The Collective Spirit and Unifying Voice of our Nation's Tribal Colleges and Universities | |
Honoring James Lester Davis | |
With heartfelt sorrow we say goodbye to Jim Davis, a great leader in the Tribal College Movement.
Condolences to his family, friends, staff and students at Turtle Mountain College, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
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Report on Native Higher Education Success Strategies | |
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'For the sake of the nation': Tribal colleges revitalize language, culture | |
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TCU Students!
Get Your Teams Together for the AIHEC Student Conference Drone Challenge!
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EVENTS & WEBINARS TO CHECK OUT | |
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2025 Fellowship dates:
· June 17 - 20, 2025 Virtual Cohort
· July 15 - 18, 2025 Campus Cohort, Purdue University West Lafayette, IN
This program is fully funded by foundations and donors; if selected, there is no cost to the students or the college for travel, housing, food, or program materials.
For more information on where to apply.
https://www.mfri.purdue.edu/focus-forward-fellowship/
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The GA6 Conference will be held April 24-25, 2025 at Duke University.
‘Geoscience and Environmental Justice in Indigenous Communities’.
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You can find more information about the conference, draft agenda, opportunity to submit proposals to lead workshops, and registration and travel scholarship application forms on the conference website: https://geosciencealliance.org/ga-6-conference/. | |
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JOB/INTERNSHIP
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Native American Congressional Internship
Apply
Application deadline: January 24, 2025
Your complete Udall Internship application includes:
- A typed application form with your signature;
- An 800-word essay on a legislative act or public policy statement by either Morris K. Udall or Stewart L. Udall and its impact on your interests and goals;
- A one-page professional resume;
- Transcripts for all university coursework, including undergraduate and (if applicable) graduate and law;
- Three letters of recommendation; and
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Documentation of your enrollment as a member of one or more Federally Recognized Indian Tribes that are included in the annual list of Indian Tribes published by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 5131.
Contact Jason Curley if you have questions about the Internship Program requirements and application process.
2025 Internship Application
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USDA 1994 Tribal Scholars Program – Applications Now Open
| The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that applications are now open for the 1994 Tribal Scholars Program. | |
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This initiative provides scholarships, paid work experience, and potential federal employment to Tribal College and University (TCU) students pursuing studies in agriculture, food, natural resources, and related disciplines. The program aims to strengthen USDA’s partnerships with TCUs and support American Indian and Alaskan Native students in building careers in these critical fields. Interested applicants must submit an application, resume, essay, two letters of recommendation, and recent academic transcripts to be considered.
Application Deadline: The application deadline is January 31, 2025.
The official announcement is available in the USDA's recent press release.
To learn more about the program and eligibility, visit the 1994 Tribal Scholars Program website or email 1994@usda.gov.
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The Coastal Resilience Fellowship, will place 33 fellows with Climate Resilience Regional Challenge projects and will be funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. This fellowship is a two-year opportunity (June 2025 to June 2027), offering a competitive salary of $42,000 to $56,000, depending on the cost of living in the fellowship location, plus medical benefits and travel and relocation expense reimbursement. Eligibility requirements can be found on the Coastal Resilience Fellowship webpage.
In July 2024, NOAA announced recipients of the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge awards. This one-time funding opportunity of $575 million was provided through the Inflation Reduction Act, and 19 projects received between $1 million and $75 million for work focused on increasing resilience to extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes and storm surge) and longer-term, chronic hazards (e.g., sea level rise, drought, wildfire, extreme heat, and coastal erosion). Each project is eligible to receive up to two fellows to support implementation of the projects and provide learning and professional development opportunities for the selected fellows.
The application period opens on December 2, 2024, when descriptions of the fellowship opportunities will be posted on the NOAA Coastal Resilience Fellowship website. Interested applicants should apply by February 29, 2025. Selection will occur in the spring prior to the June 2025 start date.
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Amid the endless negative news cycles, TCJ told a different story, showcasing how tribal colleges are hard at work making the world a better place. | |
Year in Review: TCJ’s Most-Read Articles of 2024 | | |
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No, My Girl, You Tell the Story Artificial Intelligence | For all its remarkable developments and advancements, AI is simply a tool, a machine lacking emotion and humanity. We must not allow it to tell our stories and determine our future. | | |
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Do you have students who need reading support?
Apache Leader Geronimo's Story of His Life has a 7th grade reading level and is free on Project Gutenberg.
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National Advisory Council on Indian Education Improvement Act Signed into Law by President Biden on December 23rd! | |
This act requires the President to ensure that the National Advisory Council on Indian Education includes at least one member who is the president of a tribal college or university. | |
SKC Awarded Postsecondary Success Recognition Program | |
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Salish Kootenai College was one of the first six post-secondary institutions awarded! | | |
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NICC to Launch Bachelor’s Degree in Indigenous Environmental Health | | |
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The Society of American Foresters (SAF) and the USDA Forest Service are hosting a webinar series that will review the results of the 2020 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment (registration link). The webinar series will consist of eight webinars running from January 15 through February 7, 2025 (2-3PM Eastern time) and a ninth webinar on February 11, 2025 (1:30-3PM Eastern time). The first eight webinars will each focus on a different resource area covered by the 2020 RPA Assessment, while the ninth webinar will offer an expert panel discussion on the value and uses of the RPA Assessment. | |
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The RPA Assessment is a legislatively mandated, recurring assessment of the past trends, current status, and projected 50-year futures of renewable resources across all forests and rangelands in the United States. For almost 50 years, the RPA Assessment has been used to support policy and land management decision making, and has enabled the U.S. Forest Service and other organizations to incorporate both socioeconomic and climatic change into land management. The RPA Assessment summarizes current forest and rangeland conditions and trends on all ownerships; identifies economic, social, and biophysical drivers of change; and projects the availability and condition of renewable resources 50 years into the future. The RPA Assessment provides trends and projections for the U.S. land base, disturbance agents, forest resources including forest carbon, forest product markets, rangeland resources, water resources, wildlife and fish, and outdoor recreation, examining the effects of socioeconomic and climatic change on these resources. The 2020 RPA Assessment, published in July 2023, was the sixth assessment released in response to the Forest and Rangelands Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (Public Law 93–378; 16 U.S.C. 1600, et seq., as amended).
