Planning and Priorities Committee Reports

Responding to the Needs of Aboriginal Peoples

At its May 23, 2002 meeting, University Council approved the following motions.

The rationale for these motions is described in the Planning Committee report entitled �Responding to the Needs of Aboriginal Peoples�.

MOTION #1: That departments and colleges establish effective academic support services for Aboriginal students, for the fall of 2002.

MOTION #2: That departments and colleges be encouraged to create enriched transition classes for Aboriginal students.

MOTION #3: That a task force on academic preparedness for Aboriginal students be established by the administration and Council to prepare a report on recommended actions.

MOTION #4: That given the high priority of the Aboriginal Goal for the University, the Budget Committee should examine the funding of programs for academic support, enriched transition and outreach for Aboriginal students.

MOTION #5: That in conjunction with progress in creating capacity and support for Aboriginal students, the University should develop a focused communications process to increase recruitment and retention of Aboriginal students.

MOTION #6: That the Capital Planning Committee be asked to investigate the issue of an Aboriginal Student lounge/meeting facility.

MOTION #7: That the Academic Programs Committee be asked to investigate the issue of Aboriginal language instruction on campus.

MOTION #8: That the Planning Committee be instructed to report back to Council next spring on the progress which has been made toward implementation of the above recommendations.

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Planning Committee of Council

Responding to the Needs of Aboriginal Peoples

Final Report
May 23, 2002

I. Background
In A Framework for Planning at the University of Saskatchewan (March, 1998) the goal of Responding to the Needs of Aboriginal Peoples is described as follows:

In Saskatchewan, the task of responding to specific, local needs and, simultaneously opening doors to the world, is particularly pressing in the context of aboriginal peoples. Making available to aboriginal peoples the full resources of the University is one side of that equation; integrating aboriginal knowledge into the curriculum and practices of the University is the other. At the University of Saskatchewan we must dedicate ourselves to making available to all aboriginal peoples the full range of our programs and we must adopt strategies that will improve their ability to succeed. Above all, the University must appreciate the need for aboriginal peoples to have an effective, meaningful voice in their own educational experience and, in true partnership, to find in the University a place where their culture is both reflected and at work in defining and achieving the institution�s objectives in research, teaching and community service.

In January of 2000, several Chairs of Council committees requested a meeting with President MacKinnon (Chair of Council Ron Cuming, Budget chair Bob Gander, Capital Planning chair Joe Angel, Planning chair Jene Porter, Research co-chairs Morris Altman and Murray Fulton, Instructional Development chair Jim Thornhill). At that meeting there was a general discussion about what initiatives could be developed at the University level to implement this Framework for Planning goal.

When organizations wish to implement a major change, they must take action in two areas. First, they must re-structure so that attention can be focused on an issue, i.e., the new major change cannot just be placed on somebody�s desk. Second, they need to provide funding so that the change can be actually implemented. The President agreed to both.

As a consequence, Professor Ernie Walker was approached to begin the process of studying how the University could respond to the needs of Aboriginal peoples and the necessary funding was made available for this task. The Conceptual Framework for Aboriginal Initiatives contains a number of new initiatives, including appointment of a senior-level administrator to focus on Aboriginal issues at the University of Saskatchewan. This position has been established and an appointment is now in process.

II. Subcommittee
The Planning Committee, at its November 7, 2000 meeting, established a Subcommittee on Responding to the Needs of Aboriginal Peoples (usually called the Aboriginal Goal Subcommittee) with the following Terms of Reference:

The Subcommittee will:
1. Review the progress that has been made toward achieving the goal of Responding to the Needs of Aboriginal Peoples.
2. Determine additional strategies for the Planning Committee and Council which will help the University achieve these goals.
Such strategies could include changes in University or College policies, introduction of new or revised programs, development of additional student services, etc.
3. Recommend a priority list for discussion in the University community and at Council.

The Subcommittee was not active in 2000-2001, when the Office of the Vice-President Academic was developing its Conceptual Framework for Aboriginal Programs. The Subcommittee began meeting in the fall of 2001, after a draft of the Conceptual Framework had been shown to Council and Senate.

