foundation grant dollars. Nonetheless,support is regularly offered, and generously given.

AIHEC has also proven its abilities in legisla-tive advocacy. The first tribal colleges were estab-lished with temporary funding, and very little of it.By 1978, the colleges had succeeded in persuadingthe United States Congress to pass legislationauthorizing annusl federal support for operations(Congress later added provisions to match college-raised endowment funds). According to staff of theHouse Education and Labor Committee, theTribally Controlled Community College Assis-tance Act was the first piece of' education legisla-tion to be written by, and successful lobbied by,Native people themselves. AIHEC has needed tocontinue its legislative work, returning every yearto Washington to make its case for appropriations,and every two or three years for reauthorization ofits basic legislation. Since 1981, these efforts havebeen conducted primarily by the college presidentsthemselves. The consortium has been unable toafford its own office in Washington, or a full-timestaff member for the organization.

The colleges have begun to work together onfundraising. The American Indian College Fund(AICF), which organized formally in 1988, seekssupport nation-wide for scholarships, endow-ments, and other uses which will benefit all thetribal colleges. The Fund raised $1,000,000 in itsfirst year of operation. Meanwhile, each collegealso continues its own individual development andfundraising activities. Several foundations andcorporations have provided assistance to get theAICF started: the Phelps-Stokes Fund; US WestCorporation; the Lilly Foundation; the PewCharitable Trusts; Exxon Education Foundation;the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation; and theRockefeller Foundation. (Support for start-up ac-tivities from prominent and distinguished or-ganizations is especially helpful at early stages ofthe AICFs growth; recognition from major donorsenhances the Fund's credibility with other poten-tial benefactors, and provides a stable base foroperations.) The new organization has developedits own board of directors, begun direct mail, cor-porate and personal solicitations, and opened anoffice in New York City. Monies have already beendisbursed to all member institutions, for distribu-tion as scholarships to individual students selectedby the colleges themselves. The AICF has alsoestablished its own endowment fund, assisted by achallenge grant from the MacArthur Foundationand a contribution from the Hearst Foundation(Barbara Bratone, personal communication, Dec.12, 1990).

Indians Nations At Risk: Solutions fox the 1990s

The colleges are also collaborating on facultyand staff development. With a grant from the FordFoundation, the colleges began in the summer of1990 a training institute for mid-level ad-ministrators. The program, administered bySalish Kootenai College and housed at the Centerfor Native American Studies at Montana StateUniversity, provided 18 participants with 2 weeksof intensive training. Student evaluations of thisinitial session were highly positive, and plans areunderway to repeat and refine the institute infollowing summers (stein, 1990).

Smaller groups of tribal colleges are findingnew ways to collaborate. The five tribal colleges inNorth Dakota (Turtle Mountain, Fort Berthold,Standing Rock, United Tribes Technical College,and Little Hoop) are, with support from the BushFoundation, working With local state-supporteduniversities in faculty exchanges. Tribal collegesprovide resources and expertise to the state in-stitutions on issues of cultural diversity and waysto work with minority students. The universitiesprovide tribal college staff with contacts and oppor-tunities to work with colleagues in professionaldisciplines. The project also allows for team-teach-ing, exchanges of courses, and use of distance-education techniques. The development of similarlonal networks is under discussion in South Dakotaand Montana.

As the colleges gain experience and resources,older types of collaboration are being modified tosuit new conditions. New colleges, for example, cannow turn to established tribal colleges for a kind ofinstitutional parenthood. Most tribal collegesbegan as satellites of a nearby accredited statecollege or university. At best, these relationshipsprovided a kind of apprenticeship for tribal collegestaff, most of whom were new to their professionalroles. The linkages also helped to meet federalguidelines for student aid programs, which wereessential for both students and for the fledglingcolleges themselves. Working together, however,frequently proved difficult for both parties;geographical, cultural, and institutional differen-ces provided ample opportunities formisunderstanding, stress, and disagreements. Asindividual tribal colleges reach candidacy for ac-creditation, federal rules allow them to managetheir own financial aid programs. The satelliterelationships with the larger institutions are thencustomarily allowed to lapse.

Tribal colleges are now becoming organization-al parents themselves. Since Salish Kootenai Col-lege has completed its accreditation process, it hassponsored two satellites of its own, Stone ChildCollege and Fort Belknap Community College. By

all accounts, including those of the regional ac-crediting association, the relationships have beensmooth and productive models of' their type. Thetwo newer institutions have themselves achievedcandidacy status, and they continue to collaboratewith Salish Kootenai on a variety of' projects.

Students and theirCommunities

Non-tviditional students are the norm at tribalcolleges. Women predominate; at most institu-tions, between two-thirds and three-quarters of allstudents are female. The median age for studentsis between 2E. and 30 years At some of the moreestablished colleges, however, younger studentsare enrolling in increasing numbers. As the col-leges build track records in their own communities,students and high school counselors come to seethe schools as their institutions of first preference.Large numbers of students do not have high schooldiplomas. Up to one-half of the student body atsome colleges has earned ahigh school equivalencydiploma through a General Education Develop-ment program (GED), in many cases, through theircollege's adult basic education program (CarnegieFoundation, 1990, p. 41). Most tribal college stu-dents are family-responsible, with children (andoften older dependents) living in their households.Significantly, many students describe the closepresence of their families as a primary source ofsupport for their academic efforts, not as a sourceof conflicting obligations. Most students attendfull-time. Most are unemployed, and have beenunemployed for a significant period prior to enroll-ing in college. The overwhelming nukjority of tribalcollege students are the first members of' theirfamilies to attend college; again, this percentage isdeclining as several generations of families, orwhole groups of cousins, begin to enroll virtuallysimultaneously.

The communities in which tribal college Stu-dents live are, economically, the poorest in theUnited States. Seventeen of the colleges are lo-cated in chronically distressed agricultural areasof the northern Great Plains. The magnitude ofreservation economic problems was revealed in anational study, (Johnson, 1987) conducted by theGeneral Board of' Global Ministries of the UnitedMethodist Church,which identified the 25 poorestcounties in the United States. Of these counties,seven are located in Smith Dakota on reservationsserved by tribal colleges. Per capita income in theseseven counties in 1986 ranged from $4,580 on theCheyenne River Reservation, to $3,244 in ShannonCounty on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Economicconditions are similar throughout other reserva-

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Tribal Colleges

tions in the northern plains, where most of thl.tribal colleges are located. Unemployment rates inthese communities have consistently exceeded 70percent for the past decade. Little private-sectoremployment exists. On the Rosebud Reservation,for example, in 1986 only one job in five was in afor-profit business; the remainder were in educa-tion, health care, social services, government, orother public agencies (Sinte Gleska study). Al-though Native communities typically have manyvigorous micro-enterprises, which operate inprivate homes, the formally organized portions ofreservation economies tend to produce fewjobs andlittle wealth. About 98 percent of tribal collegestudents, in consequence, qualify for need-basedfederal financial aid.

