Native Americans continue to be vastly underrepresented in the SMET fields, especially in Information Technology disciplines, and as educators (NCES, 1998). This proposal seeks to address the chronic underrepresentation of American Indian graduates in SMET education in a variety of ways. The primary goals of the proposal are: a) to increase the enrollment of Native American students into SMET disciplines, b) increase the numbers of Native American graduates from SMET fields, especially in education, c) develop the SMET research infrastructure at Blackfeet Community College, and d) build up the Information Technology program at Blackfeet College as the funding force behind the first two goals. Several objectives will be implemented as these goals are realized. New SMET faculty positions will be created and funded in part through the proposal. The collaborative ties between Blackfeet Community College (BCC), and Montana State University-Northern will be strengthened. These two partners will develop a joint curriculum in Information Technology that is friendly to Native American students. The Information Technology degree program at BCC will be enhanced with new courses, new capabilities, and additional personnel. Professional development activities will be conducted for the entire BCC faculty for the purpose of integrating IT across the curriculum. Key SMET programs at BCC, such as the Ethnobotanical Greenhouse, the Weather and Water Lab, and the DNA Mapping Lab, will be targeted as IT supported research areas, and student interns will be funded to help with the research. Research internships will also be set up at MSU-Northern for American Indians who transfer into baccalaureate degree programs in SMET and IT education. A series of Summer Session BRIDGE activities for Blackfeet Reservation high school and college students will be jointly hosted by BCC and MSU-Northern at the MSU-Northern campus in Havre. This is an ambitious project that will serve as a model for others who desire to use some or all of the various activities that this proposal will encompass.
The PIITA project will be a five year, $2 million dollar effort that will significantly impact the numbers of American Indian students graduating with SMET related degrees. Specifically, the project staff will assist at least 30 American Indian students to graduate with baccalaureate degrees in SMET fields of study, with an emphasis toward IT and education, during the next five years. These graduates will effectively raise the pool of American Indian IT educators in Montana by 500 percent or more.
The proposal has provisions for retaining an external evaluator, and nominal support for an advisory committee. The eight member advisory committee will be recruited from educators and administrators from BCC, MSU-Northern, school disricts in the Blackfeet Reservation area, other Montana tribal colleges, and from the Blackfeet Community. The evaluator and the committee will meet quarterly with the project PI's.
