Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience for the project includes 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 are 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. The high school participants in the NASI also included tribes from Washington, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Changes/Problems:This project has been impacted by loss of personnel and open positions at the NAERCC at UW and faculty vacancies at both UW and CWC. While capacity increased during year 3 for the NAERCC, year 4 included the loss of 2 personnel which influenced capacity. This resulted in a lack of formal cultural training for faculty, staff, and student mentors as part of the NASI again this year. Our lead evaluator on the project (Budowle) also left the university during the previous reporting period. Finally, our co-investigator Christine Porter left the university at the end of year 4. This lack of capacity has impacted efforts to evaluate student experiences and move forward with formal publications. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Cultural events on campus at UW and CWC were promoted by the Growing Season team. These events included the 1) Indigenous artist Raye Zaragoza concert 2) Brett Shelton [Oglala Lakota] presentation on Indian Law with the Native American Rights Foundation [NARF], 3) screening event of Kills of the Flower Moon, 4) Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative Director Jason Baldes presentation at the Art Center, 5) PBS documentary screening - A Buffalo Story, 6) Indigenous Hydrology Land Acknowledgement Field Day, 7) UW Law Week - WY Groundwater Panel, 8) Indigenous People's Day events, 9) Cedaring event with tribal elder, 10) Tribal Energy Summit, 11) 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. During the previous reporting period, co-investigator Melvin Arthur transitioned to a position with Wind River Cares. Wind River Cares provides health services to tribal members on the Wind River reservation. Through Melvin's new position and continued service to the Growing Season project, students and faculty received increased access to future opportunities to become community health professionals. Native American advisor at UW, Reinette Tendore, participated in Leadership Wyoming and the Native American Education Conference as part of her work with the Growing Season project. Native American advisor at CWC, Rory Tendore, participated in the Native American Education Conference as part of her work with the Growing Season project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about 1) the Growing Season 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. In-person events in which information was shared about the project included CWC student orientation, Gear Up, and informational booths and two campus events. Growing Season investigators presented to each tribal business council from the WRIR (Eastern Shoshone Business Council, Northern Arapaho Business Council). 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 include academic advising, networking, and professional development. We will also offer opportunities for students to participate in talking circles or interviews to share their experience and personal higher education story. 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) and the advanced track @ NASI are planned to be in-person in summer 2025. For the advanced track students, we will again offer the opportunity to be on-campus at CWC and at sites around the WRIR for 2-3 days. We will invite UW faculty and students to participate in this opportunity again in 2025 as it offered 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 the advanced track through enhanced recruitment efforts (starting earlier, increased coordination with NAERCC and WRIR schools, and reaching out to former participants).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Attract and retain more Native students in FANH disciplines by creating support groups for Native students at CWC and UW who are interested in FANH issues. These will offer experiential learning, professional development, mentoring, emotional support, and academic advising. Per data from the UW Registrar's Office, Native American students enrolled at UW numbered 285 (2020-2021), 329 (2021-2022), 396 (2022-2023), and 301 (2023-2024). Per data from the CWC Academic Office, Native American students enrolled at CWC increased from 222 (Fall 2022) to 245 (Fall 2023), to 263 (Fall 2024). During this reporting period, the fourth year of the grant, we aimed to continue to organize, plan, and implement support groups for Native American students at CWC and the University of Wyoming (UW) who are interested in FANH issues. We successfully met this aim. Mentoring sessions kicked off the fall semester in September 2023 with a networking event. Students and Native American employees at UW were recruited through campus-wide emails and personal invitations. Six mentoring events were held in fall 2023 and spring 2024 including discussions and hands-on workshops with Native American elders and practicing professionals, educational stories and challenges of Native American students, promotion of local and ancestral foods through workshops on the Wind River reservation and with the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, and professional development. Nine mentoring events and two registration/advising