We hope you find this information useful and encourage you to share it with others on your campus. If you would like to review previous items, please click the "Weekly Update Archive" link above.  
ADVOCACY
White House and Congressional action related to repealing and replacing Obamacare dominated the week. Since unveiling their bill on Monday, House leadership has been pushing the proposal through committees. By week's end, the plan had been approved by several House Committees, even though the bill hasn't been "scored" by the Congressional Budget Office. This means that no one knows how much the proposal will cost. The House seems intent on moving quickly, but whether they have the requisite votes is far from clear. Some Senate Republicans have urged slowing the debate. For example, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) told his colleagues to "start over" and said that rushing health care legislation would be repeating the mistake of the Affordable Care Act. "Get it right, don't get it fast," he said.
 
While education policy was not in the headlines this week, advocates - including AIHEC -- are hitting Hill offices as rumors of a spending deal on FY 2017 circulated. The latest whispers suggest that Congressional leadership is considering some combination of an omnibus spending bill and a full year continuing resolution to resolve the fiscal year that is almost half over. A "Cromnibus" isn't a new concept, but it is rarely good news for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS-ED) spending plan.
 
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing on "Identifying Indian Affairs priorities for the Trump Administration," featuring Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and three tribal leaders (including the Crow Tribal Chairman). Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) made a brief but glowing statement on the importance of Tribal Colleges and Universities, citing Haskell Indian Nation University's excellent work. AIHEC submitted a prepared statement and we worked with Senator Udall's staff on four TCU specific questions, which we hope he will submit for written response.
 
Also in the Senate, two Obama Administration education regulatory packages were essentially eliminated via the Congressional Review Act (CRA) process. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) accountability regulations (50-49 vote) and the very onerous teacher preparation program reporting requirements (59-40 vote) were both negated by Congressional action this week. President Trump is expected to sign both measures.
 
There was also news at the Department of Education this week related primarily to what ED is not doing. The IRS and ED issued a joint statement indicating the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) would not be available for "several weeks" due to identity theft concerns. The outage affects both online FAFSA completion and the repayment of student loans via income driven repayment plans. Complicating matters on the FAFSA is the use of "prior-prior year" data-it is much more difficult to use 2015 tax data for the FAFSA via a manual process.
 
The Department also announced an extension for schools to appeal Gainful Employment results.  The deadline was supposed to be this Friday but was moved to July 1.  Reports indicate concerns regarding potential FERPA violations when institutions hire an outside auditor to question ED's calculation of former students' debt to income ratios.  (If the ratios are too high for a particular program of study, that program faces a loss of Title IV funding eligibility; hence, the need to ensure calculations are accurate.) The announcement notes that it only applies to schools who submitted a notice of intent to appeal by the deadline of Jan. 23, 2017, so presumably a number of programs will still lose their eligibility for Title IV federal student aid unless ED takes other action. The extension also applies to GE disclosure requirements. 
 
In other news, NCAI, NIEA, and AIHEC submitted a joint commentary to the Wall Street Journal in response to the recent article on the quality (or lack thereof) of BIE schools.  We also spent time this week with Native people from all over the country who were in town for the Standing Rock March on the White House this Friday. There were thousands of folks in town for the peaceful march and related events, including students and staff from Sitting Bull College. It was cold on Friday, but all were warmed by the united commitment to sovereignty and the protection of our sacred sites, lands, and waterways.
 
In closing: next week will bring more education related activity on both sides of the Capitol-barring major disruptions for weather that may qualify as a "significant snow event" in Washington, DC. There will be more rumors on FY 2017 spending and the President's FY 2018 budget proposal is expected mid-week, just prior to our board meeting. The House education committee is holding a hearing on federal student aid programs and the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee is examining STEM education. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will host Labor Secretary nominee Alexander Acosta for his confirmation hearing.
TCU SPOTLIGHT
Cankdeska Cikana Community College Students Excel:  Two Cankdeska Cikana Community College students - Karrie Green and Ronald Walking Eagle, Jr. --  have been named to the 2017 All-North Dakota Academic Team, which recognizes the academic achievements of community college students across the state.  Only 12 students statewide received this honor.  About the students, ND University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott said "[t]hese students are outstanding examples of academic achievement and community involvement. Being named to the All-North Dakota Academic Team is a significant accomplishment, one that reflects positively on both the students and their colleges. This is another example of how students who attend North Dakota's community colleges are well prepared to meet the evolving demands of the workforce or continue on for additional education."  Press release here.
MEETINGS
AIHEC Board of Directors Meeting Registration:
2017 AIHEC Spring Board of Directors Meeting: The 2017 AIHEC Spring Board of Directors Meeting will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Rapid City, SD on March 16-18, 2017. On Thursday, March 16, the Research Committee will meet for a half day from 1:00 pm-5:00 pm, and the Executive Committee will meet beginning at 5:30 pm.  All other committees will meet Friday, March 17. The AIHEC BoD meeting will convene from 8:30 am-5:00 pm on Saturday, March 18. 

