University of Montana Western

Action Plan
Recommendations Action Plan Next Steps Person Responsible Implementation Date
Recommendation 1: Senior level point of contact. Select new senior level point of contact

 

 Bethany Hauer Completed
Recommendation 2: Department points of contact. Update list of committee members on the campus AIMA committee for fall 2021.  Committee meets at least twice a semester to discuss goals for the campus related to recruitment, retention and graduation of Native American students.  Focus of the meetings is also identifying areas of concern and obstacles that the students are facing and developing a more comprehensive model of reaching these students.

Two new student scholars will need to be identified for the coming year. Work with Student scholars to continue outreach to current students and increasing awareness of the multi-cultural room and club to try and increase engagement.

Committee priorities include:

  • developing land acknowledgement statement
  • working with tribes to develop protocols and arranging for the presentation of each nation’s flag on campus
  • providing more training on diversity and inclusion for the campus.
  • Provide more opportunities for cultural events for the campus and local community.
Provide opportunities for members of the AIMA group and others to visit tribal colleges to increase awareness. 		 Bethany Hauer and Ashley Carlson Ongoing

Recommendation 3:  

Data collection and dissemination.

 *Provide data to both the AIMA campus group and

senior administration to better serve and retain this group of students.

*Explore ways to capture information concerning students participating in Montana Western’s grant funded education programs at various tribal colleges.

 

*Develop internal reports related to American Indian Enrollment, Retention, completion and graduation rates that will be released to the AIMA committee and administrators. Work with annual tuition waiver reports to determine if there is a population that has not declared ethnicity that should not be identified in ethnicity reports but should be included in internal tracking reports.

*Work with OCHE, Registrar’s office, School of Outreach and faculty involved in the project to identify the students and track the successes and challenges of the project. Prior to fall 2021 all grant/off campus programs were registered as extension classes but in the future, they will be switched to state side support. Students who are involved in the grant programs will be marked with an attribute in banner to more easily track their cohorts.

*Identify and track progress of Native American students involved in the Youth Challenge program who participate in 15 credit technical certification program.

Charity Walters, Registrar and Director of Institutional research

Anneliese Ripley (Blackfeet Partnership grant)

Registrar’s office and School of Outreach

School of Outreach staff (15 credit certification)		 Ongoing

Recommendation 4: Professional development.

*AIMA provided IEFA training information to campuses.

*Faculty in-residence program

*IEFA training Phase I:  Campus AIMA group previewed the video as a group and provided feedback.

Phase II: Rollout IEFA to the campus this spring. Facilitated group viewing and discussions will be offered during block breaks. 

Phase III: Individuals who did not participate in group discussions will be granted access to the training and expected to view it before the start of fall semester.

Phase IV: New faculty and staff will have access to video.

Participation will be tracked through HR department

*Explore the possibility of having Native American faculty partner with UMW faculty to teach block courses.

American Indian and Minority Achievement Council will provide materials.

Faculty and staff members with specific expertise/knowledge of Native Americans will be asked to help guide the group viewings of video to provide opportunities for richer conversations.

Faculty in residence program was put on hold during COVID.  AIMA committee members will work with the foundation and faculty to re-visit the conversation and interest in participating in this project. 

 Phase I: completed
Phase II: completed
Phase III: ongoing
Phase IV: Justin Mason will provide access to all new faculty and staff for the 19/20 and 20/21 academic years to view IEFA training through Moodle.  The Provost’s office will host a  few opportunities for break out conversations about the training mid fall and early spring.
Ongoing

Recommendation 5:  Dissemination of professional development.

*Incorporate American Indian professional development in all new employee training. Provide ongoing trainings, articles and other information to the larger campus.

*Use High Impact Practices to support closing the equity gap.

*Provide at least one campus wide training a year.

Share the following articles with the larger campus for review and discussion:

Harper, S. (2009). Race-Conscious Student Engagement Practices and the Equitable Distribution of Enriching Education Experiences.

Bolger, M. (2017). What’s the difference between diversity, inclusion and equity?

*Investigate the use of the culturally engaging campus environment survey.

University of Montana Western campus community

 Ongoing

Other recommendations/action items

Provide more support for Native American families to attend orientation.

Continue to offer specialized orientation for Native American students.

Orientation Committee

Fall 2021

 

Targeted outreach to tribal schools and high schools.

Information card to be developed that is specific to prospective Native American students. Admissions staff participates in tribal circuit fairs.

Admissions and Marketing

completed

 

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