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HB 1020: Pay $65K for Board of Regents Indian Outreach Coordinator

The Board of Regents has delivered one plank of its American Indian outreach initiative to the Legislature. House Bill 1020 would authorize the Regents to hire a new full-time Indian education and outreach coordinator for its central office. A task force study discussed at the Regents' December meeting recommends hiring one person to work on behalf of all six universities to help American Indian students across the state navigate university admissions and financial aid. Among the job quals suggested by the task force:

  • This person should be American Indian him/herself and culturally sensitive to the realities of Native students and families.
  • While the position will be located at the BOR office in Pierre, the majority of time will be spent at high schools and in larger American Indian population centers such as reservations to work directly with high school officials, high school students and their families. This person must be in communication with high schools and may even bring high school officials together for in-service education on assisting college-ready American Indian students.
  • Engagement of the campus-based American Indian student network will be critical as success will happen only if collaboration between the central position and campus professionals occurs.
  • Integration with staff of Gear Up and TRIO programming as well as with tribal college/university staff will be important to ensure this effort compliments and supplements existing efforts.
  • The central position’s responsibilities will be to assist high school students in preparing for college. This will include working with high school and tribal officials in identifying the college-bound American Indian students and assisting these students:
    • Taking the ACT and getting scores submitted to appropriate campus(es);
    • Applying to college(s);
    • Completing the FAFSA;
    • Identifying and applying for scholarships;
    • Completing other applications such as housing, meal plan, summer orientation, etc.; and
    • Linking to other campus-based student success programs such as summer bridge, TRIO, American Indian Centers/advising, special orientation programs, and other campus resources as appropriate [from Recommendations, Attachment II, "Like Two Different Worlds: American Indian Perspectives on College-Going in South Dakota," SD Board of Regents, October 2013.].

House Bill 1020 asks the Legislature to appropriate $65,000 to pay this outreach coordinator to help kids make the difficult jump from reservation to campus.

24 Comments

  1. interested party 2014.01.12

    American Indian students: boycott South Dakota universities.

  2. rollin potter 2014.01.12

    This shows how inept this board of regents is!!!!! When they ask for $65,000 for this person's wages they forgot to ask for expenses for him or her such as meals,lodging, travel expense,expenses to set up in-service education etc.!!
    I am sure when the board meets they are well reimbursed for there meals,lodging when out of town, travel expense etc.!!! Has Mr.Warner ever been on a reservation since coming here from the east coast???

  3. Douglas Wiken 2014.01.12

    Doesn't appear to me that any of the tasks in the description above should be necessary. Teachers, principals, coaches, superintendents, et al should all be working on these without requiring coaching from somebody sitting on their ass in Pierre.

  4. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.12

    The worst thing you can do when starting a business is to under finance it. Governments continually make this mistake. While I don't believe in throwing good money after bad, I do believe some programs at least have to have enough for a running start. How much is enough?

    Bob Mercer tackled this subject in his today's column in the Rapid City Journal and pointed out that in the long run this could be one of the most important bills the legislature will consider. Cory, Mercer and the Regents are on the right track.

    Only 3% of Native American students eligible to attend college attend state institutions and shows one more disparity between the white population and the Native American community. Shameful.

    It is safe to assume that most college eligible students attend the local tribal colleges which appeal to Native students that wish to stay closer to home.

    The annoying part of Mercer's and Cory's account, is that tribal colleges and the board of regents don't communicate. I never knew that or thought about it before, but it seems vital to opening educational opportunities for Native students.

  5. Wayne Pauli 2014.01.12

    There was some research completed and published in a dissertation regarding Native Americans in South Dakota and how they are affected by the digital divide and higher education. Certainly an under served population when it comes to public higher education. I believe ten years ago the percentages were almost 9% of the State's population and only 2.6% of public higher education population. Cory, recall being the session chair when the lit review was presented? I have been involved with many of the programs mentioned in The post. Some are very good. All are resource intensive and nobody seems to want to pay for them. The requested amount is what a $12.50 an hour staff member plus overhead and travel would buy you...maybe that is all they want.

  6. Douglas Wiken 2014.01.12

    If such programs are to be made for rural Native Americans, they should be financed as well for rural whites who may have no one in their family who has ever attended college and some whose parents have not been graduated from high school. Many of the things that don't happen to benefit Native Americans result because they like many of the rest of us live in rural areas.

  7. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.12

    Do South Dakota colleges actively recruit or have outreach programs for South Dakota rural high schools not located on the reservations?

  8. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.01.13

    Wayne, that does sound familiar!

    Doug, you're right, on-site high school staff should be performing those functions. But they aren't, not in all schools, according to the task force study.

    As for providing the same services to rural whites, the task force study makes clear that the cultural divide is much greater than "oh, boo hoo, Indians getting special treatment" responses allow. The whole array of proposals coming from the Regents, not just this new FTE but the whole works, aren't about giving Indians special treatment. The proposals are about providing Indian students with support that everybody else, including rural white kids, already get. Let's not let white privilege blind us to the unlevel playing field that the Regents are trying to level.

    That said, if you can show me that rural white youth are at a disadvantage in preparing for college, then certainly the Regents could make some effort to meet their unmet needs as well.

  9. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.13

    "Let's not let white privilege blind us to playing field....".

    My favorite phrase of the year, so far.

  10. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.13

    Oops!

    "Let's not let white privilege blind us to the unlevel playing field....." It fits so many topics today.