You can register for the full webinar series together or for each session individually on the SAF ForestEd registration page. Please note that you will need to register for a free SAF ForestEd account in order to participate in these live webinars or view the recordings. Continuing education credits will be offered for each webinar.
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Federal Communications Commission Update | |
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On October 28, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the launch of the Tribal Library E-Rate Advocacy Program (T-LEAP). This program builds on the Tribal Library Pilot Program from the past two years. T-LEAP is a permanent program providing one-on-one assistance for Tribal library applicants in all aspects of preparing, applying, and receiving E-Rate support throughout a funding year. The E-Rate program, part of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, provides discounts of up to 90 percent of the costs for broadband connections and internal connections (e.g., Wi-Fi access points, routers, cabling, etc.).
Tribal libraries interested in T-LEAP can review the E-Rate FAQ Two Pager for Tribal Libraries, Informational Brochure, and sign up for T-LEAP year-round.
For more information, please review the FCC’s press release.
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The Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance | |
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EJ TCTACs are institutions and organizations throughout the country with a common goal: to support the communities already doing essential environmental and energy justice work. About | EJ TC TAC
Low-income communities and marginalized populations bear the brunt of climate change and environmental damage. Communities know what they need, but they often don’t have access to the opportunities or investments to make those solutions possible.
The EJ TCTACs are here to change that. Whether through guidance and training for grant writing, project management, or budgeting, the EJ TCTACs are ready to support eligible entities making their communities safer, healthier, and greener.
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The Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program | |
Regions 2, 3, 8, and 10 are now open and accepting applications!
The Grantmakers will provide subgrants to community-based nonprofits and other eligible subrecipients for assessment, planning, and project development activities. Grantmakers will alleviate much of the burden that the federal grants process places on small, resource-constrained community-based organizations supporting underserved communities and marginalized populations. These 11 Grantmakers are a combination of community-based nonprofit organizations in potential partnerships with a federally recognized Tribal government or an institution of higher education. Grantmakers will design competitive application and submission processes, award environmental justice subgrants, implement a tracking and reporting system, provide resources and support to communities, all in collaboration with EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.
For additional information: The Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program | US EPA
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All Tribal Colleges and Universities (as defined under 25 U.S.C. 1603 (24), (25), and (26)) as well as many other Tribal entities are eligible for the program irrespective of the other eligibility criteria.
The program is called Biomedical Research Environment & Sponsored Programs Administration Development (BRE-SPAD). The aim is to promote broad participation in biomedical research by supporting resource-limited institutions to conduct research, enhance their research environments, and increase sponsored programs administration capacity. Organizational eligibility for BRE-SPAD is restricted to resource-limited institutions as defined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity: PAR-24-268. The BRE-SPAD program webpage has guides and videos that highlight aspects of the program, assistance on how to determine eligibility, information on application preparation and submission, and a suggested list of things to do before applying. Questions can be sent to NIGMSBRE-SPAD@nigms.nih.gov.
Applications due February 19, 2025.
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APHIS Announces FY 2025 Funding Opportunity for Tribes to Support Animal Disease Preparedness and Response | |
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will provide up to $500,000 to Tribes and Tribal organizations to further animal disease prevention, preparedness, and response through the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP). Projects selected for funding will be awarded in summer 2025.
APHIS invites Native American Tribes and governments, Tribal organizations, and Tribal colleges and universities to submit proposals for the FY 2025 NADPRP Tribal funding opportunity. Through NADPRP, APHIS supports projects focused on advancing animal disease preparedness and response capabilities in the following priority topic areas, developed through stakeholder consultation.
- Develop, enhance, and exercise State and Tribal animal disease outbreak emergency response plans
- Support livestock and poultry biosecurity measures and programs
- Enhance capability and capacity for depopulation, carcass disposal, and decontamination in a disease outbreak
- Support animal movement decisions in a disease outbreak
- Enhance animal disease traceability during a disease outbreak
- Develop and deliver training and exercises to improve animal disease outbreak response capabilities
- Support outreach and education on animal disease prevention, preparedness, and response
The NADPRP Tribal funding opportunity closes January 24, 2025. Parties interested in submitting proposals should visit the APHIS Funding Opportunities or APHIS NADPRP websites for resources and guidance, including the funding opportunity announcement, application instructions, frequently asked questions, templates, help session webinar information, and more. Applicants can also find information on the ezFedGrants website or the Grants.gov website by searching CFDA number 10.025 or Funding Opportunity Number USDA-APHIS-10025-VSSP0000-25-0002.
This is the third year a NADPRP Tribal funding opportunity is available, as APHIS seeks to continue to advance animal disease preparedness and response through its Farm Bill animal health programs. In FY 2023 – FY 2024, APHIS awarded $915,000 in NADPRP Farm Bill funds to support seven animal disease prevention and preparedness projects led by Tribes and Tribal partners and provided an additional $810,000 in NADPRP funding to support two projects led by Land Grant Universities that include Tribal partner engagement. Additionally, in summer 2025 USDA expects to announce awards from the NADPRP FY2025 general funding opportunity, which included up to $16.5 million in NADPRP funds.
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