Economic hardships in reservation com-munities are compounded by the hardships ofgeographic and cultural isolation, and by extremeclimatic conditions. Many students must regularlydrive 120 miles or more for each day of classes.Snow, ice, and cold, from December through April,are normal and severe obstacles to travel in ruraland remote areas. Both cars and telephones arescarce resources in many Native communities, andif stnclents can afford automobiles, they are liableto be old, inefficient, and vulnerable to break-downs. Colleges have dealt with transportationissues in several ways: by developing their own busservices; by decentralizing and moving classes tothe students; by collaborating with other localagencies to develop comprehensive rural transpor-tation systems. Similarly, several colleges havedealt with the absence of day care facilities in theircommunities by developing their own systems, orby supporting other local agencies to fill the needs.

The tribal colleges serve communities whichextend beyond the boundaries of individual reser-vations, and beyond the memberships ofindividualtribes. Each tribal college enrolls a significant per-cent of non-Native students. For Sinte Gleska, thisgroup regularly comprises about one-fourth of thetotal student body. Non-Natives living on or nearreservations face many of the same obstacles tohigher education as do Ne.tive students: geographicisolation; extreme distances to postsecondary in-stitutions; declining rural economies; limited per-sonal financial resources; family and jobobligations. Both personal stories and continuingenrullment patterns indicate that most non-Na-tives who enroll find tribal colleges to be accessibleand satisfying. These students, in discussing theircollege experiences, often suggest that their new-found minority status provides them with usefuland unanticipated opportunities to explore andre-value Native communities and waye of life.

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Around several reservations, non-Native alumni oftribal colleges are beginning to help to erode theencrusted barriers of racism, political inequity,and economic exclusion which still divide theirregions.

Recruitment and RetentionGetting the Word Out

The founders of tribal colleges recognized fromthe outset that, if Native students were to be wellserved, colleges needed to be integral parts of theircommunities geographically, culturally, social-ly, economically, and organizationally. Simplybeing close to students geographically is, however,a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for suc-cess. Each of the colleges is open to, and inter-twined with, its community on many levels. Forexample, rather than creating separate and ex-clusive organizations for student extracurricularactivities, many colleges contribute to communitysoftball leagues, pow-wows, rodeos, sobriety dan-ces, and other functions which serve entire popula-tions. Members of college boards of directorsfrequently serve their communities as leaders inother respects as well, and college faculty and staffoften have visible, positive roles in other localorganizations. The colleges have become majoremployers on their reservations, and collegefacilities, expertise and resources are regularlyused or shared by other groups.

Thus news about the colleges can, and does,travel though many channels. The institutions areopen, transparent, and accountable, and thesequalities reinforce the sense of local ownershipprovided by local control. Together, this ownershipand control build identification and comfort withthe colleges in Native communities. Formal educa-tional institutions, in these same communities,have sometimes been regarded, with ample jus-tification, as irrelevant at best, and at worst, alien,condescending, and predatory. But within tribalcolleges, decision-making processes are consistent-ly open to community observation; what collegeadministrators occasionally lose in tranquilitythey more than regain, over the long-term, incredibility, acceptance, and acknowledgement.

Openness and accessibility likewise aid recruit-ment and retention. As the tribal colleges growwith their communities, the normal processes ofacademic life registering, graduating, applyingfor financial aid, selecting courses of study be-come incorporated as regular parts of local life.Students at non-Native colleges have long beenable find out about college life from relatives andfriends, through informal processes of information

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Indians Nations At Risk: Solutions for the 1990s

transfer and mentoring. Now these resources areavailable to tribal college students, and potentialstudents, as well.

For more formal communications, tribal col-leges have used whatever opportunities have beenavailable locally. Conventional media strategies,devised for urban areas, are difficult to apply onreservations. Geographically isolated, most tribalcolleges are far removed from even minor mediamarkets. The closest television stations and dailynewspapers are frequently located in citieshundreds of miles away. Local weekly newspapers,however, have often been generous and supportivein their coverage of college news and events. Localradio stations particularly low-power FM sta-tions targeted specifically at Native audienceshave likewise been helpful. In addition to promo-tional announcements, several colleges broadcasttheir own regular programs on topics of generalinterest to their communities. In addition, manycolleges make splendid posters and visualmaterials, using local artists and incorporatingexuberant and flourishing local artistic traditions.

Personae RelationshipsTribal colleges maintain close contacts, not

simply with individual students, but with wholefamilies and communities. These contacts shaperecruitment and retention activities. One recruiterat Little Big Horn College, for example, recogniz .ing that extended families form natural supportgroups for their students, works with wholecohorts of cousins at once. Despite the fact thatmany colleges are less than 15 years old, secondand third generations of students from the samefamilies are enrolling frequently. Most collegescombine an understanding of family-orientedrecruitment patterns with more conventional ef-forts: eending representatives to local high collegeawareness programs; providing academic scholar-ship awards to promising high school graduates;familiarizing high school counselors with collegeprograms and services.

Since, however, a very high percentage oftribalcollege enrollees have high school equivalency cer-tificates rather than diplomas, the institutionshave also developed ways to deal with the par-ticular needs of these students. Many collegesoperate adult basic education programs for theircommunities; high proportions of GED graduatescontinue on to enroll in degree programs. By thatpoint, college staff members have, in most cases,already become familiar with individual educa-tional needs and learning patterns.

Students who have not been involved in formaleducation for some time and many recent high

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school graduates need opportunities to buildskills, both academic and personal, to enable themto succeed. Most tribal colleges, therefore, evaluateeach student's needs and academic situation at thebeginning of his or her college career. This assess-ment, which usually combines conversations withdiagnostic testing, frequently leads to the require-ment that the student take one or more develop-mental courses (numbered below basic freshmanlevel) to strengthen basic mathematics or languageskills. Occasionally, students themselves will re-quest to enter these classes, as a way ofbuildingconfidence before they proceed. Many colleges alsoprovide individual tutors, or study skills centers,which students may use at any time during theircourse work; these centers frequently stress thedevelopment of writing and communications skillsas crucial to academic success.

In addition to academic reinforcement, tribalcolleges work to strengthen student attitudestowards academic and personal responsibility. AtTurtle Mountain Community College, if a studentmisses three classes, he or she is contacted imme-diately by a college staff member, and efforts aremade to resolve any difficulties. At Sisseton-Wah-peton Community College (SWCC), distributim offinancial aid is pro-rated for first year students,who may choose to receive portions of their livingstipends monthly or semi-monthly. Disbursementis made only on condition that the student has beenattending regularly. Again, support is available,both from SWCC staff and from other organiza-tions within the community, to work throughproblems. The approaches used by Turtle Moun-tain, Sisseton, and other colleges require carefulmonitoring of student attendance, performance,and morale. These techniques entail moderate in-vestments in record-keeping, and detailedknowledge of community life.