events were held for CWC students in fall 2023 and spring 2024. A joint mentoring and cultural awareness event related to ancestral foods and traditional ecological knowledge was held for CWC and UW students and faculty in June 2024 through workshops on the Wind River reservation and with the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative. All mentoring sessions and events were guided by Growing Season co-investigator Johnna Arthur, in collaboration with Melvin Arthur and Jill Keith at UW and co-PI Tarissa Spoonhunter and co-investigator Rory Tendore at CWC. Academic advising for Native American students at both CWC and UW is on-going and led by co-investigator Rory Tendore at CWC and Reinette (Tendore) Curry at UW. Funds also supported new CWC faculty (and UW alumni graduate Eric Bennett [Northern Arapaho]) and Native American student interns at UW. Goal 2: Recruit more Native students to CWC and UW and, especially, to FANH disciplines by (a) adding a FANH-focused study track to UW's annual Native American Summer Institute (NASI) week for high school students from Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR) in Wyoming, (b) creating a full-time FANH advanced NASI week for Native people with high school or GED degrees, and (c) hosting a two-day FANH workshop at CWC in advance of NASI. During this reporting period, the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) academic sessions for Native American Summer Institute (NASI) high school participants and those with a high school diploma or GED in the advanced track were offered in-person from faculty at the University of Wyoming (UW) and faculty from Central Wyoming College (CWC) through a three-day event held on the Wind River reservation after NASI. The event [Bioblitz at the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative] expanded typical advanced track health-related academic sessions offered at NASI to include FANH. Workshop/field trip topics included Indigenous plants and foods, the cultural value and history of buffalo and efforts to restore buffalo on tribal homelands, and impact on ancestral lands and cultural history. Tribal elders and community members participated in the workshops. Faculty and student involvement included 2 faculty from CWC, 4 faculty/staff and 3 graduate students and 3 undergraduate students from UW.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience for the project includes 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 are 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. The high school participants in the NASI also included tribes from Washington, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Changes/Problems:This project has been impacted by loss of personnel and open positions at the NAERCC at UW and faculty vacancies at both UW and CWC. While capacity increased during year 2 for the NAERCC, the new faculty and employees faced an uphill battle in year 3 for onboarding due to personnel challenges. This resulted in a lack of formal cultural training for faculty, staff, and student mentors as part of the NASI again this year. Our lead evaluator on the project (Budowle) also left the university during this reporting period. Co-investigator Melvin Arthur transitioned to a new position with a significant decrease in his hourly contribution to this project. While his new position increases networking and professional development opportunities to support Native American students, his experience with recruiting and supporting students in the advanced track is difficult to match. This lack of capacity has also impacted efforts to evaluate student experiences and move forward with formal publications. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Cultural events on campus at UW and CWC were promoted by the Growing Season team. These events included the 1) Science Café highlighting Native American graduate student research projects at the CWC Inter-Tribal Center; 2) media talk from photographer and filmmaker Ryan Redcorn "Dead Bird Hearts", "Reservation Dogs"; 3) screening of the Reservation Dogs with the actors and other Native American students from the CO State University Native Center; 4) visit to the Sand Creek Site, and Museum in Estes Park Colorado and the grand opening of the Arapaho Research Center; 5) Indigenous People's Day events; and 6) Growing Resilience film event of sovereign storytelling and Tommy Orange commentary. Cultural events that were part of NASI were open to community and UW faculty involved in NASI were specifically invited and encouraged to attend. During this reporting period, co-investigator Melvin Arthur transitioned to a position with Wind River Cares. Wind River Cares provides health services to tribal members on the Wind River reservation. Through Melvin's new position and continued service to the Growing Season project, students and faculty received increased access to future opportunities to become community health professionals. Co-investigator and Native American advisor at CWC, Rory Tendore, participated in Leadership Wyoming and the Native American Education Conference as part of her work with the Growing Season project. Finally, we conducted talking circles with the Growing Season team for evaluation of the project including what was going well and what aspects of the project could be changed or improved to better support Native American students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about 1) the Growing Season 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. In-person events in which information was shared about the project included CWC student orientation, Gear Up, and informational booths and two campus events. Growing Season investigators presented to each tribal business council from the WRIR (Eastern Shoshone Business Council, Northern Arapaho Business Council). 