Please note: it is very important to register ALL participants for this meeting using the registration link. Each TCU may bring up to TWO participants without incurring a registration fee. The AIHEC Board of Directors approved a motion at the 2016 fall meeting to implement a registration fee for each additional participant beyond two per TCU. There is a registration fee of $150/participant for non-TCU participants and for the third (and each additional) participant from the same TCU. TCUs registering additional participants will receive an electronic invoice upon registration.

The 2017 AIHEC Student Conference will begin on Sunday, March 19.  The traditional Parade of Flags and Opening Ceremony will be on Monday, March 20 at 8:40 am. We urge all presidents to attend the Student Conference! To register for the conference, click here. Registering for the AIHEC Board meeting or the Student Conference does not register you for both events.  You must register separately.

To reserve your hotel room: If you have not already reserved lodging, please contact the Hilton Garden Inn immediately. Federal government rates are available for the federally chartered colleges. To reserve a room, call 605-791-9000 or click here. Ask for the Hilton Garden Inn/AIHEC Board Meeting for negotiated room rate. This year, the AIHEC Board Meeting and the AIHEC Student Conference are located in two separate hotels. The Best Western Ramkota, the host hotel for the 2017 AIHEC Student Conference, is booked for the state basketball tournament, which Rapid City is hosting at the same time as the AIHEC Spring BoD meeting. The Hilton Garden Inn is located nearby. 

BOARDMAX Training:  In preparation for the upcoming Spring Board of Directors meeting, three BoardMax training sessions were offered over the last two weeks. If you have additional BoardMax questions, please contact Erica Newland at enewland@aihec.org.
 
Other Meetings of Interest: 
2017 AIHEC National Basketball Tournament at Oglala Lakota College, March 15-19, 2017.  Oglala Lakota College (OLC) invites all AIHEC men's and women's basketball teams to participate in the 2017 AIHEC National Basketball Tournament (ANBT). OLC is pleased to announce that the tournament will be held in Rapid City, South Dakota, from March 15-19, 2017. The ABNT pool play will be hosted at the South Dakota School of Mines in downtown Rapid City and the bracket play and championship will be held at Douglas High School in Box Elder, South Dakota. Host hotels are located off interstate 90 with convenient locations to eat nearby. The registration packet for the 2017 ABNT can be found here. Please feel free to contact Mary Tobacco, the Athletic Director at OLC at mtobacco@olc.edu if you have any questions, concerns or need additional information.
2017 AISES Leadership Summit: AISES' Leadership Summit is aimed at providing Native higher education students and AISES professionals with in-depth professional development workshops and networking opportunities. The Leadership Summit also fosters the matching of STEM professionals with STEM students for mentoring. The 2017 AISES Leadership Summit will be held April 27-29, 2017 in Chandler, Arizona. For additional information and registration, please visit the AISES Leadership Summit website.

2017 Annual Vine Deloria, Jr. Indigenous Studies Symposium:  The 12th Annual Vine Deloria , Jr. Indigenous Studies Symposium will be May 19-21, 2017, at Northwest Indian College's Lummi campus in Bellingham, WA. This year the symposium will acknowledge efforts at Vine's home, The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, by re-visiting work in his book co-authored with David E. Wilkins, The Legal Universe: Observations on the Foundations of American Law (2011).  Vine's final chapter is the theme for this year's conference The Natural World and The Law.  See more information here and the Call for Papers.

Community Development Society (CDS)/National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) annual conference: 1994 land-grant colleagues and FALCON members, please consider attending the 2017 Community Development Society (CDS)/National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) annual conference in Big Sky, MT, on June 11-14, 2017. 
 
The conference has training, networking and informational sessions focused on community and economic development.  Much of our work in tribal communities, whether it be in natural resources, wellness or youth development, fits under the umbrella of community development practice. 
 
To encourage 1994 participation, this year FALCON is offering scholarships to cover the registration costs and a one-year complementary membership in NACDEP.  If you are interesting in a scholarship, please contact Dr. John Phillips at jphillips@aihec.org (do not register for the conference until you have contacted Dr. Phillips). Additional information here.

