Understanding the Medicine Wheel: A Whole Student Approach to Advising Native American and Alaskan Native Students

1. Understanding the Medicine Wheel: A Whole Student Approach to Advising Native American and Alaskan Native Students Katie Nester, Senior Academic Success Advisor, Admission & Advising Elizabeth Perrault, Science & Math Advisor, Native American Center Fort Lewis College Durango, Colorado

2. Outline • Fort Lewis College introduction and historical highlights • Native American education historical highlights • Native American college students today • The medicine wheel • Advising Native American students from a whole-student perspective • Case study practice session • Best practices

3. Fort Lewis College – Who We Are • Designated as Colorado’s public liberal arts college • Total student population: 3,893 • Student-to-faculty ratio: 19:1 • Advising model - decentralized, faculty-led, supported by many secondary advisors • Most popular majors: • Business (20%), Biology (9%), Education (8%) Psychology (7%), • Exercise Science (7%), Art (6%) • Unique majors: • Native American & Indigenous Studies, Public Health, Adventure Education, Student Constructed

4. Fort Lewis College – Who We Are • Native American population: 790 students (20%) • Number of tribes and Alaska Native villages represented: 144 • Most common tribal affiliations • Navajo (58%) • Alaskan Native (11.6%) • Cherokee (6.5%) • Most popular Native American student majors: • Business Administration (15%), Biology (9%), Undeclared (8%), Psychology (7%), Art (7%), Exercise Science (6%), Engineering (6%) • Most common degree earned by • Native American students: • Business Administration (10%), Sociology (10%), Biology (9%), English (8%), Exercise Science (8%)

5. Fort Lewis College – History • 1878 – Fort Lewis is established as a US Army Post to maintain a military presence near the southern branch of the Utes. • 1891 – The US government closed the site as a military post and established in its place an Indian boarding school. Circa 1895 Adams, David W. (1995); Photo courtesy of Fort Lewis College Center of Southwest Studies.

6. Fort Lewis College – History • 1910 – The U.S. government deeded the property to the State of Colorado stipulating as a condition of the grant “that Indian Pupils shall at all times be admitted to such school free of charge for tuition and on terms of equality with white pupils.” • Sacred Trust was created Federal Indian Appropriation Bill of April 4, 1910, 36 Stat. 269 (1910)

7. Fort Lewis College – Native American Tuition Waiver • Waives tuition ONLY • Students are responsible for paying fees, books, room and board, etc • Tuition waiver applies to in-state AND out-of-state students • Requirements for eligibility: • Provide enrollment or census number verification • Prove Native American descendancy

8. Native Americans and Higher Education • Federal Era • Late 1700s to early 1900s • 1860- Federal government establishes 1st Indian Boarding School • 1892 – “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” – Captain Richard H. Pratt • Historical trauma Fox, M., Lowe, S., & McClellan, G. (2005)

9. Native Americans and Higher Education • Self-Determination Era • Began in the 1930s, but did not gain momentum until the 1960s • 1972 – Indian Education Act of 1972 • Provides federal assistance “to help close the gap which now exists between Indian education and the general educational level of the United States.” • Created the Office of Indian Education within the US Department of Education • Established the National Advisory Council for Indian Education • 1975 – The Indian Self-Determination Act gives tribes (not government officials) authority to prioritize federal funds for education. Fox, M., Lowe, S., & McClellan, G. (2005)

10. Native American College Students Today – Enrollment, Retention & Graduation • In past 40 years, NA enrollment in higher education has doubled (.5% to 1%). • American Indians have the lowest retention rate of any minority group in higher education. • 2002 four-year national graduation rates from public institutions of higher education • Overall 29.9% • Native Americans 16% Native Americans are the smallest population of individuals graduating with a bachelor’s degree Fox, M., Lowe, S., & McClellan, G. (2005) National Center for Education Statistics (2011).

13. Factors Affecting Native American Student Retention and Graduation • Striving to adjust to the college environment; lack of knowledge on the culture of higher education • Difference in world view • Cultural differences with white majority culture (returning home for ceremonies, conflicts with Western science and tradition) • Preserving cultural identity; “Living in two worlds” • Cultural and family isolation • Academic preparedness • Lack of financial resources • Perceived discriminatory climate DeVoe, J., & Darling-Churchill, K. (2008); Fox, M., Lowe, S., & McClellan, G. (2005); Garland, J. (2011); Springer, M. (2011)

14. Indicators for Native American Student Success • Support from family • Institutional commitment • Personal commitment • Participation in campus groups, establishing meaningful social networks • Involvement with NA campus community, particularly NA faculty and staff • Strong retention programs and student services; participation in the institution’s Native American Center • Experiencing a sense of belonging • Living and working on campus • Supportive faculty and staff; mentoring relationships DeVoe, J., & Darling-Churchill, K. (2008); Fox, M., Lowe, S., & McClellan, G. (2005); Garland, J. (2011); Springer, M. (2011)

15. European Understanding the Medicine Wheel Air & Animals Mind North Air & Animals European Mind African Earth & Minerals Asian Fire & Sun Body Earth & Minerals Body African West Asian Fire & Sun Soul East Soul North & South American North & South American Heart Water & Plants Water & Plants South Heart Warne, Donald, Oglala Lakota

16. Understanding the Medicine Wheel Decisions Implement Interpret Mind Mental Soul Spiritual Body Physical Actions Values Heart Emotional Feelings Feedback Reactions Warne, Donald, Oglala Lakota

