Project seeks to enhance student success

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LE,NONET is a Sencoten word that means "success after enduring hardships." LE,NONET is a project spearheaded by the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation and the University of Victoria (UVic) to help Aboriginal students succeed.

It is a four-year pilot project that will measure ways of improving the success of Aboriginal students at UVic. LE,NONET will provide financial assistance, peer mentoring, research apprenticeships and community internships to about 400 Aboriginal students over the duration of the project.

"As part of our mandate to improve access to post-secondary education in Canada, our foundation is committed to understanding how we can improve the success rate of Aboriginal students on campus," said Norman Riddell, the executive director and CEO of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation in a press release.

"Aboriginal students face unique barriers to success in higher education. The LE,NONET project will explore ways of breaking down those barriers and enabling Aboriginal success in higher education," said Riddell.

LE,NONET is also a research project, and staff will evaluate the progress of participants and compare it to that of preceding Aboriginal students. At the conclusion of the project researchers will identify which components worked, and how well they worked.

"I'm very proud that the University of Victoria is taking the lead in this important, groundbreaking initiative as part of our commitment to improving and enhancing the post-secondary experience of Aboriginal students," said UVic president Dr. David Turpin.

Turpin said Aboriginal students face many of the same problems other student's face, among them economic hardship.

LE,NONET will help with this problem with a bursary program that will provide eligible students with between $1,000 and $5,000 per academic year for up to four years. The number of bursaries will vary according to how much money is awarded to each eligible student and this is intended to supplement existing sources of financial support.

Twenty-five students will participate in a community internship program that will address the needs of students that sometimes lose their connection to community life.

Students in the program will attend an on-campus seminar for course credit. The seminar will see students placed with an Aboriginal organization that will match student abilities and interests with the needs and interests of the organization. Participants will complete a 200-hour internship and receive $3,500.

Twenty-five students will also participate in a research apprenticeship program. Students first complete a seminar, and then apply for work with a faculty advisor. They will work on current research projects and have the opportunity to conduct their own research. In return the students will receive a $3,500 stipend and a course credit for completing their 200-hour apprenticeship.

As many as 50 students will be part of a student peer mentoring program. Each year 10 returning senior Aboriginal students will mentor as many as five incoming students to help ease their transition into university studies and way of life. Mentors work an average of 13 hours a week with their students and will be paid approximately $6,500 a year.

"Based on my experience when I came to university, I was born in Penticton, a small community and I didn't really know anybody, and I didn't know where anything was or know anything about the system. I can empathize with new students and I wish I had someone to mentor me," said Sarah Dickie, a student mentor in the project.

All Aboriginal students at UVic are welcome to apply to the LE,NONET project.