The colleges work to make sure that studentsunderstand, at each step of the enrollment andassessment process, what is happening, and why.The colleges also try to communicate to studentsthat the purpose of the developmental courses issupportive and preventive, not punitive. The col-leges work to identify problems early, and to en-courage students to develop constructive ways ofaddressing them through tutoring, counseling,developing new study habits, rearranging studyareas, whatever it takes to get on with the businessof acquiring an education. Fundamental to thisapproach is an appreciation, on the part of facultyand staff, of the intense motivation of most tribalcollege students, coupled with a recognition of thelegitimacy of the colleges' standards of perfor-mance. Weakening requirements for students, by

Tribal Colleges

bending standards or making unwarranted excep-tions, weakens the institution as well. Instead,tribal colleges work to help students acq.....irewhatever skills they need to succeed. If the collegesallowed students to continue with impaired skillsor diluted educations, those students would onlycontinue to face the limited choices in employ-ment, careers, and further education with whichthey are already familiar.

Student support services at tribal collegesgenerally attempt to make effective use of scarceresources. The small size of most institutions,coupled with their strong focus on students,facilitate communication among faculty,regist:ars, support staff, and financial aid person-nel. Academic ndvising, financial aid counseling,and career-planning assistance can often be inter-woven for each student by faculty and staff who arefamiliar both with the individual and with theinstitution's processes. Fort Berthold CommunityCollege has formalized a mentoring process for itsstudents, making available to them contact withseveral graduates. Colleges also work closely withother agencies in their communities social ser-vices, alcoholism and drug abuse preventionprograms, vocational rehabilitation, etc. Since thebudgets of tribal colleges often do not permit theinstitutions to have their own comprehensive stu-dent support services, most institutions establishclose relationships with, and make referrals to,local organizations which can provide assistance tostudents.

Tribal colleges likewise encourage studentswho have not succeeded to try again. As many asone-third of the students at most of the institutionshave been enrolled previously at some other col-lege. The simple accessibility of a tribal collegefrequently provides an incentive to resume effortsat higher education. Federal financial aid policiesplace sharp limits on the number of times an adultlearner without independent means can afford totry for an education, but within those constraints,tribal colleges work to provide opportunities andsupport for repeated Worts. Thus, in any academicterm, as many as 10 to 20 percent of tribal collegestudents may have used up their federal financialaid eligibility, but still need assistance in order tocomplete their educational programs. Few resour-ces are available to provide this support, but thecolleges continue to recognize an obligation tothese students.

The social climate at tribal colleges also con-tributes significantly to student retention. Stu-dents and staff repeatedly describe their collegesas functioning 'like an extended family,* withwarmth, humor, and discipline provided in cul-

turally appropriate ways. The colleges are in-clusive; parents, children, relatives, friends, andcommunity members regularly turn up at collegeevents, and may pass through campus areas daily.Special efforts are made at graduations and otherceremonial occasions to honor the families of stu-dents, and to recognize the values and contribu-tions of Elders. For faculty and staff, personal andsocial relationships with students continue as amatter of course after they graduate or leave theinstitution, since they remain within their com-munities. Interestingly, most tribal col'eges alsohave an informal support networks, pi imarily com-posed of former faculty and staff, who have left theinstitutions and the reservations, but who returnfor visits, and keep up with the news.

Curricula and Teaching StylesTribal colleges vary considerably, one from

another, on matters of curriculum, educationalphilosophy, and teaching styles. The diversityemerges from the institutions' commitments toserve the educational needs of their local com-munities. These needs differ with the social,economic, cultural, and historical circumstance ofeach reservation. Some basic common approached,however, appear in degree programs. Most collegesoffer a general studies degree at the associate level,as preparation for entry into baccalaureateprograms. In response to employment needs onmost reservations, many institutions offer degreesin human services or social work. Some colleges arealso providing degrees or certificates in alcoholismand drug abuse training. Students in tribal col-

leges share with their colleagues on other cam-puses a strong interest in business andmanagement. Most colleges offer degree programsthese fields. These programs frequently have thelargest enrollments at their respective institu-tions. Another common feature of many colleges isa program to prepare Native teachers for localclassrooms. At two-year institutions, tribal collegeeducation curricula are frequently combined withupper division course work at nearby universities.Both Sinte Gleska (54 bachelor's in education as of1990) and Oglala Lakota Colleges (45 bachelor's asof 1989) also offer baccalaureate degrees, and SinteGleska has already produced 13 graduates from itsmaster's program in education. The impacts ofsignificant numbers of locally-trained, profes-sionally- and culturally-skilled teachers and ad-ministrators in reservation schools have yet to beassessed; it is clear, however, that potential im-plications for all of Native education may be sig-nificant.

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Indians Nations At Risk: Solutions for the 1990s

Indian studies and language departmentslikewise form a central part of the intellectual andspiritual life at many tribal colleges. (Several in-stitutions have chosen to incorporate these fieldsof study elsewhere in their curricula; the study oflanguage and culture, however, retain theircentrality no matter where they are housed.) Theevolution of these departments, and the degreeprograms they offer, has been comparativelygradual at many institutions, in part due to scar-cities ofqualified staffand appropriate instruction-al materials. Instructors in these programs mustnot only have thorough knowledge of their subjectareas, but must be able to organize and transmitthis knowledge through new cultural forms lec-tures, seminars, articles, films, videos, recordings

which were not indigenous to Native com-munities. In addition, materials which have beenwritten about particular Native culture groups byoutsiders may, for a variety of reasons, not besuitable for use in tribal college classrooms. Mostcolleges have found it necessary to prepare theirown texts for language, literature, and music.Recognizing their faculties' expertise arid con-fidence in the creation of courses and materials,several colleges have begun to discuss the forma-tion of a national professional organization to sup-port, evaluate, and accredit Indian studiesprograms.

Vocational programs, atboth the certificate andassociate levels, are also essential parts of thecurricula at most tribal colleges. Stability in theseprograms has been difficult to attain, however,because ofthe methods of dispersal offederal fundsspecifically designated for vocational training.Tribal colleges must compete individually forgrants which support three-year vocationalprograms. The selection criteria in the grant com-petitions are weighted to discourage investment incapital-intensive curricula, and the programregulations minimize chances for continued sup-port after the original grant expires. In manycases, the tribal colleges have needed to replacefederal vocational education funds with scarcemoney from alternative sources, in order to main-tain existing curricula after the expiration of agrant. State institutions, in contrast, receiveregular annual allocations of federal vocationaleducation monies, which may then be used overtime to build or upgrade programs.