2017 Second World Indigenous Nations Games, July 2-9, 2017: The United States of America have been invited to organize a team to participate in the Second World Indigenous Nations Games (II WING). Similar to the first World Indigenous Peoples Games in Brazil in 2015, the AIHEC Athletic Commission will organize a team of at least 40 Tribal College students and 10 TCU chaperones to attend.  The games will be conducted over an eight-day period from July 2-9, with a travel day on each end, totaling 10 days of travel for the TCU participants.  The II WING will be held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  It will be hosted by the Enoch Cree Nation and the University of Alberta (Edmonton). The hosts will provide lodging and meals for up to 50 participants from each country, including the United States.  Participants will be housed at the University of Alberta Campus, in double occupancy rooms, and meals will be provided by the University of Alberta cafeteria. You will find the II WING AIHEC Application here.  Applications are due no later than March 10, 2017. Please contact Alex Grandon (Agrandon@aihec.org) at AIHEC Athletics with any questions.

2017 Native Youth Community Adaptation and Leadership Congress: The 2017 Native Youth Community Adaptation and Leadership Congress (NYCALC) is a week-long student environmental conference for approximately 100 Native American, Alaskan Native, and Pacific Islander high school students interested in environmental issues, natural resource conservation, community leadership, and public service. The conference aims to achieve a broad representation of Native communities across the country, so student enrollment from each community is competitive and may be limited (to approximately 3-5 students per community). 

WHO: Native American, Alaskan Native, and Pacific Islander 10-12th Grade High School Students (in small community groups of approximately 3-5) Accepted students will travel with one adult chaperone from their community to and from the event. 

WHAT: Native Youth Community Adaptation and Leadership Congress 

WHEN: July 9-15, 2017

WHERE: National Conservation Training Center (NCTC), Shepherdstown, West Virginia 

COST: None (All student travel to the Congress, lodging, and food costs at NCTC will be paid for by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other federal agency partners.

The application deadline is Friday, April 7, 2017.  If you have any questions about the program or the application process, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via e-mail at nctc_deo_programs@fws.gov or by phone at 304-876-7772 or 304-876-7388.
 
SAVE THE DATE:
  • June 19-22, 2017:  4th Annual AIHEC Behavioral Health Institute at Haskell Indian Nations University. The targeted audience for this annual event include all those TCU faculty and staff in the behavioral health fields specifically those teaching, doing research, and implementing successful intervention practices. The Institute is funded by the AIHEC NARCH Project and will be able to pay for 20 faculty/staff to attend from the TCUs. Registration and travel scholarship applications will be announced soon. For more information, please contact Dr. Deborah His Horse is Thunder, AIHEC NARCH Project Director (dhishorseisthunder@aihec.org or 701.527.3913).
  • July 23-28, 2017: SKC TCU Summer Meeting. This is the former Financial Aid and Registrars Training and the annual AIHEC CAO meeting. Plans are to include those who are responsible for data collection and reporting for TCUs as well. Join us for this meeting on the campus of Salish Kootenai College in beautiful western Montana.
  • September 18-20, 2017:  Indian Health Service's 2017 National Native Health Research Training Initiative to be held n Denver, Colorado. 
  • October 19-21, 2017:  2017 SACNAS Conference to be held in Salt Lake City, Nevada.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tribal College Journal is still accepting featurettes on bachelor's and master's degree programs at TCUs, but if you would like your school highlighted in the fall issue, please send your submission ASAP to editor@tribalcollegejournal.org, as space is limited and filling up quickly! Brief overview of the issue: over the past ten years, tribal colleges and universities have developed, articulated, and launched an array of fully accredited bachelor's and master's degree programs. No longer are TCUs merely feeder colleges for larger state or private institutions of higher education. What are some of the programs that have been developed and how do they serve the needs of tribal communities and students? How have TCUs evolved to handle more intensive programs and degree offerings? How can TCUs retain their role as community colleges with open enrollment polices, while also moving forward as multi-degree granting institutions? How does this evolution further enhance the self-determination and sovereignty of North America's First Nations?

AIHEC AIMS 2016: Final revisions to AIHEC AIMS 2016 reports were due in January. Thirty-five TCUs have completely finished with 2016 reporting. Stone Child College has not submitted a complete initial report (due December 1, 2016). All TCUs are required to submit the annual AIHEC AIMS report as their membership report in order to remain a Member-In-Good-Standing.

