Montana Tribal College Faculty Professional Development Worskhop

University Of Montana, Missoula MT

Investigators

Abstract

A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the STEM instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's indigenous students. Expanding the STEM curricular offerings at these institutions expands the opportunities of their students to pursue challenging, rewarding careers in STEM fields, provides for research studies in areas that may be culturally significant, and encourages a community and generational appreciation for science and mathematics education. The focus of the proposal from the University of Montana (UM) is on developing faculty at tribal institutions, so they too will be able to support the needs of their students. In addition, UM continues to build and strengthen collaborative efforts with the Montana tribal colleges, which could provide more opportunities for tribal students to do research at UM. The University of Montana will expand upon a pilot to provide tribal college faculty exposure to UM researchers and research opportunities. Tribal college faculty will be offered laboratory rotations to gain familiarity with various research groups on the UM campus, while investigating lab reach practices that are appropriate for the tribal colleges' campus lab infrastructures, the needs of their students, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the tribal college faculty members. The research group model will continue to strengthen a faculty network as tribal college faculty come to the UM campus for one week during the summer and have two additional meetings during the subsequent academic year.