CCCC Targeted STEM Infusion Project

Cankdeska Cikana Community College, Fort Totten ND

Investigators

Abstract

The Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is designed to support improvements in the scientific, mathematical, engineering and technological education infrastructure in (a) tribally-controlled colleges and universities, or (b) those colleges that serve significant numbers of Alaska Natives or Native Hawaiians. Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP) is offered as a TCUP strand for meritorious projects that focus on smaller scale transformative efforts, such as within a department. This project will establish the first associate of science degree in forensic science at a tribal college. It is anticipated that such a degree will encourage more interest in STEM studies generally, and can provide short-range employment preparation, and the foundation to transfer to further studies in the field of forensic science. Cankdeska Cikana Community College's "CCCC Targeted STEM Infusion Project" aims to develop and implement an associate of science degree in forensic science with seamless matriculation into the third year of the University of North Dakota's (UND) Bachelor's of Science (BS) degree in Forensic Science. This initiative responds to a national growing interest and demand by tribal college students in the field of forensic science. Cankdeska Cikana Community College's (CCCC) TSIP proposal is designed to take into account the particular needs of tribal college students by offering a bridging pathway based on hypothesis-driven summer research internships in addition to state of the art technologies that will facilitate the transition of tribal college students to a large university campus. The general strategies are: to establish a forensic science curriculum that is on par with national standards, and that will seamlessly matriculate to a BS program at UND; to effectively prepare CCCC students for other (STEM) academic and professional aspirations; to enhance the college's science courses to include forensic science modules; and to ensure that the college's course requirements will be culturally appropriate to fit the needs of tribal colleges and students as well as mainstream institutions. Utilizing both formative and summative evaluation steps through the various stages of development and implementation of this project will provide CCCC with explicit insight on success of the broader outcomes for this project, increasing applied and basic science enrollment for tribal college students in mainstream universities and in developing science professionals that will serve American Indian communities and the nation.