PRINCETON, N.J. — Heads of several indigenous-serving institutions discussed data assessment and cultural strategies to improve student enrollment, retention, and overall success at the convening of Tribal College and University Presidents’ in Princeton, New Jersey.
At the event hosted by Educational Testing Service (ETS) Center for Advocacy and Philanthropy and Strada Education Network, in partnership with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and the American Indian College Fund, several presidents also spoke on the importance of putting the “tribal” back into tribal colleges. They proposed accomplishing that by highlighting the historic and cultural importance of the identity and purpose of the institutions for indigenous students.
“Your institutions are unique in your approach,” said Walt MacDonald, president and CEO of ETS, in his welcoming speech to the tribal college leaders. “They are often the only post-secondary institution for students in rural” and indigenous areas, he added.
Timothy Renick, vice provost and vice president of enrollment management and student success at Georgia State University, opened the convening in a keynote speech that emphasized the importance of data collection and assessment to increase student outcomes and retention rates for institutions like TCUs.
“I don’t believe higher ed is a business,” Renick said. “However, you have to invest, especially in troubled times. You can’t sit on your morals and think ‘Let’s recede and do less and that’s how we’ll get through.’”
Evidence of declining student enrollment has plagued TCUs in recent years, several presidents admitted. Thomas Shortbull, president of Oglala Lakota College, added that schools that feed into the post-secondary education system often fail to prepare indigenous students to meet basic math and reading proficiency levels which, in turn, affects the priority given to certain student resource and support programs.
Data showed that students who could not read had little chances of success, Shortbull said. These students were also at risk of dropping out.