III. Members
Because the Framework addresses instruction issues and academic programs, the Subcommittee agreed to expand its membership in January, 2002, to include representatives from the Instructional Development Committee and the Academic Programs Committee.

Planning Committee: Jene Porter (Chair), Ruth Thompson, Bill Slights, Ted Leighton, John Thompson
Academic Programs Committee: Sam Robinson
Instructional Development Committee: Len Gusthart
Secretary: Cathie Fornssler

The Subcommittee was also grateful for the assistance of Pauline Melis, from the Office of the Vice-President Academic and Provost, who attended several Subcommittee meetings and who also assembled�Aboriginal Programs and Services at the University of Saskatchewan: A Comprehensive List of Initiatives�.

IV. Discussions
As well as discussing the proposed Conceptual Framework, the Subcommittee also discussed Council�s role in responding to the needs of Aboriginal people. The Subcommittee agreed that the focus of Council and of the Planning Committee should be on academic programs.

The Subcommittee had very productive and useful discussions with the following people:
- Ernie Walker, who provided an overview of the Conceptual Framework issues
- Beth Horsburg, Native Access Program for Nursing (NAPN). The Aboriginal Nursing Advisor is Val Arnault.
- Orest Murawsky and Ken Jacknicke, Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP)
- Ruth Thompson and Beth Bilson, Program of Legal Studies for Native People (PLSNP) and Native Law Centre
- Keith Jeffrey, David Cowan and David Male, Cameco Access Program for Engineering and Science (CAPES)
- Kathleen Makala, Aboriginal Students� Centre
- Charlotte Ross, Coordinator for Aboriginal programs, Dean�s Office, College of Arts and Science
- Ron Laliberte and Hans Michelmann, Department of Native Studies
- Angela Bellegarde and Lou Hammond-Ketilson,Commerce Indigenous Business Administration program (CIBA) and other programs
- Priscilla Settee and Leanne Fiddler, Extension�s Indigenous Peoples Program (IPP)

V. Conclusions
The University of Saskatchewan offers outstanding programs for Aboriginal students, managed by impressive and committed faculty and staff. The meetings with these faculty, administrators and staff demonstrated to the Subcommittee the significant progress which has already been made in colleges toward developing programs for Aboriginal students.

We have on campus a knowledgeable and experienced leadership and proven programs that should be used to expand the University�s response to the Aboriginal goal. The List of Initiatives provides details of the Aboriginal programs and services now available at the University of Saskatchewan.

The Aboriginal Teacher Education Programs (ATEP) for Aboriginal and Northern students have been in existence for three decades. These include ITEP, SUNTEP and NORTEP programs. These long standing and successful programs have graduated more than 1,500 teachers and provided the committee with an example of a curriculum focusing on Aboriginal needs and in close collaboration with communities. More than 100 ATEP graduates are now enrolled in or have graduated from graduate studies. ITEP director Orest Murawsky provided the Subcommittee with an example of a curriculum focusing on Aboriginal needs: Elders program, Aboriginal content, Aboriginal languages.

The Program of Legal Studies for Native People (PLSNP) in the Native Law Centre has proven instrumental in the graduation of more than 500 lawyers over the last 30 years, and provided an example of a preparatory program which focuses on skills acquisition. Since the program began using a skills-based curriculum 15 years ago, more than 80 per cent of its students have continued successfully to receive a law degree.

The professional programs in Nursing, Commerce and Engineering demonstrate how important it is to establish connections with Aboriginal communities and leaders, and to employ Aboriginal staff to provide services to students. These programs are doing an outstanding job, not only in preparing Aboriginal students for careers but also in recruiting Aboriginal students to University.

New faculty positions are being established in the Department of Native Studies to keep up with the demand for its courses. The department teaches 2,500 undergraduate students a year and up to a dozen graduate students (3CUE equivalent), with a faculty complement of only 7.4 positions. In the College of Education, the Indian and Northern Education Program faculty, who are all Aboriginal, teach primarily graduate courses in Aboriginal education: Aboriginal epistemology, Aboriginal world views, de-colonolization and healing.

The Indigenous Peoples program in Extension is providing valuable outreach and leadership programs, and is developing language programs which Aboriginal communities feel are essential to support cultural growth.

