Leveraging Data to Promote Student Success: A Case Study

Lisa Azure, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Academic Affairs
at UTTC. She is in her 30th year of employment at UTTC, starting as a
Kindergarten teacher at the campus elementary school, serving as Teacher
Education Chair/faculty from 2000–2022 and Vice President of Academic Affairs
from 2015 to the present. One of the dominant themes in Dr. Azure’s
dissertation,
Actualizing the Seventh Generation Prophecy in Teacher Education: A Case
Study of Preparing Teachers at a Tribal College, was student success as defined by the case study participants, who were all
students at a tribal college.

Sheridan McNeil, Oyate Ohowicada Win (Respects the People
Woman), is the former Dean of Instruction at UTTC. Ms. McNeil graduated from
Sitting Bull College with her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction
and is a strong advocate for Indigenous people’s rights on the local and
national level. She has been employed at UTTC for almost seven years. Ms.
McNeil is originally from the Cannon Ball community at Standing Rock.

Leah Woodke, Ph.D., has nearly 40 years of experience in
education ranging from early childhood to higher education; with more than 20
of those years in work related to Tribal higher education. She has extensive
experience as a program evaluator and has worked with organizations in the
private, public, and tribal sectors. Dr. Woodke currently serves as the
Institutional Research Director at United Tribes Technical College. Her
responsibilities include supporting institutional planning and goal setting by
collecting and analyzing data related to student success and momentum. She
believes the key to improving student outcomes is to involve the right
stakeholders, including students and faculty, in the data meaning-making
process.

Monte Schaff serves as the Dean of Enrollment Management. His
responsibilities include overall leadership for the enrollment services staff,
including admissions, registrar, financial aid, transfer and career services,
and retention. Prior to his current role, Schaff most recently served as
institutional research analyst in the Office of Institutional Research. He
began his career at UTTC in 2010 and has worked in a variety of departments
including academic affairs, IT, educational outreach, as well as serving as an
adjunct instructor. Schaff holds a master’s degree in educational technology
from the University of British Columbia and a bachelor’s in business
administration from the University of North Dakota.