1st Edition
Beyond Access Indigenizing Programs for Native American Student Success
This book argues that two principal factors are inhibiting Native students from transitioning from school to college and from succeeding in their post-secondary studies. It presents models and examples of pathways to success that align with Native American students’ aspirations and cultural values.Many attend schools that are poorly resourced where they are often discouraged from aspiring to college. Many are alienated from the educational system by a lack of culturally appropriate and meaningful environment or support systems that reflect Indigenous values of community, sharing, honoring extended family, giving-back to one’s community, and respect for creation.The contributors to this book highlight Indigenized college access programs--meaning programs developed by, not just for--the Indigenous community, and are adapted, or developed, for the unique Indigenous populations they serve. Individual chapters cover a K-12 program to develop a Native college-going culture through community engagement; a “crash course” offered by a higher education institution to compensate for the lack of college counseling and academic advising at students’ schools; the role of tribal colleges and universities; the recruitment and retention of Native American students in STEM and nursing programs; financial aid; educational leadership programs to prepare Native principals, superintendents, and other school leaders; and, finally, data regarding Native American college students with disabilities. The chapters are interspersed with narratives from current Indigenous graduate students.This is an invaluable resource for student affairs practitioners and higher education administrators wanting to understand and serve their Indigenous students.
Blessing—Luci Tapahonso (Diné. Foreword—George S. McClellan Introduction—Stephanie Waterman (Onondaga), Heather J. Shotton (Wichita/Kiowa/Cheyenne), and Shelly C. Lowe (Diné. Breanna’s Story—Breanna Faris (Cheyenne and Arapaho. 1. My Story. Making the Most of College Access Programs—Natalie Rose Youngbull (Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho, Ft. Peck Sioux and Assiniboine. 2. Tough Conversations and “Giving Back”. Native Freshman Perspectives on the College Application Process—Adrienne Keene (Cherokee. Monty’s Story—Monty Begaye (Diné. 3. Getting Started Locally. How Tribal Colleges and Universities are Opening Doors to the Undergraduate Experience—David Sanders (Oglala Lakota), and Matthew Van Alstine Makomenaw (Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. 4. Native Student Financial Aid as Native Nation Building. History, Politics, and Realities—Christine A. Nelson (Diné and Laguna Pueblo. and Amanda R. Tachine (Diné. Nakay’s Story—Nakay R. Flotte (Mescalero-Lipan Apache. 5. Journey Into the Sciences. Successful Native American STEM Programs—LeManuel Bitsoi (Diné. and Shelly C. Lowe (Diné. 6. Recruiting and Supporting Nursing Students in Alaska. A Look at the Recruitment and Retention of Alaska Natives into Nursing (RRANN. Program at the University of Alaska Anchorage School of Nursing—Tina DeLapp, Jackie Pflaum and Stephanie Sanderlin (Yupik/Unangan. Corey’s Story—Corey Still (Keetoowah Cherokee. 7. The Evolution of Native Education Leadership Programs. Learning From the Past, Leading for the Future—Susan Faircloth (Coharie Tribe of North Carolina. and Robin Minthorn (Kiowa/Nez Perce/Umatilla/Assiniboine. 8. American Indian College Students and Ability Status. Considerations for Improving the College Experience—John L. Garland (Choctaw. Conclusion. Achieving the Possible—Stephanie J. Waterman (Onondaga), Shelly C. Lowe (Diné), Heather J. Shotton (Wichita/Kiowa/Cheyenne. and Jerry Bread (Kiowa/Cherokee. Editors and Contributors Index
Biography
Stephanie J. Waterman is Onondaga, Turtle Clan. She is an Associate Professor, in Leadership, Higher & Adult Education, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and coordinates the Student Development/Student Services in Postsecondary Education at the University of Toronto. Prior to her appointment at OISE, she was a faculty member in Higher Education administration in Educational Leadership at the Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, University of Rochester, and Faculty Associate for the Syracuse University Native Student Program, she researches Native student experiences, faculty/staff/student interaction, and First Nations/Native American Student Affairs units. Shelly C. Lowe is Navajo from Ganado, Arizona. She is the Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP). Prior to being at Harvard she worked in Native American student affairs at Yale University and in American Indian Studies at The University of Arizona, where she is completing her Ph.D. in Higher Education. Heather J. Shotton is a member of the Wichita & Affiliated Tribes, and is also of Kiowa and Cheyenne descent. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor in Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on Native American student success, Indigenous higher education, and Indigenous women in the academy. George S. McClellan is Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi. He previously served as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) for ten years. Prior to joining the IPFW community, McClellan served as Vice President for Student Development at Dickinson State University, Interim Director of Assessment and Research for Campus Life at the University of Arizona, and Director of Graduate and Off Campus Housing at Northwestern University. Dr. McClellan has served as a member of the editorial boards for
"Beyond Access edited by Waterman, Lowe, and Shotton demonstrates the resistance of Indigenous students and educators to deficit models that fail to account for the effects of settler-colonialism. In addition, the editors and contributors do the work of both decolonizing postsecondary education and Indigenizing education in ways that promote Native students’ personal and community achievement. This text is a contribution to Native National Building and a must-read for anyone committed to Indigenizing postsecondary educational practice."
Dafina-Lazarus (D-L) Stewart, Tri-Director: Student Affairs in Higher Education Program
Colorado State University
“Beyond Access is a pressing call to academics, practitioners, and policy makers to support the specific needs of Native students. This timely book is much needed, disrupting the educational invisibility of Native students while charting new and exciting directions to foster their success.”
Nolan L. Cabrera, Associate Professor, Center for the Study of Higher Education
University of Arizona
"Authors in this book engage powerful stories, Indigenous knowledge systems, and pragmatic innovations to inspire culturally strength-based college access and retention programs for Native Peoples into and through colleges and universities. Indigenous epistemologies of identity, relationship, resiliency, respect, interconnection, reciprocity, mentoring, community, spirituality, social capital, success, and well-being are highlighted. Indigenized approaches to matriculate, educate, and graduate Native college students are shared. This book offers essential learning pathways for all who serve in education."
Alicia Fedelina Chávez, Ph.D. (Apache, Spanish American) Former Dean of Students, University of Wisconsin - Madison and Co-Editor of Indigenous Leadership in Higher Education
From the Foreword:
“Beyond Access: Indigenizing Programs for Native American Student Success is another important work in the growing body of Indigenous scholarship. Stephanie Waterman, Shelly Lowe, and Heather Shotton have once again assembled an impressive group of contributing authors. Members of tribes and campus communities from across the country, the authors report on model programs designed to support the success of Native American students in undergraduate and graduate majors in a variety of institutional settings. One can clearly see that these programs are framed in Indigenous ways of knowing and being, and the 4 Rs—respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility—are in clear evidence throughout all of them.”
George S. McClellan, Former Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne
Beyond Access: Indigenizing Programs for Native American Student Success serves as a follow-up to Beyond the Asterisk: Understanding Native Students in Higher Education, providing deeper insight into the lived experiences of Native American college students. Beyond Access is an intentional effort to highlight programs that help Native American college students to succeed, whether at the pre-college, undergraduate, or graduate level. The editors intertwine the stories of graduate students from diverse tribal backgrounds, highlighting their academic and personal experiences as well as the programs that support them.
As an Indigenous scholar and practitioner, I would like to emphasize the importance of this book in highlighting programs that provide access to higher education for Native American students. This is a much-needed text that allows us to begin to decolonize higher education and to honor the ways we are Indigenizing higher education through these programs. Because of this book, a wider space has been created in Indigenous higher education scholarship for future Native American students and scholars.
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