Source: UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING submitted to NRP
SUSTAINING PATHWAYS FOR TRIBAL STUDENT RECRUITMENT, ENGAGEMENT, AND SUCCESS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1033120
Grant No.
2024-70411-43329
Cumulative Award Amt.
$500,000.00
Proposal No.
2024-06846
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2024
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2028
Grant Year
2025
Program Code
[NBTS]- New Beginning for Tribal Students
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
1000 E UNIVERSITY AVE DEPARTMENT 3434
LARAMIE,WY 82071-2000
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The USDA-NBTS 2024-2028Sustaining Pathways for Tribal Student Recruitment, Engagement, and Successproject continues work to address two pressing problems in science and practice in the US, especially related to food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences, which are:New and more diverse strategies are needed, including from different paradigms (such as an increased inclusion of indigenous worldview), in order to improve the sustainability, productivity, and health impacts of our nation's food and agriculture systems.Professionals working in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences are not reflective of the diversity of our nation, with Native Americans particularly underrepresented.Fortunately, one solution can help address both problems. Diversifying the people studying in, and leading, food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences will also help diversify our practices and paradigms for solving some of our most urgent food and agriculture system issues. The inclusion of an indigenous worldview would add value to by broadening the scope of what is included or viewed as academic programming in FANH sciences. This worldview would encompass a respect for Mother Earth and inclusion of sustainable practices (Kimmerer, 2016). As detailed in this proposal, the Sustaining Pathways project is designed to contribute to this solution by attracting, retaining, and graduating more Native American students, with more diverse worldviews, in UW degree programs particularly programs supporting food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
90360993020100%
Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
Our goals and strategies are to:Attract and retain more Native students by (a) supporting mentoring groups for Native students at UW and (b) supporting Native students at Central Wyoming College (CWC, a community college adjacent to the Wind River Indian Reservation [WRIR], home of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes) through inclusion in UW mentoring group activities. These will offer experiential learning, professional development, mentoring, networking, emotional support, and academic advising.Recruit more Native students by (a) hosting a two-day workshop on the WRIR in coordination with the Native American Summer Institute (NASI) and CWC and (b) engaging current UW and CWC faculty, research scientists, and students with outreach activities on the WRIR including the two-day workshop.
Project Methods
Sustaining Pathways mentorship groupsSpoonhunter, Keith, and Tendore, with Lumadue, will support mentorship groups for Native students enrolled at UW through work at the NAERCC. Activities, advising, workshops, and schedules will be co-designed with students in these groups and might change over time. Our approaches include:Hosting at least monthly student meetings that will include networking, peer/staff/faculty mentorship, academic advising, research and experiential learning opportunities. Tendore and Spoonhunter will also connect individual students with needed support, such as career counseling, tutoring, and financial aid. Any student who self-identifies as Native may join these mentorship groups. Adult community members from WRIR can join as participants and as leaders of experiential learning activities.With faculty mentorship and support, member students will offer outreach and cultural awareness programs to help enrich food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences paradigms and practices. These will include approaches such as seminars, art-science installations, and guest lectures in related courses.The co-investigators at UW will work together with CWC advisors to assist and encourage Native students at CWC who are completing a two-year degree about transferring to UW to complete a four-year degree, in particular in the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences.Native American Summer Institute at UW with summer workshopsIn Sustaining Pathways we will offer food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences academic workshops during the week-long Native American Summer Institute (NASI) at UW for Native high school students and host a summer workshop on the WRIR with a food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences focus. The summer workshop will target Native adults who are high school or GED graduates (including students enrolled at CWC), tribal community members, and UW researchers and students. The two-day workshops as part of the previously funded USDA-NBTS Growing Season project were successful, particularly when including tribal partners and time for relationship building. In Sustaining Pathways, we will continue and build on these workshops to broaden impact and connections between potential Native students, tribal community members, and UW researchers and students.The high school workshops as part of NASI will consist of hands-on sessions in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. These will take place as concurrent sessions among which the high school students can choose. For example, this might include assessing survey and biometric health measures from the researchers in the NIH-funded Growing Resilience project, building raised-bed gardens in a horticulture workshop, or making meals that blend traditional native foods with more readily available substitutes (e.g., chokecherry gravy with wheat and biscuit-root flour unfried bread).The summer workshops on the WRIR will offer hands-on activities and relationship building with community partners and tribal organizations on the WRIR. We will prioritize partnership with the CWC Alpine Science Institute for hosting and housing based on