Attention 1994 Land Grant Directors and 1994 Research Faculty and Interested Collaborators:  The TCRGP applications are due March 21, 2017 by 5:00 PM Eastern time. A webinar is scheduled for Monday, March 13, 2017 to provide an overview of the grant and to answer questions - please invite research collaborators as appropriate.
 
Webinar Date:   Monday, March 13
Webinar Time:  2 PM EST/ 1 PM CENTRAL / Noon Mountain/ 11 Am PACIFIC
Audio Link: 888-844-9904--access code: 1543531#

Linton-Poodry SACNAS Leadership Institute (LPSLI)--Accepting Applications:  The Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) is currently accepting applications for the Linton-Poodry SACNAS Leadership Institute (LPSLI), and exciting professional development opportunity. Named in honor of SACNAS founders Dr. Marigold Linton (Cahuilla-Cupeņo) and Dr. Clifton Poodry (Seneca), this leadership training program is geared specifically toward emerging underrepresented minority scientists at the postdoctoral, early career, and mid-career levels. Alumni have called LPSLI and its resulting community-building a "transformational" experience. Applications are being accepted now through March 20, 2017.  You can find additional information on the LPSLI program here: http://sacnas.org/events/leadership, the LPSI Informational Flyer and the two videos About LPSLI and Why Apply for LPSI?  If you have any additional questions, please contact Rolando Madrid at rolando@sacnas.org.

The Department of Energy (DOE) and Office of Environmental Management (EM) are offering summer internships to current undergraduate and graduate students attending a Minority Serving Institution. Eligible candidates must be enrolled in a STEM discipline.
 
Requirements: Be a US citizen; Be working toward a degree in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, or mathematics); Have a minimum undergraduate or graduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
 
When & Where: Summer start dates vary between May 15 & June 5, and are 10 weeks in duration. Research internships available at all six national labs
     o   Argonne National Laboratory (Illinois)
     o   Idaho National Laboratory (Idaho)
     o   Los Alamos National Laboratory (New Mexico)
     o   Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Tennessee)
     o   Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Washington)
     o   Savannah River National Laboratory (South Carolina)
 
Application Deadline: March 20, 2017
 
Compensation: Selected candidates will be compensated by either a stipend or salary, and may include one round trip domestic travel to and from the host laboratory. Stipends and salaries will be commensurate with cost of living at the location of the host laboratory. Housing information will be provided to interns prior to arrival at the host laboratory, and will vary from lab to lab. For additional details and full list of internships and eligibility, see here.
AIHEC is offering 6-8 TCUs and tribal communities an exciting opportunity to host a Climate Resilience 
VISTA VOLUNTEER (Volunteers in Service to America) through the AIHEC-Tribal 3-year Climate VISTA Program. 
VISTAs can help provide up to 3-year capacity building for community-driven projects that address local climate resilience and sustainability at no cost to the TCU (unless the college would like to provide a small stipend or housing subsidy). VISTAs work on many projects, including community outreach, K-12 STEM partnerships, planning, grant writing, environmental workforce training strategies, building partnerships, community surveys, business strategy development and more. VISTAs work full-time for 1 year (rotation of 3 VISTAs for this project), are college-educated, receive a monthly stipend and modest education award at the end of their service. TCUs need to develop a 3-year work plan, supervise the VISTA, and help find, but not pay for, housing. Contact Dr. John Phillips at jphillips@aihec.org for additional information, and check out our Announcement Brochure. Reach out ASAP -- these 6-8 VISTAs will be snapped up by other TCUs and tribal communities quickly!
  
Behavioral Health Professional Development Opportunity: AIHEC is inviting applications from TCU faculty and staff in the field of behavioral health as part of our effort to develop and support TCU behavioral health research and education programs. Funding is available to attend conferences and workshops, or to help with expenses associated with a behavioral health graduate program.  It is also possible to receive funding to bring in a trainer to put on a behavioral health workshop for interested faculty and staff (and community members).  The deadline to be considered in the next pool of applicants is March 15, 2017, although applications will continue to be accepted after that date until available funding is allocated. You can access the application HERE. Please contact Erica Newland at enewland@aihec.org if you have any questions about this opportunity.  
  
IMPORTANT GRANTS ANNOUNCEMENT:  AIHEC publishes a separate GRANT OPPORTUNITY weekly newsletter.  To add a member of your Development team to the grants update email, please send email addresses to Kay Heatley at kheatley@aihec.org.
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This newsletter is for information purpose only for the members of American Indian Higher Education Consortium.