Within these limits, tribal colleges have, over15 years, developed occupational and vocationalprograms which fit their social, economic andnatural environments: aquaculture on the Lummireservation; forestry at Salish Kootenai,Stonechild, and Sinte Gleska; game and fisheries

management at Little Hoop; agriculture andnatural resource managemen at Sisseton; dentalassistant training at Salish Kootenai; nursing (abaccalaureate program) at Oglala Lakota. Manycolleges offer the only sources of training in theirregions in data processing and computer applica-tions. Tribal colleges have become increasinglydiverse in their approaches to vocational educa-tion: Stonechild trains students in log house con-struction. Oglala Lakota offers curricula inmanagement/entrepreneurship and in media com-munications. Little Hoop works with the localtribal industry in pre-employment training, and ina specialized program for mid-level managers. BayMills Community College, through its Women'sAdvocacy Program, prepares female heads ofhousehold to enter the workforce. The college alsooffers beginning management training in supportof a tribal enterprise program, and prepares stu-dents for employment in the local tourism in-dustry.

In general, tribal colleges chose their curriculaby determining, through consultation with theircommunities, what is appropriate and cost-effec-tive. Financial resources are scarce for facultysalaries and curriculum development. The collegescan afford to meet only a few of the most pressinglocal educational needs. This concentration oneducational essentials appears to enhance studentinterest, performance, and retention.

Similar pragmatism underlies choices of teach-ing methods and instructional techniques. Bothcooperative learning and holistic teaching ap-proaches are widely used, but no single technicalmethod is shared by all of the colleges, much lessby faculty within those institutions. Instead, suc-cessfhl instructors at each college appear to arriveat a recognition that cultural differences are realand legitimate, and that these differences shapeand strengthen learning styles and social be-haviors. Tribal /colleges recognize, as a basicpremise, that many Native students approachtheir academic experiences in ways identifiablydifferent from those of students in the mainstreamAmerican culture. Instructors work to identify andunderstand these differences, and to devise in-structional strategies which build on theirstudents' strengths. At most colleges, Native in-structors or administrators, as members of thelocal community, serve as informal mentors orcultural translators for instructors who may be lessfamiliar with tribal contexts and social patterns.Faculty from Navajo Community College, in tes-timony to the Task Force, pointed out that theirinstitation has formalized this process. The collegehas identified, made explicit, and is working to

Thbal Colleges

implement, the Dila, Philosophy of Learning, anapproach to education based in traditional Navajovalues and epistemology. Acquiring the informa-tion and sensitivity necessary to work across thesecultural boundaries takes time, both for facultymembers and for institutions. As individual col-leges become more experienced at working in theirown communities, they appear to become moredistinct both in their educational and their or-ganizational styles.

Evidence of EducationalOutcomes

The contexts in which tribal colleges begantheir work were disheartening. In the early 1970s,mainstream postsecondary institutions regularlyexperienced attrition rates among Native studentsin excess of 90 percent. Native students from reser-vation communities who became discouraged, orwere unable to continue, often appeared to give up,not only on higher education, but on their ownfutures. Simultaneously, however, educationalpatterns among non-Native students began toshift, especially after the Vietnam War. Older stu-dents enrolled in greater numbers; students tooklonger to complete their degrees. Increasing num-bers began their academic careers at two-year in-stitutions. More students remained involved informal education after they had completed an ini-tial degree. These changes altered the tempos ofAmerican higher education. By the end of the1980s, for example, fewer than one-third of thestudents entering a mejor state university in thenorth central states graduated within five yearswith bachelor's degrees. Testimony to the TaskForce indicated that, in 1990, the median timetaken for the attainment of a bachelor's degree,nation-wide, is six years.

Tribal colleges came fairly early to recognizethat their own successes, and those of their stu-dents, ought not to be evaluated solely byyardsticks appropriate to other communities. Norshould those evaluations be based on assumptionsthat tribal college students could, or should,progress in lockstep towards degrees. Many tribalcollege students have families, and therefore mustproceed towards degrees at a pace which is realisticfor them. Tribal colleges also serve other con-stituencies: people taking one or two courses toimprove job skills; individuals who enroll in asingle course out ofgeneral interest; staff of public-sector programs who take workshops or specialcourses developed for them. The communitiesserved by the colleges are geographically and so-cially isolated; the tribal colleges are often the soleproviders in their areas for educational services

adult and community education, skills upgrading,professional development or recertificationwhich, in more populous areas, wodld be providedby a whole range ofinstitutions, public and private.

Not all tribal college students intend to earndegrees. Not all students who intend to earndegrees can complete their work in the minimumallotted time. (This point, however obvious, is ap-parently worth belaboring. During congressionalappropriations testimony in 1988, a Senate staffperson argued that a two-year tribal college with500 students should, logically, be expected toproduce 250 graduates each year.)

In order to assess the effectiveness of tribalcolleges in educating their students, AIHEC, in thespring of 1990, gathered data from six of the ac-credited institutions, those with large enough en-rollments, and long enough track records, togenerate statistically significant data: OglalaLakota; Sinte Gleska; Standing Rock; TurtleMountain; Salish Kootenai; and Blackfeet. Infor-mation was collected for the period 1983-89(AIHEC, 1990, pp. 4-5). During these years, the sixcolleges graduated 1575 Indian people. Of thesegraduates, 210 earned one-year vocational certifi-cates, 1198 earned associate degrees, 158 earnedbachelor's degrees, and 9 earned master's degreesin education.

About one-third of these graduates, primarilythose with vocational certificates and associatedegrees, continued their educations after gradua-tion. The remainder sought employment withintheir communities. Additionally, an overwhelmingmajority of tribal college graduates who pursuedadvanced degrees outside their communitiesreturned after the completion of their academicwork.

Tribal college graduates have been successfulin finding employment. Depending on the reserva-tion, 83 to 88 percent of the graduates of the sixcolloges studied were employed. These figures con-trast sharply with local unemployment rates,which range from 54 percent on the FlatheadReservation (home of Salish Kootenai College) to85 percent on the Rosebud Reservation (home ofSinte Gleska College). Independent evidence(Wright & Weasel Head, in press) indicates that 76percent of tribal college graduates in Montana areemployed in fields related to their degrees. Of theremaining 25 percent, approximately half indi-cated that they had already been working for theiremployer prior to entering a tribal college.

