Student retention tackled at Red Crow College

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An American research project designed to keep Native students in school has been introduced to Red Crow College in Stand Off, Alta.

According to Family Education Model co-ordinator Iris HeavyRunner, the project is a joint effort in the United States between the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the University of Montana's Department of Social Work, and tribal colleges on the Blackfeet, Fort Peck, Flathead, and Rocky Boy's reservations in Montana. It is now being expanded into several other states, as well as to Alberta, she said.

"It's going forward," she explained. "We want to develop it as broadly as we can."

Development of the project, which examined why successful Native students stay in college while others drop out, was initially triggered by welfare-reform changes in the United States that pushed many tribal members off assistance rolls and into school, said HeavyRunner during a workshop at the recent National Indian Education Association convention in Montana.

Above all, the project found that successful students are able to build a closely-knit support network around themselves as they make the transition into post secondary academics.

HeavyRunner works as a research associate at Fort Peck Community College. Part of the project included placing paid family specialists at each of the schools in Montana to work with at-risk students. "We always look to our family first," HeavyRunner said. "If that's not there, we look to our friends. Those students who are successful have at least one person they can depend on."

Along with friends and family, school registrars and financial aid counsellors are key contacts for those just starting college, researchers found. But if these officials aren't tuned into specific cultural needs, the students may be more likely to quit school or not start at all.

Another important factor that keeps students in school is their ties to their culture and language, said HeavyRunner, a Blackfeet tribal member who is working on a doctorate in social work through the University of Minnesota.

"The language is the key to the philosophy of the culture," she explained. "It makes you stronger."

Native people stay resilient through prayer and ceremony, their tribal identity, as well as by staying sober, staying connected with their extended families and becoming acquainted with other Indian professionals, she added.

But while all those factors may be in place, Native students still may fail in college if they don't have adequate care for their children while they are in class or studying, if they don't have dependable transportation, if they don't have help tackling academic difficulties, or if they're suffering from extended grief or depression, HeavyRunner said.

Among other barriers to success that college officials need to be aware of when working with Native students are geographic isolation, poverty, high unemployment, housing shortages, single parenting and multigenerational psychological trauma, she said.

"You cannot dismiss these things in anything you do with Indian students," HeavyRunner advised.

Another continuing challenge that Native students often face is teaching their families about the demands of their education. Some family members, for example, may become resentful about taking care of children while their relative attends college, HeavyRunner said, adding that the process "takes lots of adaptation for everyone."

"One of our most important retention specialists is our grandmothers," she added. "They have a lot of power."

Statistics taken from the four Montana colleges as part of the study show that about 70 per cent of the students are female, 85 per cent live below the federal poverty line and more than 50 per cent are single parents. The students' average age is 27.

Noting the figures, HeavyRunner said tribal colleges are clearly not doing enough to attract and retain male students, even though 91 per cent of all their graduates find employment when they are throug.

Faculty and staff members must also be included in retention efforts, she said, adding that Fort Peck Community College has developed campus-wide "search and rescue" teams to help identify high-risk students and work with them before their problems become critical.

"If you loop in the faculty, they know you're serious," she said, adding that the Fort Peck school currently has a student retention rate that tops 80 per cent.

HeavyRunner said that while Native students are the same as others in many ways, the important differences in their backgrounds can determine whether they will remain in school or bolt for non-academic endeavors.

The main components of the model incorporate networking, cultural activities, counselling, mentoring and the teaching of various life skills such as stress management, problem-solving, parenting and enhanced interpersonal communication.