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Article Abstract

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Cultivating Native Student Success is an Indigenous approach to strategic enrollment management that builds capacity centered in the unique cultural values inherent in tribal college and universities to increase American Indian and Alaska Natives visibility, representation, and degree attainment in higher education.

Author(s)

silverstein-l--smLisa Silverstein, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, TCU Capacity for Student Success, oversees and supports programming
in education pathways from high school through to college completion and the greater strategic enrollment management
programming at the College Fund. She earned her bachelor’s in public health, master’s in education, and Ph.D. in
education studies and research, focusing on developmental education and retention, sense of belonging, and student
and faculty voice in community colleges. Her research includes the study of higher education staff and faculty
development, college access, retention, and strategic enrollment management. She is a peer reviewer for
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and serves as a consultant for community colleges focused on
adult learner supports. She served as the principal investigator for a Minority Serving Institution Student Success
Initiative grant, working closely with HSIs, HBCUs, and TCUs, directed and led guided pathways programming,
initiated an accelerated developmental education learning communities and faculty development program, and served as
a representative on the state of Colorado’s developmental redesign team. As a faculty member in the School of
Education at the University of Colorado Denver, Silverstein worked with preservice teachers, and was a team member
on a community college and university partnership to support Colorado rural communities in building their K–12
teacher workforce.

gusbeth-t--smTiffany Gusbeth, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, is Vice President of Student Success Services at the
American Indian College Fund. Tiffany leads scholarships, college access, career readiness, student engagement,
strategic enrollment management, and the development of an organizational student and program management database.
Gusbeth’s expertise is in financial aid, college access, and Native student success in postsecondary environments.
She was recognized by the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) as an inaugural fellow in their “Leading for
Equity” fellowship program, designed for excellent executive leaders of color in higher education.

breaker-j--smJonathan Breaker, MPPA (Blackfoot/Cree), TCU Student Success Program Officer, is an enrolled member of Siksika Nation and works with a team of TCUs in their strategic enrollment management planning. He received his bachelor’s in sociology and master’s in public policy and administration. Breaker is a fellow of the AACRAO Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement Program (SEM-EP). He worked for the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) as assistant director of admissions and as continuing education manager. Prior to that, he worked in public service for the government of Canada in various roles advising on Indigenous issues and programs, cultural policy, international relations, and Indigenous rights and consultation.

References

AACRAO. See American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers

American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. 2018. What
is SEM? Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly.

Bontrager, B. 2008. A definition and context for current SEM practice. In SEM and Institutional Success:
Integrating Enrollment, Finance, and Student Access, edited by B. Bontrager. Washington, D.C.:
Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

Boyer, P. 2015. Capturing Education: Envisioning and Building the First Tribal Colleges. Pablo, MT:
Salish Kootenai College Press.

Brayboy, B. M. J., A. J. Fann, A. E. Castagno, and J. A. Solyom. 2012. Postsecondary Education for American
Indian and Alaska Natives: Higher Education for Nation Building and Self-Determination. San Francisco:
John Wiley & Sons.

Hampton, E. 1993. Toward a redefinition of American Indian/Alaska native education. Canadian Journal of
Native Education. 20(2).

Hanson, J. M., E. J. Moore, A. Morseau, and D. D. Taylor. 2023. Measuring for success: AIHEC’s efforts to improve
data collection and reporting. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. 34(3): 3.

Hossler, D., and B. Bontrager. 2014. Handbook of Strategic Enrollment Management. San Francisco: John
Wiley & Sons.

Jorgensen, M. 2007. Rebuilding Native
Nations: Strategies for Governance and Development. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Kirkness, V. J., and R. Barnhardt. 1991. First Nations and higher education: The four R’s—Respect, relevance,
reciprocity, responsibility. Journal of American Indian Education. 30(3): 1-15.

Lopez, J. D. 2021. Examining construct validity of the scale of Native Americans giving back. Journal of
Diversity in Higher Education. 14(4): 519.

McTaggart, R. 1994. Participatory action research: Issues in theory and practice. Educational Action
Research. 2(3): 313-337.

National Center for Education Statistics. 2021. Fall
Enrollment (IPEDS Survey Component). Washington, D.C.: Author.

NCES. See National Center for Education Statistics.

Nelson, C. A. 2017. Moving
away from data invisibility at Tribal Colleges and Universities. Higher Education Today (blog).
November 20.

O’Keefe, V., and M. Walls. 2021. Indigenous
Communities Demonstrate Innovation and Strength Despite Unequal Losses During COVID-19.
Washington D.C.: Brookings Institute.

Sigler, W. 2017. SEM Core Concepts: Building Blocks for Institutional and Student Success. Washington,
D.C.: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

Shotton, H. J., S. C. Lowe, and S. J. Waterman. 2023. Beyond the Asterisk: Understanding Native Students in
Higher Education. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Endnotes

  1. The American Indian College Fund’s mission is to
    invest in Native students and tribal college education to transform lives and communities.
  2. National Student Clearinghouse Postsecondary Data Partnership

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