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Native Educators Gather for Listening Session

listening_session_teaserThe Office of Minority Affairs (OMA&D), in collaboration with the Foster School of Business, hosted a Tribal Educators Listening Session at PACCAR Hall, Nov. 30.

The event provided an opportunity for UW faculty and staff to engage in a conversation with Native educators about how the University can strengthen its recruitment and retention of Native students. The educators were able to ask questions, share concerns and offer input on the ways in which the UW and its programs can have a deeper impact on the needs of these students.

Attendees included representatives from the Confederated Tribes of the Collville Reservation, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Snoqualmie Tribe, Stillaguamish Tribe, and Tulalip Tribes, as well as the Fife, Marysville and Puyallup school districts. UW was represented by members of OMA&D, the Department of American Indian Studies, the College of Education and the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute.

Area tribal educators and UW representatives meet in PACCAR Hall on the UW campus.
Area tribal educators and UW representatives meet in PACCAR Hall on the UW campus.

Ross Braine, ’09, OMA&D tribal relations liaison and member of the Apsaalooke Nation, organized the listening session. It was modeled after a similar session hosted by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in August for which Braine served as the moderator. That event allowed tribal leaders and educators to give input on the needs of urban Native American students to representatives from the White House Initiative on American Indians and Alaska Natives, and the ED’s Office of Indian Education.

Braine decided it would be good for UW to do the same.

“That’s what I took away from the info session with the Department of Education was that they just sat there and listened,” Braine said. “That really struck a chord with me.”

One of the main suggestions from the tribal educators was that the UW should hold more pre-college information sessions for parents of Native American students. OMA&D recently introduced sessions for parents on admissions and financial aid at its Native Pathways to UW event in Forks, Wash., and Native American student days, and will continue to do so. Additional feedback  included using technology to increase its outreach to even more parents and students.

“Whatever it takes to get these families involved,” Braine said.

Overall, according to Braine the session was a success.

“I thought we were going to hear more complaints, but they didn’t come with anger they came with points,” he said. “Now we’re working towards those goals: info sessions for parents, technology and outreach. We were working toward it and now this gives us the push. We were going up the hill and now we’re going down.”

OMA&D plans to host another Tribal Educators Listening Session, possibly in the spring. The session will also be a topic discussed at the sixth annual UW Tribal Leadership Summit on April 19. For more information, contact Braine at uwtriballiaison@uw.edu.