Center for Native American Studies & Anthropology

Joint Tenure-Track Enhancement Position

RequestCenter for Native American StudiesApril Lindala, Director & Dr. Martin Reinhardt

Department of Sociology, Social Work & AnthropologyDr. Alex Ruuska & Dr. Scott Demel

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Criteria #1 – Alignment with Mission

• Intellectual Foundation - offers an interdisciplinary curriculum focusing on seven primary themes found in Native American Studies: 1) identities; 2) culture and lifeways, 3) oral traditions and histories, 4) governance and sovereignty; 5) education; 6) family and communities and 7) traditional ecological knowledge.

• Career Preparation – due to the interdisciplinary nature of students are prepared to both pursue careers and seek advanced degrees. In pursuing a career, students who have successfully completed a minor in Native American Studies will have tools to work in varying occupations.

• Active Learning - engages students in theoretical, methodological and applied learning modalities founded in American Indian knowledge systems.

• Community Engagement – students will experience the curriculum by connecting with Indigenous communities locally, regionally, nationally and globally.

ANTHROPOLOGY• Intellectual Foundation - includes a curriculum

focusing on reasoning skills, humanistic and scientific inquiry, technological and writing skills along with contemporary, historic, and prehistoric cultural, linguistic, archaeological, and biological knowledge about diverse societies and cultures around the world.

• Career Preparation - our hands-on learning style evidenced in museum studies, experimental archaeology, archaeological field schools, ethnographic research, and visual anthropology gives students real life skills that can be used immediately upon graduation.

• Active Learning - engages students in higher-order thinking tasks such as discovery, hypothesis creation and analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

• Community Engagement - fosters collaboration between the students’ experience of the curriculum and communities outside the university at the local, state, regional, national and global levels.

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Criteria #2 - History, development, and expectations of the program

• Interdisciplinary NAS minor established 1991

• First full-time faculty member, Don Chosa, hired to teach Anishinaabemowin 1993

• CNAS approved by Board of Control 1996• First CNAS director, Dr. Dennis Tibbetts,

hired 1996• Current director, April Lindala, hired 2005• CNAS Faculty Affairs Committee formed

2005• Current Anishinaabemowin instructor,

Kenn Pitawanakwat, hired 2007 • First tenure-line faculty member, Dr.

Martin Reinhardt, hired 2010• 2001-Present NAS expanded to include

22 courses

ANTHROPOLOGY• Anthropology minor was

reinstated in 2008• Sociocultural Anthropologist

Dr. Alex Ruuska hired in 2008• Archaeologist Dr. Scott Demel

hired in 2009• Archaeology field school

reinstated summer 2010• Over the past 4.5 years

Anthropology has witnessed phenomenal growth in the Anthropology Component within the Department of Sociology & Social Work (22 courses offered)

• 2012 Department name changed to: Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology

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Criteria #3 - External demand for the program

• Tribes are often the largest employer in the rural communities . Growth in tribes is significantly impacting other sectors of government at local, state and federal levels.

• The Indian Gaming Industry created 204,000 new jobs within gaming facilities (NIGA 2009). This had a secondary effect of spawning growth in surrounding communities and industries., and providing revenue for expansion of tribal service related jobs.

• There are 1195 tribes or first nations in North America (565 tribes in U.S. and 630 Canada)

• Traditional tribal knowledge is central to environmental programming and “green” economy as emphasized at the annual Bioneers conference in San Rafael, California (October 2012).

• There are 69 tribes or First Nations in the Great Lakes Region (12 MI/IND, 11 WIS, 11 MN, 8 NY, 16 Ontario, 11 Quebec).

• NMU could be the first public university in Michigan to offer a baccalaureate in Native American Studies.

ANTHROPOLOGY• Federal government agencies will also have

a greater need for anthropologists to evaluate features of cultures around the world. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of anthropologists had been projected to increase 28% from 2008-2018 (www.bls.gov).

• The NMU anthropology major has been designed to compliment rather than compete with regional universities offering anthropology programs. We have a distinctive applied focus, which helps to generate grant monies, and research projects in sociocultural anthropology and archaeology.

• Research projects have been collaborative efforts with communities in the U.P. & Michigan

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Criteria #4 - Internal demand for the program

• NAS minors in Fall 2006 = 13. NAS minors in Fall 2012 = 36.

• First ICP graduated in December of 2010. Currently NAS has three students in various stages of ICP.

• Increased number of courses from 9 in 2005 to 22 in 2013.

• MAE in Educational Administration with a American Indian emphasis created in 2011, endorsed by Tribal Education Department’s National Assembly.

ANTHROPOLOGY• Growth of the minor to a current

level of 48 students; 6 in ICPs (Individually Created Programs)

• Growth in the number of classes from an estimated 2-3 five years ago to 22 current course offerings

• Well-received faculty Directed Study Abroad Program AN498 (Peru 2009)

• Reinstatement of the summer archaeology field school (AN355); Beaver Island 2010 and 2012

• Reinstatement of the student NMU Anthropology Club with a mailing list of nearly 100 students

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Criteria #5 - Quality of the program inputs and resources

• Equipment – active resource room of books and other texts

• Facilities – shared space in Whitman Hall. Also caretakers of Whitman Hall Fire site.

• Faculty – active scholarship, productivity in publications, significant grant writing, opportunities for internships and tribal and inter-tribal collaboration.

• Students - 36 declared - 1st minors in Fall 2012. 3 ICPs. 4 students hired by GLIFWC due to successful completion of NAS minor.