The employment rates of tribal collegegraduates are particularly significant because theyrepresent gains made primarily by Native femaleheads of households, whose median age was about

Indians Nations At Risk: Solutions for the 1990s

30 years, with little previous experience in theworkforce. Most of these students had been receiv-ing general assistance or Aid to Families withDependent Children prior to enrolling in college.Similar gains in employability appear to be takingplace at every tribal college; data from Stone ChildCollege, on the Rocky Boy Reservation, and Sis-seton-Wahpeton Community College, paralleled orexceeded those from the larger and older institu-tions.

Independent assessments are also beginningtoconfirm observations made from within the tribalcolleges that tribal college students are fun-darner ;ally pleased with their educational ex-periences. In a recent study of Montana tribalcollege graduates (Wright & Weasel Head, inpress) 33 percent of those surveyed rated their"preparation for continuing your education" as 'ex-cellent," and 38 percent rated it "good." Eighty-sixpercent of graduates surveyed rated the prepara-tion of their instructors as "good" or "exollent."Graduates rated "the quality of educational tiain-ing received" with a mean of 3.36 on a scale of four,indicating a high degree of satisfaction.

Completion rates at tribal colleges also appearto bear favorable comparison with those of otherpostsecondary institutions. Data from three of thecolleges Salish Kootenai, Turtle Mountain, andSisseton-Wahpeton indicate that as many as 80percent of students enrolled in any academic termcomplete their courses; it is not yet clear whatpercentage of students eventually completes a de-gree, or the range of times normally required forthose completions. A study cf Montana tribal col-lege students (Wright, 1989, pp. 126-7), however,revealed that a majority of students who discon-tinued their education did so for non-academicreasons. Furthermore, among the academicreasons expressed, students most frequently cited:the unavailability of desired majors and courses;uncertainty about choice of major or degree pro-gram; and the need for a break from studies. Non-returning students cited, as reasons for not goingback to college: home responsibilities (27.5 per-cen t); personal problems (24.5 percent); insuffi-cient money (22.5 percent); the unavailability ofdesired major or program (21.6 percent); and theneed for a temporary break from studies (19.6percent). Dissatisfaction with the quality of traisilcolleges, or the students' experiences in them, didnot emerge as significant reasons for leaving thecolleges.

Tribal college students are beginning, in sig-nificant numbers, to obtain degrees at off-reserva-tion institutions. The experiences of tribal collegestudents who transfer to off-reservation institu-

10

tions, or complete graduate degrees, likewise arebeginning to provide evidence of the strength oftheir academic preparation. By their own accounts,individual Native students who have earnedgraduate and professional degrees at the Univer-sity of South Dakota Law School, Montana StateUniversity, the University of North Dakota, Har-vard Law School, Arizona State University, theHarvard Graduate School of Education, theUniversity of Nebraska, or South Dakota StateUniversity would not have been able to attendwithout their experiences at the tribal colleges. Asof June 1990, the graduates of a single two-yearinstitution, Turtle Mountain Community College,had earned 155 bachelor's degrees, 25 master'sdegrees, 3 law and doctoral degreeb.

These results are, in themselves, remarkable.They make clear the role which the colleges play inproviding Native students access to otherpostsecondary institutions. Beyond this, however,a study still in progress (Wright, personal com-munication) indicates that, in Montana, tribal col-lege students who transferred to three stateuniversities, and remained until their senior years,performed academically as well as, or better than,other Indian students at those same institutions.This data also suggests that, if former tribal collegestudents terminated their educations beforegraduating from the four-year institutions towhich they had transferred, they left for non-academic reasons family responsibilities, finan-ces, employment opportunities, etc. This statisticalevidence reinforces narrative evidence from eachinstitution; tribal colleges are providing educationof quality to whole groups of Native students whohad previously been excluded, for a variety ofreasons, from colleges and universities. With thateducation, Native people are changing their lives.

Evidence of Outcomes:Colleges Strengthening

CommunitiesIri addition to the contributions tribal colleges

make to the lives of their students as individuals,the institutions also contribute significantly totheir communities: through their facilities;througt1 their roles as conservers, innovators, andadapters of traditional values to new situations;and through their abilities to focus sustained ener-gy on local issues and problems. Libraries at tribalcolleges, for example, are frequently the onlylibraric serving their entire regi. ns. Increasingnumbers of the colleges are establishing profes-sionally managed archives for their tribal com-munities, so that historical records will be

11

Thbal Colleges

accessible to the people whose history they record.Og lala Lakota College, with a grant from the FordFoundation, is working with other tribal collegesto train archival personnel ane strengthenmanagement capacities.

Tribal colleges are ideally situated, geographi-cally and intellectually, to provide their com-munities with applied research. For most, thetribal language and culture have been areas ofimmediate concern; instructors have often neededto develop appropriate curriculum materials fromscratch. Several colleges are collecting oral his-tories, literature, and songs, and making themavailable through publications and recordings.Tribal college faculty are gaining recognitionbeyond their communities not only for their exper-tise on their own cultures and languages, but fortheir abilities to share that expertise with non-Na-tive audiences. Two faculty members from SinteGleska's Lakota Studies Department recentlymade substantial professional contributions to thecultural senoitivity of the film, "Dances With Wol-ves." Blackfeet Community College, SalishKootenai, and Sinte Gleska have each established6n...rimer cultural camps which share localknowledge of traditional ways of life, thought, andbelief with increasingly international groups ofstudents.

Economic and development issues form asecond area of research for several colleges. Workon these topics frequently requires financial andtechnical resources which are expensive and dif-ficult to maintain in isolated reservation com-munities. Nevertheless, a few colleges havealready made significant contributions to the bodyof useful knowledge available about their regions.Oglala Lakota College has established a researchinstitute which has examined issues of ruraltransportation, leadership, land use, and theeconomic behavior of very small enterprises. SinteGleska's Institute for Economic Developmentproduced studies of reservation employment pat-terns, and a detailed analysis of federal transferpayments to tribal members. Research work ateach of those colleges has led to the formation ofspin-off organizations. Both the Lakota Fund atPine Ridge and the Rosebud ReservationEnterprise Center provide technical support andsmall loans to entrepreneurs in their communities,using peer-group lending techniques developed inBangladesh. Each entity began through researchconducted at the respective tribal college. SinteGleska has also established an institute for tribalgovernance, which has provided technical and re-search support to the tribal government and theBureau of Indian Affairs.

Tribal colleges also serve as centers of thoughtand action from which to address other localproblems. Turtle Mountain Community Collegesponsors public forums which provide, in a neutralsetting, information and opporttmities for discus-sion about important local issues. Many collegeswork with other local organizations in combattingalcoholism and chemical dependency through com-munity education, sponsoring support groups, andcommunity activities such as sobriety walks, andthrough training counselors and communityworkers. Sinte Gleska, with support from theRobert Wood Johnson Foundation, has targetedseveral communities on the large Rosebud Reser-vation for intensive work in prevention and com-munity education. Several colleges have likewiseestablished programs for AIDS education.Cheyenne River Community College has workedmore generally on community wellness andpreventive care issues.