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 include academic advising and professional development. More opportunities for connecting student from CWC to UW will be available due to increased staff support at the NAERCC as well as new relationships with educational specialists at Wind River Cares on the WRIR. We will also offer opportunities for students to train and participate in digital storytelling to document their experience and personal higher education story. 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) and the advanced track @ NASI are planned to be in-person in summer 2024. With a more robust team at the NAERCC available for planning, it is expected that cultural training for faculty, staff, and students will once again be offered prior to NASI. For the advanced track students, we will again offer the opportunity to be on-campus at CWC and at sites around the WRIR for 2-3 days before traveling to UW for additional educational sessions. We will invite UW faculty and students to participate in this opportunity again in 2024 as it offered 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 the advanced track through enhanced recruitment efforts (starting earlier, increased coordination with NAERCC and WRIR schools, and reaching out to former participants).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Attract and retain more Native students in FANH disciplines by creating support groups for Native students at CWC and UW who are interested in FANH issues. These will offer experiential learning, professional development, mentoring, emotional support, and academic advising. Per data from the UW Registrar's Office, Native American students enrolled at UW increased from 285 (2020-2021), to 329 (2021-2022), to 396 (2022-2023).Per data from the CWC Academic Office, Native American students enrolled at CWC increased from 222 (Fall 2022) to 245 (Fall 2023). During this reporting period, the third year of the grant, we aimed to continue to organize, plan, and implement support groups for Native American students at Central Wyoming College (CWC) and the University of Wyoming (UW) who are interested in FANH issues. We successfully met this aim. Mentoring sessions kicked off the fall semester in September 2022 with a networking event. Students and Native American employees at UW were recruited through campus-wide emails and personal invitations. Eight mentoring events were held in fall 2022 and spring 2023 including discussions with successful Native American authors and practicing professionals, educational stories and challenges of Native American students, promotion of local and ancestral foods through planting Indigenous seeds at UW student farm (ACRES), and professional development. Nine mentoring events and two registration/advising events were held for CWC students in fall 2022 and spring 2023. A joint mentoring and cultural awareness event related to ancestral foods and traditional ecological knowledge was held for CWC and UW students and faculty on the Wind River reservation in June 2023. Locations included the CWC Alpine Science Institute, Arapaho Ranch, Bull Lake, and the intertribal buffalo initiative with Jason and Patti Baldes. All mentoring sessions and events were guided by Growing Season co-investigator Johnna Arthur, in collaboration with Melvin Arthur at UW and co-PI Tarissa Spoonhunter and co-investigator Rory Tendore at CWC. Academic advising for Native American students at both CWC and UW is on-going and led by co-investigator Rory Tendore at CWC and Reinette (Tendore) Curry at UW. At the end of this reporting period, an additional academic support position at the UW Native American Education, Research, & Cultural Center (NAERCC) had been filled by a Native American student graduate from UW. Two positions were filled at UW in year 2 - Assistant Professor/Director of the High Plains American Indian Research Institute (HPAIRI) and Assistant Professor/Director of Native American & Indigenous Studies (NAIS), providing additional support for Native American students at UW. These Native American faculty members provide invaluable support for professional development, networking, and mentoring for Native American students and assist with offering more professional development and cultural training for non-Native faculty, staff, and students. Goal 2: Recruit more Native students to CWC and UW and, especially, to FANH disciplines by (a) adding a FANH-focused study track to UW's annual Native American Summer Institute (NASI) week for high school students from Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR) in Wyoming, (b) creating a full-time FANH advanced NASI week for Native people with high school or GED degrees, and (c) hosting a two-day FANH workshop at CWC in advance of NASI. During this reporting period, the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) academic sessions for Native American Summer Institute (NASI) high school participants and those with a high school diploma or GED in the advanced track were offered in-person from faculty at the University of Wyoming (UW) and faculty from Central Wyoming College (CWC) through a three-day event held on the Wind River reservation in advance of NASI. The Growing Season project expanded typical advanced track health-related academic sessions offered at NASI to include FANH. Workshop/field trip topics included Indigenous plants and foods, intertribal buffalo initiative, Arapaho Ranch, Bull Lake dam and impact on ancestral lands and cultural history. Tribal elders and community members participated in the workshops. Faculty and student involvement in the FANH track included 2 faculty from CWC, 4 faculty and 2 graduate students and 2 undergraduate students from UW.