    My favorite phrase of the year, so far.

  11. Douglas Wiken 2014.01.13

    I believe Native Americans and Whites in rural areas have reason to work together. Many of rural problems relate to both Whites and Native Americans. The shift in population to urban areas in SD diminishes the influence of both rural Whites and Native Americans in SD government.

    "White privilege" is bullshit propaganda phrasing that serves no purpose. It may reinforce Roger's ethnic superiority mythology, but serves little other purpose.

    Incidentally, Winner has a Native American mayor. The Winner school district has a significant percentage of Native American students. They and whites in this school both deserve increases in information and aid proposed for the Native American education post which is apparently intended only for reservation schools which apparently are federally funded and controlled. This does not appear to be an area that warrants any intrusion by SD.

  12. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.13

    There are Native Americans being elected to many local, state, and national positions not just in South Dakota, but all around the country. Because Native Americans are serving in these positions doesn't automatically erase racial tensions or that unlevel playing field. In fact, it often creates a racial backlash.
    The night President Obama was elected there was a glimmer of hope that he had conquered racial barriers and our country was in a healing process. Quite the contrary, racial tensions have increased at most levels and the affects have been drastic. I see it everyday in how many whites usually refer to our President using obscene racial slurs.

    White privilege does exist, the quickest way to recognize it is when someone believes that it is "bullshit propaganda", it's called denial.

    The quickest way to eliminate "white privilege" is to recognize it is a problem and to start doing something about it.

  13. Douglas Wiken 2014.01.13

    White privilege means we have the right to pay property, income, and sales taxes to educate and support those who have no intention of supporting themselves and dismiss education as a tool of white privilege.

    Denial is clinging to mythology of the plains tribalism.

  14. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.13

    "White privilege means we have the right to pay property, income, and sales taxes to educate and support those who have no intention of supporting themselves and dismiss education as a tool of white privilege", is the very definition of white privilege.
    It is a very broad assumption that all whites pay taxes and Native Americans don't. Since we are well into the 21st Century it seems that those that live on or near reservations would know that.
    Native Americans pay income taxes, property taxes on land off the reservation, and sales taxes that go to support those whites that have no intention of supporting themselves.
    Native American tribalism has been the source of our survival for centuries, whether anybody likes it or not.
    No white privilege guy can change it, all he can do is whine about it, which he does all too often.

  15. Douglas Wiken 2014.01.14

    Just describing the sorry mess tribalism generates and the concurrent failure to utilize multiple opportunities to progress and be useful instead of slothful dependence on welfare and hypocritical spouting of useless mythology. And yes, whites are becoming similarly worthless.

    The federal government makes payments to schools in lieu of property taxes on "Indian land". That does not seem to me like paying property taxes.

    As for sales tax Native Americans pay, I find all city sales taxes that tax non-resident as a form of taxation without representation. Cities view it as manna from heaven and generally waste it.

  16. Douglas Wiken 2014.01.14

    As for whining, Roger, I have never read anyone so adept at it as you. Most of your charges have been shown to be BS or grossly distorted. All problems on the reservation and in Native families and schools are the consequence of "white privilege". Why do you expect anybody to believe such nonsense?

  17. Douglas Wiken 2014.01.14

    I talked to county officials here today. Native Americans pay no property taxes on "Indian land" or on their homes if they are on "Indian Land". Johnson-OMalley funds are not taxes paid by Native Americans.

  18. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.14

    Wiken's last two post are his usual repetitious rant about Native Americans and tribalism and serve only to expand the very definition of white privilege.

    Unfortunately for South Dakota, Wiken is the poster child for white privilege as he continues to condemn Native Americans for their chosen lifestyle. He continues the same whining on Madville each and every time the subject is Native Americans.

  19. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.14

    Of course Native Americans don't pay taxes on property they own within the reservation, that is hardly a big secret. They do however pay taxes on property they own off the reservations, again, no big secret.

    The Johnson-Omalley Program is federally funded. Any and all Native Americans that are employed are have other sources of income that are subject to taxation contribute to that program just as whites do.

    Is the Johnson-OMalley program just for Native Americans?

    I just returned from shopping and paid a 6% tax on all my purchases, just like the white people in front of me did.

  20. joseph g thompson 2014.01.14

    I guess I am just not getting something. I understand the white privilege off the reservation but can't come to grips with it on the reservation. How can whites be privileged on land owned and governed by the tribes?

    Guess if I was a tribal leader, I would look around me a recognize all the help the great father in Washington gave my great grand parents and the help he continues to give today and tell him to take himself and his followers off my land and stay off cause I don't need that kind of help. Just a privileged white mans point of view.

  21. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.14

    Mr. Thompson,
    You are correct, I can't think of instances where white privilege exist on the reservation, I'm glad you recognize that it does exist off the reservation.

    As to the rest of your comment, I wish tribal leaders would do just that. Take that $430 Billion owed them for the Black Hills and form their own sovereign government, a country within a country.

  22. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.01.15

    Joseph, if you sink my ship and leave me with a rickety life raft, I'm 50-50 on abandoning the life raft.

  23. lesliengland 2014.01.15

    Sociology 101, guys, white privilege. At least until Kochs take down USD, SDSU.

  24. Roger Cornelius 2014.01.15

    lesliengland

    White privilege is so ingrained in red states like South Dakota it is difficult to distinguish, it is and has been accepted and expected as a right.i

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