Tribal colleges have also confronted issues ofpolitical, social, and racial inequity. 'When, for ex-ample, the governor of South Dakota declared 1990as a year of reconciliation between the state's Na-tive and non-Native peoples, tribal colleges in thestate became catalysts for communication. Theinstitutions brought together diverse groups withdisparate views; together they explored thelegitimacy of the concept of reconciliation, andexamined possibilities for its achievement. Othercolleges, faced with different situations, havetaken different approaches. Little Big Horn Col-lege provided strong leadership for court battleswhich smceecled in ending decades of voting rightsabuses agtst members of the Crow Tribe in thestate of Montana.

Several tribal colleges are working to improvethe quality of local elementary and secondaryeducation, not only by training Native teachersand teacher aides, but by redefining educationalpolicies, or restructuring the schools themselves.In San Diego, Sherry Red Owl, a founding boardmember of Sinte Gleska College, told the TaskForce about the college's education forumsreservation-wide meetings of educators, ad-i&nistrators, Elders, parents, and politicalleaders. These forums bring together groups whichdo not ordinarily discuss educational policy witheach other; the groups are systematically review-ing, assessing, and redesigning educational ap-proaches for Rosebud, in order to produce a"blueprint for Indian education." The blueprintwill serve not only to guide educational develor-ment, at all levels, on the RosebudReservation, butalso to create and model a process which other

u. 12

Indians Nations At Risk: Solutions for the 1990s

colleges and Native communities may adapt totheir own situations.

Other colleges are working with specific localschools. In Montana, for example, Two EagleRivers High School is located on the campus ofSalish Kootenai College. Northwest Indian Collegeis developing a Middle College, to provide institu-tional links between high school and college work;Little Big Horn College offer enrichment oppor-tunities, in the form of science and mathematicscamps, for junior high school students. The skillsand approaches which have worked in the coliegesmay have applications at other levels in Nativeschools as well.

ConstraintsAs vigorous and successful as the tribal colleges

have been, they ate highly vulnerable institutions.They depend for o.erating monies on the federalgovernment, by which they have been penalizedseverely for their achievements in the education ofNative students. The Carnegie Foundation for theAdvancement of Teaching, in its report, TribalColleges: Shaping The Future of Native America(Carnegie Foundation, 1989, p. 70), summarizedthe situation: "The harsh truth is, however, thatfederal support has been woefully insufficient: itsimply has not kept pace with the rate of growth inthe tribal colleges, or with their most basic needs."The BIA has never requested sufficient funds forthe tribal colleges from the Congress; indeed theCarnegie Foundation, in 1989, noted the absenceof a spirit of cooperation between the nationallevels of the BIA and the tribal colleges. Nor hasthe Congress ever appropriated monies to the col-leges to the limits established by law. Attitudes inboth the BIA and Congress show signs of change,however; for fiscal 1991, Congress increased sig-nificantly the dollar amount appropriated per In-dian student, and for the first time, the Bureau ofIndian Affairs has appealed to the Office ofManagement and Budget, the President's budgetwatchdogs, to increase the amounts requestedfrom Congress for the colleges.

Monies are distributed to the colleges by theB1A proportionately, through a formula which isadjusted annually. The BIA adds together the totalnumber of credit hours for which all Indian stu-dents at each of the colleges are enrolled duringtheyear, and calculates an Indian Student Count(ISC), roughly comparable to the number of full-time equivalent students. This number is thendivided into the dollar amount of the total congres-sional appropriation for the colleges, yielding adollar amount per ISC. Each college then shouldreceive a share of the funds based on its number of

12

ISCs for the year. For fiscal year 1990, each tribalcollege received $2,200 per ISC.

By comparison, in the state of Montana, threepublic two year colleges of comparable size to thetribal colleges averaged a cost per student in 1989-90 of $4,340, of which $3,838 was state and localfunding. In North Dakota, costs per student at thepublic two-year colleges in the same year averaged$5,030, of which slightly less than $3,800 camefrom state and local governments. One Native two-year college which is administered directly by theBIA received a !lit more than $10,000 per studentfor fiscal year 1991 (AIHEC, 1990, p. 11).

Federal funds are, and should be, the basicrevenue source for the tribal colleges. The Nativecommunities they serve have very limited resour-ces and revenue bases. The realities of local pover-ty set sharp limits on the amounts of tuition whichthe colleges can collect. Yet since 1981, federalsupport to the colleges has eroded steadily. Infla-tion has, over time, reduced the value of theirappropriations; more significant, however, is thecumulative impact of the colleges' success. Enroll-ment has grown, when all colleges are addedtogether, at a rate of about ten percent per year;the modest increases in total federal appropria-tions simply have not kept pace. This has produceda bitter irony; the tribal colleges, by helping eachother to grow, and expanding the opportunities forincreasing numbers of Native students, have eachdiminished their own resources (See Table 1).

TABLE 1Trends in Funding per Indian Student Count forTribal Colleges by Year

FiscalYear

Indian Student DollarsCount (ISC) per ISC

1981 1689 $3,1001982 2087 $2,8261983 2194 $2,8651984 2616 $2,5061985 2853 $2,4591986 3000 $2,3171987 3200 $2,5171988 3908 $2,1591989 4400 $1,9641990 4795 $2,2001991 4975 $3,000

This steady shrinking of the financial base hasaffected the colleges severely. Full-time facultysalaries at many tribal colleges average $19,000per year. Salaries in the same disciplines at neigh-boring state institutions exceed $30,000 annually.Dedicated faculty and administrators may stay at

3

Tribal Colleges

their tribal colleges for the satisfaction which theirjobs hi .ng, but their eventual replacements areincreasingly unwilling to settle for unreasonablesalaries and slender fringe benefit packages. Manyinstitutions rely heavily on part-time faculty.While this may be a prudent use of resources forthe short term, the building of curricula and degreeprograms of high quality demands at least somefull-time attention. Without additional resources,these concerns are likely to worsen. Projections ofacademic workforces in the 1990s all point to adecrease in the supply of college faculty, which inturn will bring an increase in faculty salaries; foithe same period, projections of tribal college stu-dent populations indicate continued expansions inenrollments.

Salaries aside, basic academic operations maycost more in remote rural areas than in cities. In1989, researchers (Hargreaves & Chang, 1989, p.63) found that a standard market basket of foodcost about 30 percent more in a community on theRosebud Reservation than in the city of SiouxFalls. Similar price differentials exist for equip-ment and services, both because of additionaltransportation charges, and because of the absenceof competition in many rural areas. But tribalcolleges need the same sorts of physical equipmentand supplies as do colleges in urban areas. Libraryresources, often meager, are unaole to keep pacewith the expanding needs for information of in-creasingly well-educated and developing com-munities. Laboratory equipment and computertechnology likewise demand regular replacementand upgrading, if the educational missions of theinstitutions are to be served.