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience for the project includes 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 are 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. The high school participants in the NASI also included tribes from Washington, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Changes/Problems:This project has been impacted by loss of personnel and open positions at the NAERCC at UW and faculty vacancies at both UW and CWC. Planning for the NASI and additional mentoring events that would have been supported through the NAERCC were impacted by lack of capacity. Another major impact related to project outcomes was that the formal cultural training for faculty, staff, and student mentors as part of the NASI was not offered again this year. This lack of capacity has also impacted efforts to evaluate student experiences and move forward with formal publications. It is expected that new hires at the NAERCC at UW will address some of these challenges. However, we may still see challenges reflecting lack of personnel at CWC. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Cultural events on campus at UW and CWC were promoted by the Growing Season team. These events included the 1) author talk from Tommy Orange "There There"; 2) screening of the Who She Is documentary with the filmmakers, community members from the WRIR, Governor's Office and MMIWP taskforce; 3) Indigenous People's Day events and 4) land acknowledgement event at the CWC Alpine Science Institute in Lander, WY. Cultural events that were part of NASI were open to community and UW faculty involved in NASI were specifically invited and encouraged to attend. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about 1) the Growing Season 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). Growing Season PI's also presented to each tribal business council from the WRIR (Eastern Shoshone Business Council, Northern Arapaho Business Council). 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 include academic advising and professional development. More opportunities for connecting student from CWC to UW will be available due to increased staff support at the NAERCC as well as new relationships with educational specialists at Wind River Cares on the WRIR. We will also offer opportunities for students to train and participate in digital storytelling to document their experience and personal higher education story. 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) and the advanced track @ NASI are planned to be in-person in summer 2023. With a more robust team at the NAERCC available for planning, it is expected that cultural training for faculty, staff, and students will once again be offered prior to NASI. For the advanced track students, we will again offer the opportunity to be on-campus at CWC for 2-3 days before traveling to UW for additional educational sessions. FANH academic sessions will build on those offered during the summer 2022 NASI. We aim to increase the number of students at NASI and the advanced track through enhanced recruitment efforts (starting earlier, increased coordination with NAERCC and WRIR schools, and reaching out to former participants).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Attract and retain more Native students in FANH disciplines by creating support groups for Native students at CWC and UW who are interested in FANH issues. These will offer experiential learning, professional development, mentoring, emotional support, and academic advising. Per data from the UW Registrar's Office, Native American students enrolled at UW increased from 285 in 2020-2021 to 329 in 2021-2022. During this reporting period, the second year of the grant, we aimed to continue to organize, plan, and implement support groups for Native American students at Central Wyoming College (CWC) and the University of Wyoming (UW) who are interested in FANH issues. We successfully met this aim. Mentoring sessions kicked off the fall semester in October 2021 with a networking event. Students and Native American employees at UW were recruited through campus-wide emails and personal invitations. The Growing Season project recruited 13 Native American students (9 Arapaho, 1 Blackfeet, 1 Navajo, 1 Oglala Sioux, and 1 Standing Rock Sioux) from the UW and CWC campus to participate in mentoring groups. All students indicated interest in FANH issues. Nine mentoring events were held in fall 2021 and spring 2022 including discussions with successful Native American authors and practicing professionals, educational stories and challenges of Native American students, a food sovereignty event (Wind River inter-tribal