It is well established that minorities are under-represented in the sciences. Native Americans comprise approximately 1% of the population of the United States, yet, as with other minorities, their presence in the biomedical sciences is significantly lower. Recent statistics show that in the United States work force, Hispanics account for 7%, Blacks 10%, and Native Americans 1%. However, in the science and engineering work force, only 1.8% are Hispanics, 2.6% are Blacks, and 0.4% are Native Americans. Part of the reason for these lower percentages is that these groups have not been attending colleges and universities and getting degrees at the same rates as the majority population. The 1993 Status Report on Minorities in Higher Education shows that persistence rates for American Indian students were the lowest of all those entering post- secondary education. At independent institutions, only 49% complete the Baccalaureate Degree within six years, while at public institutions, the rate is even lower, only 27%.
Data from the 1987 Digest of Educational Statistics indicate that in 1980-81 only 137 bachelor's degrees (0.3% of all degrees conferred) in the biological sciences were conferred on Native Americans or Native Alaskans. In 1983, only 7 Native Americans obtained Ph.D.s in life sciences; of these, only 2 were in the basic medical sciences. Native Americans were the recipients of only 93 of 34,300 Ph.D. degrees awarded across the US in 1990; only 7 of the 6343 Ph.D.s awarded in the life sciences in 1990 were awarded to American Indians. The American Society of Microbiology reported that only 4% of its 15,665 members of all degree levels were minorities; only 0.4% were Native Americans or Native Alaskans. Statistics from the NIGMS MORE Programs indicate that the percentage of bachelor's degrees earned by Native Americans is about 0.5%, i.e., one-half their representation in the population at large.
The Ah'jo'gun (Bridges) Program at UND and the tribal community colleges (TCCs) in North Dakota aim to increase the number of students at TCCs developing an interest in science majors and strengthen their ability to go on to successfully complete baccalaureate degrees in the biomedical sciences and basic sciences such as chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics. We accomplish this by using the resources of extant programs at the University of North Dakota to cultivate student talents and skills as well as to assist in educational efforts at the TCCs. The program gives academic support and research exposure to minority students and develops future role models to encourage others to take the initiative to enter a biomedical career. This program is designed to focus on the most significant minority population in this region, i.e., Native Americans and their communities. Most activities are centered on the area tribal community colleges. Because the student bodies of these colleges are nearly 90% Native American, we anticipate recruiting only American Indians into the Ah'jo'gun Program. However, any minority student enrolled in these colleges is eligible for the Ah'jo'gun Program.
Information on North Dakota Tribal Colleges:UND has a successful track record of recruiting and training minority students, particularly Native Americans, in the health sciences. Below are outlined some of the current programs at the University of North Dakota that involve training or support of Native American students or collaboration with the TCCs in science and health-related fields.
American Indian educators would point to the unique cultural heritage of the students who arrive from a tribal community to the University, an institution modeled on a European value system. Students are likely to come from different tribes, each with a unique language and cultural identity. Family income of the students is low, and financial support for all but the most exceptional students is minimal. Beaty and Beaty-Chist (1986) contend that traditional Native American students achieve in a university setting only after undergoing a degree of "perspective transformation." "University survival depends on the student's ability to take personal responsibility for his/her own learning. This may be particularly difficulty for Native American students coming from a traditional society with a causal view of external events. From their point of view, external forces are perceived as having a more significant life than their actions as an individual." (Jeanne Beaty and Katherine Beatie-Chist, University Preparation for Native American Students: Theory and Application, Journal of American Indian Education, October 1986, p. 8)
UND has developed several programs to address these issues, principally by the initiatives of Indian leaders at the University.
The University of North Dakota has a history of commitment to the largest ethnic minority in the state, the American Indian. This commitment has greatly improved the educational opportunities available to the Indian people. Enrollment of Indian students at UND has increased from 20 in 1960 to 318 in 1998. The Native American Programs office works with the rest of the University to maintain a climate that is responsive to the needs of the Native American; serves as a general contact point in the institution for Native American students; and provides academic, financial, and personal advisement. It is responsible for administering the Native American Cultural Center on campus, coordinating recruitment, advising faculty and staff about the needs of Indian students, and serving as an advocate for them. The office also administers a program development and grant-writing service and acts as a liaison with the tribal reservation communities.
Recruitment and Retention of Native Americans into Nursing is a program designed to decrease the Nursing shortage in Indian Country. The program has a large number of students and is a key program for staffing Indian Health Care Programs in the future. The RAIN Project, funded by the Indian Health Service, provides academic, financial, and personal support services for Native American students in Nursing at UND. Full IHS scholarships for 10 undergraduate and 2 graduate students are provided.
Indians into Clinical Psychology Doctoral Education is a program that was recently authorized under the amendments to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. INPSYDE is part of a larger attempt by the UND Psychology Department to provide more mental health services and mental health professionals for the under-served American Indian populations in the region.
The program is an ongoing Clinical Psychology effort between the Dull Knife Memorial College at Lame Deer, Montana and UND Psychology department, designed to prepare Mental Health Professionals to work on Indian reservations or with Native American people.
The Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program at UND began operation in the fall of 1992. This program is intended to stimulate interest by American Indians to pursue graduate degrees in the biomedical and basic sciences by recruiting students from the basic science departments and involving these students in ongoing research. Exceptional honors undergraduates, principally American Indians, are recruited into the program and integrated into projects ongoing in working laboratories. Students are trained to work independently, but as part of a whole project. Students with majors in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, some aspects of Engineering, Psychology, and Nursing are recruited. Independent study has resulted in senior theses and presentations at national scientific assemblies. Additionally, during the summer after their junior year, students are expected to participate in an extramural research activity. By integrating an ongoing laboratory experience into academic life, we feel that we can initiate and encourage pursuit of scientific interests by the student and thereby will nurture independent thought and action, important virtues for graduate study. We have had 12 students successfully graduate from the program, five of which have gone on to do graduate work. In addition, five former trainees who left the program have since graduated, and one has gone on to graduate school.
As well as supporting the five junior and senior MARC trainees, we have implemented under the U*STAR program pre-MARC student development activities using the acronym SEMTECH (Science, Engineering and Math TECHnical assistance program). The first (beginning August 1996) and second (beginning August 1997) years of SEMTECH activities showed substantial increases in student interest, with a growing number of students visiting the center for support and guidance. The center also began to offer a variety of workshops to target areas such as "Writing Research Papers", "How To Use The Computer, Effective Study Skills", "Time Management", and "Learning Strategies". Student demand for assistance in both the introductory and advanced courses has prompted the employment of tutors who are multifaceted, they are expected to assist students in a number of introductory and advanced science, mathematical and technical areas, as well as provide assistance with the operation of computer software programs.
The current academic year of SEMTECH began in August, 1998. Activities include continued tutorial support, expanded enhancement workshops, and additional technical computer support. Other areas of improvement are the renovation of the SEMTECH building (computer and tutorial space) and the technical upgrades (addition of email and Internet connections) for the center computers. The number of students utilizing the resources at the SEMTECH Center is expected to significantly increase throughout the 1998-99 academic year. By the middle of fall semester, the center had recorded 270 students who have signed in; this number surpassed the total number of students who signed the log-in books for the entire Spring 1998 Semester (266), indicating that an increasing number of students are visiting the SEMTECH Center.
With the assistance and advisement of the MARC Program an American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) chapter was re-established in 1998 at the University of North Dakota. The AISES college chapter is one of many that have been established throughout the United States to offer peer support to those individuals that seek to become self-reliant and self-determined members of society. The AISES Chapter offers students the chance to develop a network of close friends who share the same science related interest, practice leadership skills, provide the opportunity to attend regional and national science and leadership conferences, create tutoring and support groups, integrate cultural and scientific beliefs to improve the general academic climate for American Indian and other minority students. The MARC Program feels that this development is a major step in improving the interest, quality and number of American Indians in choosing a career in the research sciences.
Advancing Science Excellence in North Dakota is a multi- university project designed to promote interest in the sciences. Faculty at UND have worked with Turtle Mountain Community College, Little Hoop Community College, and a few students during summer programs to increase the participation of minorities in math and science research.
The Disability Research Encompassing American Indians in Math and Science program is designed to address the need for more disabled American Indians in math and science careers. American Indian children in grades 1-5 with a physical or sensory disability are the focus of this home-, community- and campus-based program.
This program, funded by the US Department of Education, provides services to college juniors and seniors who are low-income, first-generation students that are under represented in graduate studies. The target areas are Anatomy, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Geological Engineering, Microbiology, Immunology, Physiology, Biology, Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Education.
In project SAGE (Science, A Great Edventure) with funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the UND INMED program and the UND Center for Teaching and Learning have worked with the five TCCs and nine elementary schools on or near ND reservations. Their efforts have provided science education programs to nearly 700 children in grades 3-6, through a combination of on-site services and courses over the ND Interactive Video Network (IVN).
With additional funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program has implemented three components: student research scholarships to broaden access for minorities and women [these are similar to the MARC traineeships above], equipment for biology laboratories at UND and equipment to link the TCCs into the ND IVN, and outreach programs, including enrollment of TCC students in UND biology courses via IVN and an annual two-week Summer Science Camp for secondary students. The Ah'jo'gun program works closely with this program in strengthening science education at the TCCs.
A very successful demonstration of the UND commitment to Native American education has been the INMED program. Begun in 1973 when there was only one Native American student enrolled in undergraduate science, the program has expanded to include 71 INMED undergraduates enrolled in science and mathematics programs. The success of the program is evidenced by the fact that 113 Native American physicians, 60 nurses, and 43 other health professionals have graduated in the past 25 years.
The University of North Dakota School of Medicine has produced approximately 20% of the Native American Indian physicians in the United States. This is an amazing statistic in that the Medical School is small, with a total enrollment of 250 students. This has been achieved principally because of the Indians into Medicine (INMED) Program at UND. The INMED program has assisted 216 Indian health professionals, including 113 physicians and 60 B.S. degree nurses. Other participants have earned degrees in Clinical Psychology, Medical Technology, Social Work, and a variety of other health specialties. UND has, from 1983-1990, awarded 187 Bachelor degrees to American Indians; of these, 129 were Bachelor of Science degrees and 58 were Bachelor of Arts. Master's degrees have been awarded to 23 students. Of these graduates; 10 have received MD degrees; 4, Doctorates in Education; 2, Ph.D.s; and 6, J.D. degrees. Thus, nearly 25% of UND American Indian graduates have earned advanced degrees in higher education. In large part, the success of this program is attributable to the efforts of existing programs at UND: Indians into Medicine and Native American Programs. In addition, the MARC Program has increased the number of minority students seeking post-baccalaureate degrees in biomedical research.
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