Physical facilities also need attention. Mosttribal colleges began life in architectural east-offsand hand-me-downs, buildings which had beenabandoned (and sometimes condemned) by theirformer occupants. Many tribal colleges are stillthere, dealing with expensive heating bills, leakyroofs, damaged computers, and the occa,lonal ro-dent or bat. The endemic humor of the collegesmakes light of the difficulties, but the high costs ofoperation and the losses of efficiency remain.

Vocational education at tribal colleges needsadditional resources. The colleges havedemonstrated their capacities, during the past 20years, to help students move from economic de-pendency into the workforce. The students whohave made this transition have been, by any defini-tion, among the hard-core unemployed femaleheads ofhouseholds, without high school diplomas,in their late 20s and early 30s, without significantemployment experience. Yet the colleges are un-able to obtain stable and adequate support for

vocational training, while s ich monies are regular-ly provided by the federal government, as a matterof course, to state vocational institutions whichhave weaker track records in serving Native stu-dents.

RecommendationsThe first recommendation of the report of the

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement ofTeaching (1989, p. 69) has not yet been imple-mented, and therefore bears repeating:

First, we urgently recommend that thefederal government adequately supporttribal colleges by providing the full fundingauthorized by Congress. Specifically, werecommend that the $5,820 authorized perstudent be appropriated and that, from thispoint on. federal appropriations keep pacewith the growth of Indian student enroll-ment.

The tribal colleges continue to demonstratetheir successes in providing education, and hope,to Native people and to their communities, inremote and isolated areas, under difficult condi-tions. ln many tribal communities, there is littleelse which works as well. The tribal colleges havelikewise showil that they provide not one replicablemodel, but several, for effective community invol-vement with, and control of, a sophisticated educa-tional institution The colleges have devised andshared techniques for economic and social develop-ment, alcoholism prevention and treatment, andadult education. But the colleges cannot continue,much less build on their potential, without ade-quate financial support.

Secondly, the federal government needs toreexamine policies for student financial aid. JaninePease-Windy Boy, president of Little Big HornCollege and a member of the INAR Task Force,argued persuasively in her testimony that federalfinancial aid policies need to be re-examined andadjusted to take into account the experiences oftribal college students. Loans do not appear to bean appropriate primaryingredient for financial aidto impoverished students from commumities withlow wages and high unemployment. Several tribalcolleges have declined to participate in federalguaranteed student loan programs, lest their stu-dents be encouraged to accumulate large debts. Ifa student needs to interrupt his or her studies forpersonal, family, or even financial reasons, pay-ments come due on any loans already received. Yetstop-and-start patterns of en rollmen t appears to becommon, and healthy, among tribal college stu-dents. Federal requirements also place strict limitson the number of terms for which a student may

13 14

Indians Nations At Risk: Solutions for the 1990s

receive financial aid. Some limits are necessary,but the number of terms needs to be adjusted todeal realistically with the needs of adult learners,who may not be able to maintain the sameschedules as full-time students.

Thirdly, federal agencies need to provide moreoccasions for tribal colleges to participate in exist-ing programs. This is particularly essential in suchareas as agriculture, rural economic development,science d technology education, and historical,linguistic, and cultural preservation. Tribal col-leges have demonstrated that they provide unique-ly stable and productive environments forinnovative work within Native communities. Thefederal government has designated special oppor-tunities for Historically Black Colleges andUniversities to compete for existing programs andmonies. This approach requires no additionalfederal appropriations, but instead a more effec-tive targeting ofresources to institutions which canuse them effectively. Similar approaches andresources need to be made more accessible to tribalcolleges as well. Likewise, new legislation andregulations for federal vocational eaucationprograms need to be refined so that the intent ofthe drafters increased support for tribal colleges

is not subverted by state governments compet-ing for these resources. Similarly, written tes-timony submitted to the Task Force arguedforcefully that assistance for developing institu-tions under Title III of the Higher Education Actneeds to be made more accessible to tribal colleges.

Fourthly, tribal colleges are now the only majorfederally-funded institutions of Native educationwhich do not receive forward funding. (This is abudgeting technique used for some federalprograms, in which monies are appropriated oneyear in advance. This assures that organizationswhich are forward funded will not get caughtwithout budgets, should the Congress fail to ap-prove appropriations legislation on time). Finan-cial uncertainty each fall wreaks havoc with tribalcollege budgets and operations, as the Bureau ofIndian Affairs awaits the passage of appropria-tions legislation before sending operating moniesto the colleges. Forward funding needs to beadopted by the Congress as soon as possible.

Two other issues require remedy throughfederal legislation. With few exceptions, thecolleges' physical facilities are grimly inadequate,in both size and condition. No federal funds haveever been appropriated for construction, however,and only in 1990 was money provided for emergen-cy repairs literally to keep roofs from falling in.Monies must be found for new and decent buildingsfor the tribal colleges. Likewise, federal law has

14

established that congressional appropriationsshould be used to match those funds which thecolleges raise for their endowments. As the institu-tions beeome more visible and more successful,they must not be penalized for their efforts tocreate long-term financial stability; federal fundsto match endowments must be increased.

On the state level, state governments need toprovide tribal colleges with funds to cover the costof educating non-Native students. The collegesreceive no operating funds from the federal govern-ment for these students. The tuition collected fromthem covers no more than one-fifth of the colleges'total educational costs. The colleges provide valu-able and unique services to these students, servicesfor which state governments have ultimate respon-sibility. The dollar amounts involved would beminor from the perspective of the states, but sig-nificant and highly useful to the tribal colleges.

Additionally, state universities and collegesneed to continue to develop collaborative relation-ships with tribal colleges. These relationshipsmust be founded in mutual respect, minimizingcondescension or territorial defensiveness whichhave marred such efforts in the past. Tribal col-leges have demonstrated their capacities toprepare students for baccalaureate or graduatework at other institutions, their skills at providingeducation grounded in cultural values and tradi-tions, and their abilities to conduct useful andimaginative research. These strengths, if coor-dinated with those of other non-Native institu-tions, can add materially to the quality of educationand human life in their regions.

Philanthropic organizations and foundationshave been slow to recognize and acknowledge thevalue of tribal colleges. Several foundations haveexpressed discomfort with the small size, and ap-parent lack of national impact, of the colleges. TheBush and MacArthur Foundations, on the otherhand, have been conspicuous as leaders and in-novators in their support of individual colleges.The Carnegie Foundation report (1989, pp. 83-85)encouraged foundations to support the Tribal Col-lege Institute, the journal, Tribal College, and theoffice of the American Indian Higher EducationConsortium in Washington, D.C. To the recom-mendation of the Carnegie Foundation must beadded encouragement to support the AmericanIndian College Fund, which has established itseffectiveness and credibility during the first yearof operation.

