Representatives from NDSU and Sisseton Wahpeton College signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening both institutions abilities to meet the needs of American Indian students.
The agreement is expected to help American Indian students pursue advanced degrees at institutions of higher learning.
Sisseton Wahpeton College is using a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Tribal Colleges and Universities Program to increase its science, technology, engineering and mathematics instructional and research capacities.
The agreement’s objectives include:
- Providing transitional programs and support services to facilitate the transfer of students between the institutions
- Developing a faculty exchange program, which includes teaching opportunities for NDSU graduate students
- Identifying collaborative research, scholarship and service-learning projects for both institutions’ students, faculty and staff
- Fostering cultural education and enrichment
- Developing an articulation agreement so that students participating in classes at Sisseton Wahpeton College can easily transfer to NDSU to pursue a bachelor’s degree
NDSU also will help Sisseton Wahpeton College establish an associate of arts degree in the behavioral sciences. The program will include a wide range of disciplines within the subject area. The agreement provides Sisseton Wahpeton College students with teachers in fields that are not often accessible to them.
“We’re very excited about this opportunity to strengthen our relationship with Sisseton Wahpeton College, particularly by collaborating with them in establishing a program that will meet the needs of Native American students and help them to prepare for important leadership roles in tribal communities,” said Kent Sandstrom, dean of the NDSU College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Sisseton Wahpeton College students also will be introduced to NDSU research. The undergraduate research experiences are expected to help recruit and retain underrepresented students into STEM studies and careers, which is another goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program.
“The connection of faculty to research and thereby the student to culturally and geographically relevant research is an important step in producing students who are more likely to pursue advanced degrees,” said Scott Morgan, director of institutional research and programs at Sisseton Wahpeton College.
Officials attending the signing included Sandstrom and NDSU Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Charlene Wolf-Hall, and Morgan and Sisseton Wahpeton College President Harvey DuMarce.
“I look forward to working with NDSU officials,” DuMarce said. “This memorandum of understanding will open up more educational opportunities for both of our institutions.”
Sisseton Wahpeton College was founded in 1979 and typically serves 200 to 250 students, mostly enrolled members of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. A similar memorandum of understanding was signed in 2014 with South Dakota State University. The National Science Foundation grant is No. 1361649.
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