gathering), and professional development. Three community events and two registration/advising events were held for CWC students in fall 2021 and spring 2022. A joint mentoring and cultural awareness event for CWC and UW students, faculty, staff, and community members was offered at the CWC Alpine Science Institute in September 2022. All mentoring sessions and events were guided by Growing Season co-investigator Melvin Arthur at UW and co-PI Tarissa Spoonhunter and co-investigator Rory Tendore at CWC. Academic advising for Native American students at both CWC and UW is on-going and led by co-investigator Rory Tendore at CWC and Reinette (Tendore) Curry at UW. At the end of this reporting period, two new academic support positions at the UW Native American Education, Research, & Cultural Center (NAERCC) had been filled by Native American student graduates from UW. Also at the end of this reporting period, two more positions were filled at UW - Assistant Professor/Director of the High Plains American Indian Research Institute (HPAIRI) and Assistant Professor/Director of Native American & Indigenous Studies (NAIS). This additional support for Native American students at UW is expected to increase Native American student numbers and assist with offering more professional development and cultural training for non-Native faculty, staff, and students. Goal 2: Recruit more Native students to CWC and UW and, especially, to FANH disciplines by (a) adding a FANH-focused study track to UW's annual Native American Summer Institute (NASI) week for high school students from Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR) in Wyoming, (b) creating a full-time FANH advanced NASI week for Native people with high school or GED degrees, and (c) hosting a two-day FANH workshop at CWC in advance of NASI. During this reporting period, the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) academic sessions for Native American Summer Institute (NASI) high school participants occurred in-person on campus at UW. The FANH academic sessions offered to participants with a high school diploma or GED in the advanced track were offered in-person from faculty at the University of Wyoming (UW) and faculty from Central Wyoming College (CWC). The Growing Season project expanded typical advanced track health-related academic sessions offered at NASI to include FANH. Academic sessions included Food Sovereignty, Sustainable Food Systems, Human Nutrition & Food, Digital Storytelling, and an overview of FANH-related majors of study at CWC as well as UW. The advanced track included in-person attendance at the Wind River inter-tribal event with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition which was held on the Wind River reservation for 3 days before the kick off of the NASI on campus at UW. Faculty and student involvement in the FANH track for NASI 2022 included 5 faculty from CWC, 8 faculty and 3 graduate students from UW. We recruited 5 Native American students with a high school diploma or GED to participate in the advanced FANH-focused track. We recruited 40 Native American high school students for NASI. Participants included representation from both tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation (Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho) as well as tribes from Washington, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience for the project includes 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 are 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. The high school participants in the NASI also included tribes from Washington, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. Changes/Problems:This project has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and adjustments for virtual meetings and experiences. As mentioned, the joint mentoring and cultural awareness event planned at the Central Wyoming College Alpine Science Institute was delayed until 2022. All mentoring events were held via Zoom because of restrictions set by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The uncertainty of COVID-19 and the vaccine impacted the participation of students. Feedback from mentoring events and the NASI consistently addressed the challenges of organizing students and mentors and connecting people consistently in a virtual format. Additionally, cultural training for faculty, staff, and student mentors as part of the NASI was not offered this year. This change is reflective of loss of personnel in the Native American & Indigenous Studies program and at the Native American Education, Research, & Cultural Center (NAERCC) at UW. Cultural awareness opportunities (all virtual) for faculty, staff, and students were still offered through NAERCC throughout 2020-2021. It is expected that cultural training specific to working with Native American students as part of the NASI will resume in 2022. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Cultural events on campus were promoted by the Growing Season team. These events included the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People Awareness Virtual Zoom Event, screening of the Home from School documentary focused on boarding schools and panel with the filmmakers and community members from the WRIR, and Indigenous People's Day events. Cultural events that were part of NASI were open to community and UW faculty involved in NASI were specifically invited and encouraged to attend. This included the cultural event and speaker highlighted during NASI. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about 1) the Growing Season 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). 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 include academic advising and professional development. Some mentoring sessions and events will be offered in person as able. We will also offer opportunities for students to train and participate in digital storytelling to document their experience and personal higher education story. We aim to increase the number of students recruited and participating in mentoring groups at both UW and CWC. While dependent on CDC health guidance during the on-going pandemic, and implementation at UW and CWC, the Native American Summer Institute (NASI) is planned to be in-person in summer 2022. For the advanced track students, we will again offer the opportunity to be on-campus at CWC in addition to UW. FANH academic sessions will build on those offered during the summer 2021 NASI. We aim to increase the number of students at NASI and the advanced track through enhanced recruitment efforts (starting earlier, increased coordination with NAERCC and WRIR schools, and reaching out to former participants).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Attract and retain more Native students in FANH disciplines by creating support groups for Native students at CWC and UW who are interested in FANH issues. These will offer experiential learning, professional development, mentoring, emotional support, and academic advising. During this reporting period, the first year of the grant, we aimed to organize, plan, and implement support groups for Native American students at Central Wyoming College (CWC) and the University of Wyoming (UW) who are interested in FANH issues. We successfully met this aim. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and challenges with all academic courses and campus offerings remaining in a virtual format, the fall 2020 semester was focused on planning and organizing. Mentoring sessions were launched on January 21, 2021 with recruitment emails to potential students, mentors, and faculty at CWC and UW. The Growing Season project recruited 13 Native American students (9 Arapaho, 1 Blackfeet, 1 Navajo, 1 Oglala Sioux, and 1 Standing Rock Sioux) from the UW and CWC campus to participate in mentoring groups. All students indicated interest in FANH issues. Four mentoring events were held virtually in spring 2021 including discussions with successful Native American college students, educational stories and challenges of Native American students, a food sovereignty focused event, and professional development. One community event and 2 registration/advising events were held for CWC students in spring 2021. A joint mentoring and cultural awareness event for CWC and UW students, faculty, staff, and community members was planned at the CWC Alpine Science Institute in summer 2021. However, this event was postponed due to ongoing COVID-19 health guidance and restrictions on the Wind River Indian Reservation. It is expected to be scheduled for spring/summer 2022. All mentoring sessions and events were guided by Growing Season co-investigator Melvin Arthur at UW and co-PI Tarissa Spoonhunter and co-investigator Rory Tendore at CWC. Goal 2: Recruit more Native students to CWC and UW and, especially, to FANH disciplines by (a) adding a FANH-focused study track to UW's annual Native American Summer Institute (NASI) week for high school students from Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR) in Wyoming, (b) creating a full-time FANH advanced NASI week for Native people with high school or GED degrees, and (c) hosting a two-day FANH workshop at CWC in advance of NASI. During this reporting period, the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) academic sessions for Native American Summer Institute (NASI) high school participants occurred virtually. The FANH academic sessions offered to participants with a high school diploma or GED in the advanced track were offered in a combination of virtual sessions from faculty at the University of Wyoming (UW) and in-person sessions with faculty from Central Wyoming College (CWC). Advanced track participants could choose whether to participate virtually or in-person on campus at CWC. The Growing Season project expanded typical advanced track health-related academic sessions offered at NASI to include FANH. Academic sessions included Food Sovereignty, Sustainable Food Systems, Human Nutrition & Food, Digital Storytelling, and an overview of FANH-related majors of study at CWC as well as UW. NASI high school participants also attended the overview of FANH-related majors of study and a Digital Storytelling workshop. Faculty and student involvement in NASI 2021 included 5 faculty from CWC, 8 faculty and 4 graduate students from UW. We recruited 6 Native American students with a high school diploma or GED to participate in the advanced FANH-focused track. We recruited 22 Native American high school students for NASI. Participants included representation from both tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation (Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho) as well as tribes from Washington, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Publications
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