Corporate donors have likewise been hesitant,for the most part, to support tribal colleges. Cor-porate giving policies frequently restrict donationsto geographical areas in which plants or businesses

15

Tribal Colleges

are located. Such rules exclude tribal colleges oneconomically desolated reservations. Again, thenational efforts of the American Indian CollegeFund, the journal and the institute may providesuitable opportunities for corporate donors, butthey are also encouraged to re-think the implica-tions of their giving policies for the tribal collegesin particular, and Native and rural education ingeneral.

Tribal governments have, for the most part,been strongly supportive of the colleges whichserve their reservations, and understanding of thecolleges' needs for administrative and fiscal in-tegrity. Several governments, however, haveviewed the colleges not as independent andautonomous institutions chartered by tribal coun-cil action, but as a tribal program subject tomanagement by elected political officials. Inap-propriate political intervention in the operation ofany college places its academic integrity, and itsaccreditation, at risk. Those tribal colleges whichhave thrived are those which have been able toplace a perceptible distance between themselvesand the turbulence ofelective tribal politics. Thosetribal goverrments which have not recognizedthese lessons place their colleges in jeopardy.

Tribal colleges need, as resources become avail-able, to address the issue of baccalaureate leveleducation for their students. Only two colleges,Sinte Gleska and Oglala Lakota, currently offerbachelor's degrees. The Task Force heardrepeatedly from tribal college students, faculty,and staff, voicing the hope that their local collegeswould move towards baccalaureate and graduateeducation.

Lastly, the colleges themselves need to paymore attention, as resources become available, toresearch about themselvbe ind their communities.Location and context are important; research donewithin, and for the use of, tribal communities is notthe same as research which treats those com-munities, or their members, as distant objects.Thecolleges, individually or in groups, need to findways to provide their communities with access tospecialized research skills, and to a core group oftrained researchers familiar with tribal needs andissues. The colleges also need funds, from thefederal and foundation sources, to strengthen con-temporary research capacities, and to build ar-chives and museum collections to supporthistorical research. The colleges themselves areappropriate subjects of inquiry; they have createdinnovative results by developing appropriateeducational techniques and new styles oforganiza-tions. The work itself has been so consuming, andthe resources so scarce, that little time has been

15

available to assess all of the outzomes, or recordhow they have been achieved. The conscious andreflective examination of both processes and out-comes is essential, if the tribal colleges are to taketheir rightful places ofleadership in the Native, thenational, and the international educational com-munities.

Lessons and ImplicationsThe tribal colleges have derived new solutions

to long-standing problems in Native education.This effort has required sustained, patient, hardwork; many of the presidents, administrators, andfaculty have been with their colleges since thedoors opened. The colleges have become institu-tions, with institutional continuities and institu-tional memories. No three-year program, orsuccession of them, has provided comparableresults. Benefiting from two decades of continuity,the colleges have been able to learn from their ownexperiences and those of others. The institutionshave, over time, discarded less functional methodsand approaches, and accumulated and refinedthose which work for them. They have shared,patiently and gradually, their experience and ex-pertise with each other, and have built a networkwhich provides information, support, and politicaleffectiveness.

The colleges do not form a unitary system; theirnetwork is decentralized. No single, central or-ganization has mastered the sensitivity and localknowledge necessary to serve the diversity of cul-tures, languages, economies and societies whichform the colleges' constituencies.

The colleges demonstrate the utility of small-ness, openness, and accountability for working intheir reservations. The colleges know their stu-dents, their families, and their communities. Andthe communities know their colleges, not only ascollections of teachers, friends, and relatives, butas institutions and as resources.

Ultimately, the colleges derive strength fromtheir accountability. They hold themselves ac-countable, not only to their tribes, to funding sour-ces, and to accreditation agencies, but also to theintentions for which they were established. Thefounders of the first colleges insisted that the in-clusive values of tribal spiritual traditions be afoundation of the institutions. They insisted as wellthat the ultimate moral purposes of education at6. tribal colleges be acknowledged, celebrated,and shared. They chose wisely.

Indians Nations At Risk: Solutions for the 1990s

ReferencesAmerican Indian Higher Education Consortium

(1990). Funding needs of tribal colleges.Washington. DC.

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement ofTeaching (1989). Tribal colleges: Shaping thefuture of Native America. Princeton, NJ.

Crum, S. (1989). The idea of an Indian college oruniversity in twentieth century America beforethe formation of the Navajo Community Collegein 1968. Tribal College, 1(2), pp. 20-23.

Hargreaves, M.S. & Chang, H.N. (1990). Evaluat-ing the impact of federal welfare reform legis-lation in Indian country: A case study of theRosebud Sioux Reservation. Cambridge: Ken-nedy School of Government, Harvard Univer-sity, The Harvard Project on American IndianEconomic Development.

Houser, S. (1991). Building institutions across cul-tural boundaries: Management of Indian in-stitutions. Tri" .z1 Colleges, 2(3), 11-17.

Johnson, D: (1987). A study of the twenty-fivepoorest counties in the continental U.S.A in1986. New York, NY: National ProgramDivision, General Board of Global Ministries,the United Methodist Church.

Shanley, J. (1990). Budgeting and fund accountingin the tribal college. Tribal College, 2(1), 6-10.

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Stein, W.J. (1990). The institute for tomorrow'sgeneration of leaders: A report to the AmericanIndian Higher Education Consortium and theFord Foundation. Bozeman, MT: MontanaState University, Center for Native AmericanStudies.

Wright, B. (1989). Tribally controlled communitycolleges: An assessment of student satisfaction.Community / Junior College Quarterly, 13, 119-128.

Wright, B. & Weasel Head, P. (1990). Tribal con-trolled community colleges:A student outcomesassessment of associate degree recipients.Community College Review, 18(3), 28-33.

About the AuthorSchuyler Houser has served as dean and ac-

ting president at Nebraska Indian CommunityCollege, as president of Sisseton Wahpeton Com-munity College, and as director of the Institute forEconomic Development and the Institute for TribalGovernment at Sinte Gleska College. He is cur-rently director of the Case Program, and assistantprofessor of public administration at Sas-katchewan Indian Federated College at theUniversity of Regina, Saskatchewan. He servedfor three years on the executive committee of theBoard of Directors of the American Indian HigherEducation Consortium.

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=NCU.S. Dept. of Education

Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement (OERI)

MirDate Filmed

August 8, 1992