Kathleen Makela (Aboriginal Students� Centre) and Charlotte Ross (Coordinator of Aboriginal Programs in Arts and Science) told the committee of the enormous challenges faced by many Aboriginal students. Many are single parents, whose high school preparation may have been poor, who are often the first in their family to attend university, whose financial support is limited, particularly for Metis students, and whose families or community may be grappling with poverty, alcohol abuse, and imprisonment.

The goal of Responding to the Needs of Aboriginal Peoples states that the University should be a place where Aboriginal people find �their culture is both reflected and at work� in programs. The Planning Committee confirms the importance of this aspect of the goal in terms both of University curricula and governance structures, and confirmed many examples of its integration by the faculty and staff in University programs.

The following elements are common to these successful programs:

• The programs offer an �Aboriginal� approach to learning, including the incorporation of Aboriginal knowledge and, though Elders, respond to the spirituality needs of students. Aboriginal culture is reflected and effective in defining program objectives.
• The programs are based on academic principles. Though social, political and economic issues are significant factors in the lives of Aboriginal students, and the programs recognize and respond to these difficulties, the programs are focused on providing academic support for students.
• The programs provide timely intervention at the appropriate time and level needed by students. The programs provide support and assistance to Aboriginal students at �transition� points in their academic careers � at the level of high school preparation, university entrance, and professional college entrance.· The programs work collaboratively in partnership with Aboriginal leaders in program administration.
• The programs make significant efforts to be responsive to the stated needs of Aboriginal people. Each of these programs has developed and maintained a network of consultation and cooperation with Aboriginal educators and communities including post-secondary education counselors on reserves, the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, Gabriel Dumont College, Elders programs, and high schools at various locations across the province.

The programs also face the following common challenges:

• Lack of visibility on campus and in the community. The programs are not widely known and are not highlighted by the University. Program staff have little sense that their work is understood.
• The programs are underfunded, and continuation of funding is uncertain. A number of the programs are funded with short-term soft money. The staff working in the programs feel they have little job security or career opportunity at the University.
• Faculty and staff are overworked. The demands are too great. As the Subcommittee was told �A person is not a program�.

VI. Recommendations

As stated in A Framework for Planning, we must adopt strategies that will improve the ability of Aboriginal students to succeed at University.

1. Focus on Academic Preparation and Support

a) Academic Support
One area that faculty repeatedly mention is that the Aboriginal students now enrolled need academic support in their various academic courses. Failure rates for Aboriginal students are too high � Charlotte Ross told the Subcommittee that in Arts and Science, half of the first-year intake either drops out or is Required to Discontinue. This is, quite frankly, both terrible and unacceptable.

Not only is there a significant institutional cost to enrolling students who fail, but there are also societal costs in the lost productivity of students who do not receive their degrees, and the human cost of blighted hopes and sense of personal failure. This is a situation which needs to be addressed immediately.

The Colleges of Education and Nursing provide models for how coursework support can be provided. Nursing has been able to hire Aboriginal staff tutors who are capable of providing both academic and cultural support for Aboriginal students. The tutors are sensitive to and knowledgeable about the challenges which many of our Aboriginal students face, and are knowledgeable in academic subject matter, skills, and skills instruction for the discipline. The ATEP programs have found that this support has to be concurrent with the academic class.

MOTION #1: That departments and colleges establish effective academic support services for Aboriginal students, for the fall of 2002.

b) Enriched Transition Programs for University-level studies
Enriched transition programs are designed to combine academic skills training, cultural adaptation and subject content in such areas as mathematics, science and English. These are intense programs that normally meet several hours a day. These courses carry academic credit and are forward-looking to University requirements, not remedial. Arts and Science offers several such courses (ENG 110, NATST 110, ART 252) as summer courses which include orientation to University. Because academic credit is received, students can be financed for these studies through their band councils. Several of the successful programs for professional colleges also focus on this kind of enriched preparation � for example, the Program of Legal Studies for Native People, and the ATEP programs in Education.