previous collaborations and student experiences. In addition to faculty-led academic sessions, there will also be community partner speakers on food sovereignty, gardening, tribal water engineering, gathering of traditional foods and plants, buffalo restoration, and presentations by Shoshone & Arapaho Fish & Game. Other sessions will allow time for building connections and learning about opportunities with tribal partners. This will build students' knowledge about how education programs are applied on the WRIR. Finally, sessions may be about surviving and thriving in higher education and discussing how who they are and what they can learn can help them with their careers and with serving the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences and their communities now, during their studies, and after graduation.NAERCC, and Tendore through her work as Native American program advisor, manages NASI and advertises and recruits extensively among the WRIR-area high schools. Tendore and Spoonhunter, in collaboration with Keith and Lumadue, will market and manage the summer workshop application process. We will accept any applying student who has a high school or GED degree, is aged 18 or older by the time of the workshop, and who self-identifies as Native. This can include students who are already enrolled at CWC or UW. We will especially encourage high school NASI participants to participate in the summer workshops once they graduate. Keith, in collaboration with Spoonhunter and Lumadue, will recruit UW researchers and students to participate in summer workshops on the WRIR to promote and enhance relationships, knowledge-sharing, and community-centered collaborations.NAERCC currently provides and will continue to provide cultural training and resources for the faculty and staff who participate in NASI. All food, lodging, and transport from WRIR is organized by NAERCC and provided at no cost to students. The core costs of the high school NASI will continue to be incurred by the UW Dean of Students Office, donations, and the Wyoming INBRE program will continue support for health related sessions. Keith will serve as the curriculum director for food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences workshops and Tendore as recruitment and student director. NAERCC also recruits and trains peer mentors from among UW Native students who support all of the participants, stay in the residence halls with them, and help them navigate the campus and NASI curricula.Evaluation summary: Project activities & outcomesNative American Summer Institute (NASI)Increase student knowledge of and interest in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences; increase student enrollment at UW especially in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences; increase the cultural competence of faculty. Data collection & analysis: Make field notes about each meeting and event that track quantitative participation and qualitative observations. Gather information from students at NASI using indigenous evaluation methods of talking circles and storytelling. Gather survey data from students at end of each NASI week self-assessing any changes in interest in and knowledge about food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences and interest in enrolling in higher education. Conduct and analyze annual surveys of faculty participants self-assessing their own learning and providing program feedback. Track who and how many NASI participants become CWC or UW students.Mentorship groups Improve recruitment, success, feelings of belonging, retention, and graduation of students. Make field notes about each meeting and event that track quantitative participation and qualitative observations. Gather information from students using indigenous evaluation methods of talking circles and storytelling. Conduct and analyze annual surveys of student participants assessing student success, perceptions of support and belonging, and academic interests and program enrollment. Track Native student enrollment at UW, transfers from CWC to UW, retention, and graduation rates.

Progress 09/01/24 to 08/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience for the project includes Native American students [college/university and high school] and UW faculty [Native American and non-Native American]. Target participants include Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho community members from on and off the Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR). In addition, all Native American students are included in the focused work of the project as the Native American Summer Institute and mentoring groups were open to all Native American students. During this reporting period, the target audience reached through project activities include participants from the WRIR nations (Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho), and enrolled Navajo, Oglala Sioux, Blackfeet, and Standing Rock Sioux. Tribal representation in Sustaining Pathways programs included participants from the Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR) nations (Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho), and enrolled Navajo, Oglala Sioux, Blackfeet, Seminole, and Standing Rock Sioux. The high school participants in the NASI also included tribes from Washington, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Changes/Problems:This project has been impacted by open positions at the NAERCC at UW and faculty vacancies at both UW and CWC. Particularly, our efforts to gather formal feedback for evaluation of programs was limited during this reporting period. We plan to utilize program team member time more effectively [as able] during year 2 in order to collect formal data for evaluation of our programs. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Project team members, along with undergraduate students, attended and presented at conferences including the WY Native American Education conference, AISES [Advancing Indigenous People in STEM] and NIEA [National Indian Education Association]. Conference attendance and presentations supported networking, professional development, and mentoring for scientific research/project presentations. Cultural events enhancing professional development for students, staff, and faculty on campus at UW and CWC were promoted by the Sustaining Pathways team. Examples of these events: 1) Indigenous artist Raye Zaragoza event, 2) Brett Shelton [Oglala Lakota] presentation on Indian Law with the Native American Rights Foundation [NARF], 3) Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative Director Jason Baldes presentation at the Art Center, 4) PBS documentary screening - A Buffalo Story, 5) Indigenous Hydrology Land Acknowledgement Field Day, 6) UW Law Week - WY Groundwater Panel, 7) Indigenous People's Day events, 8) Cedaring event with tribal elder, 9) Tribal Energy Summit, 10) Indian Education for All speaker through the College of Education, 11) Alaska Native student/alumni speaker. Cultural events that were part of NASI were open to community and UW faculty involved in NASI were specifically invited and encouraged to attend. Native American advisor at UW, Reinette Tendore, participated in the WY Native American Education Conference as part of her work with the Sustaining Pathways project. Native American advisor at CWC, Eric Bennett, participated in the NIEA as part of his work with the Sustaining Pathways project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about 1) the Sustaining Pathways project and funded grant and 2) the Native American Summer Institute were shared through media outlets, flyers, personal invite, email, and social media on the Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR) and to the UW and CWC community. We also published a newsletter focused on Native American students at UW, highlighting activities through NAERCC, HPAIRI, and the Sustaining Pathways project. Project team members reported on the grant and activities supporting Native American students to the UW Board of Trustees and to the Wyoming Legislature through tribal liaison meetings. Information for target audience members outside of the WRIR was shared via social media, email, and the CWC and UW website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Mentoring sessions with students at the University of Wyoming (UW) and Central Wyoming College (CWC) will continue to include experiential learning, academic advising, and professional development. We aim to increase the number of students recruited and participating in mentoring groups at both UW and CWC. The Native American Summer Institute (NASI) is planned for summer 2026. We will again offer the opportunity to be on-campus at CWC and at sites around the WRIR in coordination with NASI for additional educational sessions and workshops. We will invite UW faculty and students to participate in this opportunity again in 2026 as it offers unique opportunities to build relationships and learn more about the culture and values of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes. We aim to increase the number of students at NASI and at workshops through enhanced recruitment efforts (starting earlier, increased coordination with NAERCC and WRIR schools, and reaching out to former participants). The project team [including undergraduate student interns] are focused on gathering feedback/data from current and former participants in Sustaining Pathways programs [e.g. NASI, mentoring groups, workshops]. We hope to increase products such as 1) an annual newsletter focused on Native American students at UW highlighting activities through NAERCC, HPAIRI, and the Sustaining Pathways project and 2) formal publications based on the evaluation of our programs.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: Attract and retain more Native students in FANH disciplines by (a) supporting mentoring groups for Native students at UW and (b) supporting Native students at Central Wyoming College (CWC, a community college adjacent to the Wind River Indian Reservation [WRIR], home of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes) through invitations and support toparticipate in UW mentoring group activities. These will offer experiential learning, professional development, mentoring, emotional support, and academic advising. During this reporting period, we aimed to organize, plan, and implement support groups for Native American students at the University of Wyoming (UW) and at Central Wyoming College (CWC) who are interested in FANH issues. We successfully met this aim. Per data from the UW Registrar's Office, Native American students enrolled at UW numbered 317 (2024-2025), with 41% enrolled in a major of study related to FANH. Sustaining Pathways activities occurred on both the UW campus and CWC campus as well as locations across the WRIR during each of the four years of the project. Products included workshops, academic sessions, and mentoring events. FANH sessions included a broad focus on Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, & Human Sciences and included discussions and hands-on workshops with Native American Elders and practicing professionals, educational events focused on TEK, stories from Native American students, promotion of local and ancestral foods through workshops in the WRIR and with the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, and professional development. All mentoring sessions and events were guided by Sustaining Pathways co-investigators Reinette Tendore and Tarissa Spoonhunter. Activities and mentoring sessions at UW occurred at the Native American Education, Research, and Cultural Center (NAERCC). Sustaining Pathways activities at UW occurred each month during the academic year and on the WRIR in June. Goal 2: Recruit more Native students by (a) hosting a two-day workshop on the WRIR in coordination with the Native American Summer Institute (NASI) and CWC and (b) engaging current UW and CWC faculty, research scientists, and students with outreach activities on the WRIR including the two-day workshop. During this reporting period, the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) workshop on the WRIR were offered in coordination with an academic course [Natural Resource Management on Western Indian Reservations] and an undergraduate research program [Controlled Environment Agriculture]. UW and CWC students and faculty, tribal elders, and community members participated in FANH workshops on the WRIR. Workshops focused on FANH and included hands-on experiences related to TEK, Indigenous plants and foods, the cultural value and history of buffalo and efforts to restore buffalo on tribal homelands, and natural resource management.

Publications