17. Developmental Advising • Burns B. Crookston • Advising within the context of a student’s “rational processes, environmental and interpersonal interactions, behavioral awareness, and problem-solving, decision-making, and evaluation skills” • Advising as teaching • Prescriptive versus developmental advising Crookston, B. (1972)

18. A Whole Student Approach to Advising Native American Students • Whole-student approach • an understanding that a wide variety of developmental, academic, personal, social, financial, emotional, and cultural factors may affect student academic performance

19. A Whole Student Approach to Advising Native American Students • Abilities • What informs an advisor about a student’s potential? • Motivation • What does an advisor need to know about what motivates a student to be successful in college? • Relationships • What role does the advisor/advisee relationship play in developmental advising? Crookston, B. (1972)

20. A Whole-Student Approach to Advising Native American Students • Coll & Draves • Effective advising is sensitive to advisee worldviews because “these frameworks provide students with the personal information they use to make decisions about remaining in their school” • Student satisfaction positively related to time spent discussing personal values Coll & Draves (2009)

21. Case Study • Appointment topic: student is having difficulty with course work • Native American, freshman, biology major, female, age 21 • 1st semester grades: • Cumulative GPA after 1st semester: 2.18 • Mid-term grades: D, B, C-, D (16 credits) • Remedial math placement, college level English • Hold on account for unpaid bill

22. Best Practices for Interpreting Values Three Golden Rules 1. Do not assume students know the “language of higher education” 2. Empower your advisees to find their voice. 3. Provide information about the goals of advising relationships • Spend time building trust and rapport • Ask some general get to know you questions -where are you from? How is your living situation? • Ask students about course rigor, course load, involvement on campus, personal interests • Explore the causes of their academic issue • Academic, social, personal, fianacial, family • Explore their motivation • Determine strengths • Level of family support

23. Case Study continued…. • Lives on campus in family housing • Has a 2 year old daughter, and custody of 7 year old sister • Homesick; misses extended family • First generation college student • On a tribal scholarship, needs to be above 2.0 • Has Pell and Workstudy, not using workstudy • Not involved on campus • Has no idea who her faculty advisor is

24. Best Practices for Implementing Action • Orient the student to the University/College, both as a campus and as a system. • Orient the student to the local area and to living in the area. • Help the students feel they are a part of the campus community. • Students must have some place where they feel they belong. • Find out what local services are available to Native Americans. • Provide help and be proactive about it. • Never generalize; treat each student as a unique person. • Orient yourself to Native models or ways of thinking. • Foster and support the student’s Native Identity. • Focus on the importance of schoolwork and classes. • Find ways to identify and nurture the students’ strengths. • Perceive and treat each Native student as able to succeed. Fox, M., Lowe, S., & McClellan, G. (2005)

25. Best Practices: Campus Wide Collaborative Advising Efforts • New Student Advising & Registration • Early Alert and midterm outreach • Upward Bound – bridge program • Campus-wide advising meetings: Admission & Advising, Native American Center, Academic Success, TRIO programs

26. Best Practices: Native American Center Mental Student Advising Academic Outreach Tutoring Media Loan Workshops Physical Spiritual Wilderness Program Healthy Eating Dinner with a Doctor Elder-In-Residence Ceremonies (RSOs) Blessings Emotional Social Activities Advocates Oops Hour RSOs Community Engagement

27. Student Advice to Advisors • Student feedback on advising: • Play to student strengths • Don’t be a “know it all” • Listen and ask questions • End on a positive note

28. Contact Information • Katie Nester • Nester_K@fortlewis.edu • (970) 382-6903 • Elizabeth Perrault • Perrault_E@fortlewis.edu • (970) 247-7225 • Admission & Advising: www.fortlewis.edu/advising • Native American Center: www.fortlewis.edu/nac

29. References • Adams, D. (1995). Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience 1875-1928. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. • Coll, J., & Draves, P. (2009). Traditional age students: Worldviews and satisfaction with advising; a homogenous study of student and advisors. The College Student Affairs Journal, 27(2), 215-223. • Crookston, B. (1972). A developmental view of academic advising as teaching. Journal of College Student Personnel, 13, 12-17. • DeVoe, J., & Darling-Churchill, K. (2008). Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2008 (NCES 2008-084). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC. • Federal Indian Appropriation Bill of April 4, 1910, 36 Stat. 269 (1910) • Fox, M., Lowe, S., & McClellan, G. (2005). Serving Native American Students. New Directions for Student Services, no. 109. • Hunt, B. & Harrington, C. (2008). The Impending Educational Crisis for American Indians: Higher Education at the Crossroads. Journal of Multicultural, Gender and Minority Studies, 2(2). • Garland, J. (2011). Exploring the College Student Involvement “Research Asterisk”: Identifying and Rethinking Predictors of American Indian College Student Involvement. National Institute for Native Leadership in Higher Education presentation, 2011 Annual National Institute. • National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). Graduation rates of first-time postsec students who start as fill-time degree seeking students, by sex, race/ethnicity, time betwn starting and graduating, and lvl and control of inst. where student started: Sl’d cohort entry years, 1996 through 2005. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_341.asp • Springer, M. (2011). Defining the Intricacies, Needs, and Good Work of the Native American Student Services Unit. National Institute for Native Leadership in Higher Education presentation, 2011 Annual National Institute.