MOTION #2: That departments and colleges be encouraged to create enriched transition classes for Aboriginal students.

c) Preparation for university in the elementary and secondary school system
The University has a serious responsibility to become involved at the community level, to establish a stronger presence in the minds of teachers, counselors, and students as an appropriate choice for high school graduates of Aboriginal ancestry. The CAPES program in Engineering and the ATEP program provides models of how this can be done � these outreach programs work with high schools and communities to maintain and enhance student interest in academic study, to encourage young people and their families to envisage a university-based career, and to promote completion of high school as a crucial step toward that career.. The ATEP programs, which are now teaching the second generation of TEP students, provide Aboriginal teachers who are role models in their communities. The University must provide creative leadership in academic programs to support high schools and grade schools. The University should work with elementary and secondary schools to support programs that enhance the preparedness of Aboriginal students for university entrance. This is a longer-term task, which involves coordination with schools and communities. The University needs to demonstrate its acceptance of responsibility for these students.

MOTION #3: That a task force on academic preparedness for Aboriginal students be established by the administration and Council to prepare a report on recommended actions.

2. Focus on Funding

A number of the existing U of S programs are funded year-to-year on �soft� money. While we are grateful for the financial and administrative support and advice provided by business, such as Gord Rawlinson of Rawlco Radio (Commerce) and Cameco (CAPES), the University must take immediate steps to ensure stability and continuity for these important programs.

Failure to do this will doom these programs. The CAPES program is on the verge of disappearing when its funding ends in June. Program staff in other programs �burn out� due to fundraising requirements.

A budget policy decision needs to be made. The University should continue to fundraise in areas such as capital projects, research projects, academic programs and special initiatives. It needs to provide stability and continuity to the academic support programs for Aboriginal students.

MOTION #4: Given the high priority of the Aboriginal Goal for the University, the Budget Committee should examine the funding of programs for academic support, enriched transition and outreach for Aboriginal students.

3. Communications process for recruitment and retention of students

At present, the University of Saskatchewan has very little visible presence at the high school level in Aboriginal communities and in urban high schools which have a high proportion of Aboriginal students.

The value of a university education for the individual Aboriginal student, and for the long-term economic and social well-being of the province and the nation, does not need to be explained to Council. However, Aboriginal students often lack a family history of university attendance. They are often pessimistic or uncertain about their academic potential. The problematic success rate for Aboriginal students at University contributes to this sense of pessimism. The University needs to work more closely with the network of post-secondary education counselors now in place on reserves, and guidance counselors and teachers in Metis and urban communities.

MOTION #5: In conjunction with progress in creating capacity and support for Aboriginal students, the University should develop a focused communications process to increase recruitment and retention of Aboriginal students.

4. Additional investigations

a) Student meeting facility
Several presentations noted the importance of a facility for Aboriginal students on campus. As a beginning, a classroom or student lounge in the Arts, Education or Commerce building should be designated for such a purpose. It was noted in these presentations that a donation toward a student centre had been allocated several years ago by the Indigenous Students Council to the USSU's building campaign for their new student building.

Considering the apparent delay in this building campaign, the Planning Committee suggests that the Capital Planning Committee be asked to investigate this issue and determine whether some of these funds might be used for retrofitting of an existing space.

MOTION #6: The Capital Planning Committee be asked to investigate the issue of an Aboriginal Student lounge/meeting facility.

b) Aboriginal language teaching
Several programs in the area of teaching of Aboriginal languages have been suggested through the Extension Division's Indigenous Peoples Program, the College of Arts and Science, and the College of Education. These presentations noted the importance of Aboriginal languages to the Aboriginal community, and agreed that University presence in Aboriginal communities that would be significantly enhanced if the U of S offered Aboriginal language instruction. These efforts need coordination and additional consultation with Aboriginal educators regarding whether language instruction can be implemented for academic credit.

MOTION #7: The Academic Programs Committee be asked to investigate the issue of Aboriginal language instruction on campus.

5. Implementation
Action must be taken now on these pressing matters related to the goal of meeting the needs of Aboriginal people. This means a significant reallocation of resources into this area in order to create better coordination among a number of excellent existing programs on campus and to generate new University-wide initiatives that will support the academic aspirations of present and future Aboriginal students at the University of Saskatchewan.

MOTION #8: That the Planning Committee be instructed to report back to Council next spring on the progress which has been made toward implementation of the above recommendations.