Newsletter                                                                                                            July 10, 2015
Message from the Director 

Yesterday, I had the honor to participate in the White House Tribal Youth Gathering in Washington D.C. During this historic event for Native youth, Secretary Jewell, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn and I announced new funding to build the capacity of tribal education departments and help increase student access to higher education through a partnership with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and 20 Tribal Colleges and Universities.  This new funding helps the BIE move a step closer to the goals presented in the Blueprint for Reform to give tribal nations the ability to provide an academically rigorous and culturally appropriate education to their children based on their needs. Senior managers worked this week on developing new ways to deliver technical assistance to schools and tribes.  We have made some very important steps towards these goals and they could not have been achieved without the hard work and commitment from every employee at the BIE. Thank you for your dedication as we work together to build a new BIE. 


Dr. Charles M. Roessel 
Interior Department Announces New Funding for Tribal Education
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Dr. Charles M. "Monty" Roessel in announcing important funding to help further the Department of the Interior's goal to transform and improve the quality of education students receive at tribal schools funded by the BIE.

A centerpiece of the transformation includes transferring control of BIE-funded schools from the BIE to the tribe the school serves. Local control will be facilitated through $1.45 million in grants to seven tribal nations who will use the funding to begin restructuring school governance, build capacity for academic success and develop curriculum that is both academically rigorous and culturally relevant to students. The Department received this funding in its FY2015 appropriation from Congress authorized under the Education Amendments Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2020).

Additionally, Interior is awarding $995,000 to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) to be disbursed among 20 Tribal Colleges and Universities and the two BIE-operated post-secondary schools (Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, N.M.). AIHEC works with more than 45 BIE-funded elementary and secondary schools to create college pathway programs that will help more K-12 BIE students graduate from high school and continue to college. More information on this funding can be found in the Department of the Interior News Release.
BIE Director Roessel Names Dr. Tamarah Pfeiffer Associate Deputy Director for Navajo Schools
 BIE Director Dr. Charles M. Roessel has named Dr. Tamarah Pfeiffer as the Associate Deputy Director to oversee 65 BIE-funded schools serving over 12,000 students on the Navajo Nation Reservation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Dr. Pfeiffer is a member of the Navajo Nation and has served since 2010 as Superintendent of the Alamo Navajo Community School, a BIE-funded, tribally controlled K-12 day school in Magdalena, New Mexico on the Navajo Nation Reservation. 

"I am pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Tamarah Pfeiffer as the Associate Deputy Director for the BIE-funded schools on the Navajo Nation," Roessel said. "Dr. Pfeiffer's expertise and proven leadership in Indian education will make her a vital member of our team as we strive to improve the quality of education and opportunities for Native youth."

"I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to be in this position and work alongside some of the best and brightest minds in American Indian education as new challenges are placed before us all to help the students of the Navajo Nation," Pfeiffer said. "It is my vision to develop educational programs in BIE-funded schools that support and develop students to be effective in their educational ventures beyond high school."

Pfeiffer's career as an educator encompasses more than 35 years as a teacher and administrator in public, grant and contract schools. Prior to working at Alamo Navajo Community School, Pfeiffer served from 2006-2009 as High School Principal of the Rough Rock Community School on the Navajo Nation Reservation in Chinle, AZ.

Pfeiffer holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of New Mexico, a Masters of Arts in English from the Bread Loaf School of English, and a Doctorate of Education with a specialization in Educational Administration and American Indians from the University of Pennsylvania.
Deadline: Financial Business Management System Personal Identification Verification Card Access
The Finanical and Business Management System (FBMS) has recently migrated to a new platform, changing the path to access FBMS. You will now be required to access FBMS through the Department of the Interior (DOI) App Store, which requires encryption standards.

BIE FBMS users are now be required to use two-factor authentication, a second means to identify users who access FBMS. The BIE will utilize a Personal Identification Verification (PIV) Card, which will be inserted into a reader with a PIN number, in order to access FBMS. Employees who have not yet activated their cards or need to obtain a PIN can do so at the nearest Light Activation Station. A full list of Light Activation Stations can be located by state here.

If you are a FBMS user, you must have your PIV card activated and use it to access FBMS no later than July 13, 2015. This form of two-factor authentication is vital to countering data breaches.  There will be no extensions for the July 13, 2015, deadline.  Users who do not have two-factor authentication by July 13, 2015, will not be able to access FBMS. 

For more information, please contact Angela Salazar, BIE Supervisory Administrative Analyst, at [email protected] or (505) 917-1897.
Tohono O'odham Youth Wrestling Club Takes First Place at 2015 Lori Piestewa National Native American Games
Congratulations to the youth athletes from the Tohono O'odham Wresting Club who took first place for the sixth year in a row at the 2015 Lori Piestewa National Native American Games! The 
Piestewa National Native Games Wrestling Tournament was held June 26-27, 2015 at the Salt River Recreation Center in Scottsdale, AZ.  The Piestewa games include seven competitive sports and honor Specialist Lori Piestewa, the first woman to die in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the first American Indian woman in history to die in combat.
Federal Funding Opportunities 

Methamphetamine and Suicide Prevention Initiative 

The Indian Health Service (IHS) is accepting applications for a five-year funding cycle to continue the planning, development, and implementation of the Methamphetamine and Suicide Prevention Initiative .  Funding promotes the use and development of evidence-based and practice-based models that represent culturally-appropriate prevention and treatment approaches to  methamphetamine abuse and suicide prevention from a community-driven context.  The deadline to apply is September 8, 2015.  The full grant announcement can be found in the Federal Register. 

 

Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative 

IHS is accepting applications for a five-year funding cycle, to continue the planning, development, and implementation of the Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative (DVPI).

DVPI is a demonstration program for tribes and villages, tribal organizations, federally operated programs, and urban Indian health programs to provide violence prevention and treatment services that provide victim advocacy, intervention, case coordination, policy development, community response teams, and community and school education programs. The deadline to apply is September 8, 2015.  The full grant announcement can be found in the Federal Register. 

 
Emergency Reimbursement Procedures for the Termination of Facilities Management Information System Access 
The transition from the Facilities Management Information System (FMIS) to Indian Affairs, Facilities Management System (IA-FMS) Maximo is reaching its final stages.  It is anticipated that FMIS will be offline commencing Wednesday, July 15, 2015.  In moving forward with terminating field access, a number of procedures will be used to establish a process for emergency funding. All emergency requests will be considered as presented to Division of Facilities Management and Construction (DFMC).  It is important that all requests are completed and well-documented so they can be processed expeditiously without delay.  Please review the full procedures here for the required actions and documentation.
Vertical Integrated Pathway and Student Internships

Meet the 2015 summer student interns at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, N.M. SIPI has paid student internships to retain students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and encourage students in developmental courses to stay in college and pursue STEM careers.  Students are linked to each other as well as graduate students, instructors, and industry professionals via the Vertically Integrated Pyramid (VIP) Model.  SIPI's Department of Advanced Technical Education has crafted VIP to build the relationships and the sense of community that are important to our American Indian students. 
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