ANTHROPOLOGY• Equipment - internal/external

grants have secured necessary tools/supplies

• Anthropology library started• Facilities – existing labs and offices

to be replaced in Fall 2014 (new Jamrich facility)

• Faculty – active scholarship, productivity in publications, grants, research projects, student lab and internship opportunities; collaboration and community engagement

• Students – over 50 minors, 6 ICPs; 8 students have advanced to graduate school; Anthropology Club

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Criteria #6 - Quality of program outcomesNATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES• Job placement - Four students with an NAS

minor hired by the GLIFWC based in large on their successful completion of minor.

• Two students have been successful interns with GLIFWC as part of an on-going effort to revitalize Anishinaabemowin.

• Many K-12 teachers and other educational workers complete courses in American Indian education which enhances their ability to perform their job ,and has been reported to play a key role in their promotion and retention.

• Employment outlook - The Indigenous population is the youngest and fastest growing population in the US and abroad.

• Indigenous communities are growing rapidly in all areas of the economy especially in the area of natural resources.

• Federal, state, and local governments must interact with tribal governments and individuals in order to provide industry with a competitive advantage.

ANTHROPOLOGY• Job placement - Students are

experiencing a high rate of job placement following graduation. This is true at regional, national, and international levels. Related summer employment opportunities positive.

• Employment - of anthropologists had been projected to increase 28% from 2008-2018 (www.bls.gov). Job growth predicted to be spurred by a greater demand for scientific and technical consultants who can analyze and advise on various matters,.

• In May 2010, the BLS reported that anthropologists earned on average $58,040 per year. Those employed by the federal government earned a mean annual wage of $71,940, the highest wage among all industries.

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Criteria #7 - Size, scope, and productivity of program

NATIVEAMERICANSTUDIES

ANTHROPOLOGY

NAS Minor ICP - NAS Concentration0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

200720082009201020112012

Fall 2

002

Fall 2

003

Fall 2

004

Winter 2005

Fall 2

005

Winter 2006

Fall 2

006

Winter 2007

Fall 2

007

Winter 2008

Fall 2

008

Winter 2009

Fall 2

009

Winter 2010

Fall 2

010

Winter 2011

Fall 2

011

Winter 2012

Fall 2

0120

10

20

30

40

50

60

Anthropology Minors and ICPs

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Criteria #8 - Revenue and other resources generated by the program

• Enrollment/tuition – enrollment spread over foundational courses, language courses and upper division courses.

• Grants – approximately $180,000.00 in grant monies secured between 2009-2012• King*Chavez*Parks Visiting Professor

Initiative• Michigan Humanities Council • National Endowment for the Arts• Tribal 2% Funding Requests• Wildcat Innovation Fund

• Fund-raising • Decolonizing Diet Project• Growing Spaces Bio-Dome

ANTHROPOLOGY• Enrollment/tuition – high

enrollment in all levels of classes• Grants - $173,659 in grant monies

secured over the past 4.5 years• National Park Service - ethnographic study

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore• Bureau of Land Management two year

ethnographic study of Mormon Mtns. • Michigan Humanities Council - Beaver

Island Archaeology Exhibit at Beaumier UP Heritage Ctr.

• COPS grants , ASL grants, Dept. grant

• Fund-raising• NMU Foundation - Possible archaeology

field school station on Beaver Island• NMU Foundation student scholarships• Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation

scholarships

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Criteria #9 - Costs and other expenses associated with the program

• Instructional costs –Anticipated new faculty member will cost $78,500 to $86,000 (salary and benefits)

• Use of existing facilities• New support needed• Estimated $3,000 support/year• AAUP funded travel and professional development will be used to

cover travel and development expenses. For all other requirements we anticipate use of existing facilities.

• Ability to travel to regional tribes for purposes of introduction and familiarization

• Efficiencies – cost cutting - shared expenses• A joint position is an efficient way to increase the

vitality of two emerging academic programs

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Criteria #10 - Impact, justification, and overall essentiality of the program

• The core values of Native American Studies are firmly aligned with the values of academic affairs. Among our course offerings are valuable liberal studies and world culture offerings, a service learning component and upper level courses endorsed by a national organization: TEDNA.

• The average number of full-time faculty is 5.1 for ten institutions with American Indian/Native American/Indigenous Studies programs with a range of student population of approximately 4,000-11,000 students.

ANTHROPOLOGY• Student enrollment has grown substantially

over the past 4.5 years with on average 50 students in the minor or Individually Created Program. We are involving students directly in our research projects, offering students the necessary training to pursue graduate school, and be employable.

• Anthropology is firmly in line with the mission of the University and Academic Affairs.

• Anthropology is an essential component of any University’s Liberal Studies Program. At comparable sister institutes, we find an average of six to seventeen full time tenure-track faculty members in anthropology.

• We expect to continue our successful collaboration with various agencies, municipalities, and NMU departments of Sociology, NAS, Criminal Justice, Geography, International Studies, Biology, Ecology, and History.

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Criteria #11 - Opportunity analysis of the program – what new possibilities will this program present?

• There are emergent properties between Native American Studies and Anthropology. We may grow in ways together as neither department may have developed alone. The success of this model may prove useful to future collaborations on campus.

• A shared joint tenure-track enhancement position will enable Native American Studies and Anthropology to continue to grow and serve the current needs of our students. This will allow increased focus on core courses, and enable faculty to teach courses that have not been offered for some time due to high levels of commitment in offering courses for our current student base (minors and ICPs).

• Improved opportunities to: seek external grants, for student participation (research projects), and increased recruitment and retention.

• Increased opportunity to develop new academic and community relationships.

What the Joint Enhancement Position Will Provide

• Increased recruitment and retention of students enrolled in NAS and Anthropology courses

• Progress toward a future major in Native American Studies and a major in Anthropology

• Increased opportunities for campus/community collaboration, specifically with tribes and inter-tribal agencies, government municipalities and agencies

• Increased opportunities for scholarships, grant funding, student internships and service learning

• Concrete model for interdisciplinary collaboration between departments