Colleges push for American Indian participation in science-related programs
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Montana State University, the University of Montana and Montana Tech are part of a new national network that has just received $2.4 million to increase the number of indigenous Americans obtaining advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is forming a three-year collaboration with the Montana University System, which also includes the University of Alaska, the University of Arizona and Purdue University.
The new network, titled the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP), is designed to strengthen and expand successful initiatives at each of the four partners to recruit, train and graduate American Indian and Alaska Native students in STEM disciplines.
“When it comes to meeting the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students, Alaska, Arizona, Montana, and Purdue are truly exemplary programs,” said Elizabeth S. Boylan, program director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Boylan said most of the newly awarded funds will go directly to American Indian and Alaska Native students in the form of stipends, providing support to an estimated 59 masters and 20 doctoral students. Other funds will support programming, recruitment, and retention activities at the partner institutions; the collaborative development and sharing of best practices for the recruitment and support of American Indian/Alaska Native graduate students; and the creation of professional development opportunities such as student exchange programs.
More than 200 American Indian/Alaska Native students have been part of individual SIGP campus programs to date, and graduates are providing expertise and leadership important to their communities, according to Boylan.
