A MERICAN INDIAN C OLLEGE FUND

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M E R I C A N

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U I L D I N G S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

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A T H W A Y S

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P P L I C A T I O N

TCUs Building Sustainability Pathways Program Coordinator

Phone: (720) 214 – 2555

E-mail: anegrette@collegefund.org

American Indian College Fund 8333 Greenwood Blvd. Denver, CO 80221 1-800-776-3863 Fax: 303-426-1200 www.collegefund.org

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Grant Program

The American Indian College Fund created a grant opportunity for Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to strengthen and expand their existing Environmental Sustainability programs, and to create Environmental Sustainability programs where none currently exist. The goal of this funding is to provide resources for TCUs to develop new and expand existing programs in Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources, Wildlife Biology, Fisheries,

Environmental Engineering, Hydrology, and other sustainability fields. Each tribal community faces a myriad of environmental issues from air and water quality, and depletion of natural resources, to management of agriculture and protection of wildlife. With this funding, TCUs have the unique opportunity to promote environmental sustainability in tribal communities using traditional knowledge to build culturally relevant curriculum embedded in Native concepts, values, and life ways.

Through listening sessions and interviews conducted in spring 2013 with TCU faculty, students, and local professional experts from partner organizations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, key programming goals and needs emerged. The need for a culturally informed sustainability practice was stated as important to all TCU participants at the listening sessions. This is conceptualized through promoting culture and language in primary and secondary education, building culturally relevant curricula embedded in Native concepts, values and life ways, locating and growing traditional foods and plants, intergenerational teaching and learning of traditional knowledge with elders and tribal students, and technical field research knowledge shared by community experts associated with environmental sustainability issues. The need for education that is contextualized as community-based action such as restoring and revitalizing resources, preserving existing resources, recycling, creating community gardens and farms to increase food sustainability, and developing community awareness and resources that promote sustainability across tribal communities was also stated as critical to environmental sustainability success by the TCU participants.

We hope that through this funding opportunity, TCUs can bridge that gap and meet their community’s need. The maximum award for TCUs proposing to expand existing programming is $10,000. The maximum for TCUs creating new programming is $50,000.

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Eligibility Requirements

Eligible applicants are TCUs that plan to strengthen and expand their existing Environmental Sustainability academic and community outreach programs, or those planning to create new programs where none currently exist. In order to apply for this grant opportunity the TCU applicant must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Current and full member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

• Regionally located within the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin.

• Complete all required documents for the grant application

• Selected grantees will attend a required webinar which will be scheduled individually with each TCU during the week of October 13th-17th, 2014

• Selected grantees will complete all required documents after selection

Guidelines

TCUs must meet all eligibility requirements listed above. All applications must be submitted by Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. MDT. Submissions must include completed

Application Cover Sheet, the signature of the Tribal College President and the Program

Administrator responsible for oversight of the Building Sustainability Pathways Program, Grant Proposal, including reporting and programming timeline for completing the Building

Sustainability Pathways Program, and an itemized budget.

Evaluation of Applications

Submitted applications will have an internal review with College Fund staff to ensure the best quality applications. Applications will be evaluated by:

• Completeness and quality of application

• Clarity, quality and potential impact of proposed use of monetary award

• Proposed programming meets the objectives of the overall project

• The capacity of the TCU to develop and implement new and revised courses and new certificate or degree programs including:

o Availability of qualified faculty, o Evidence of student need, and o Commitment of the TCU leadership.

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Application Cover Sheet

Tribal College or University Information

Submitting Tribal College or University

Mailing Address

City State Zip Code

Telephone Number Fax Number

Project Administrator Information Name

Title

Email Address

Telephone Number Fax Number

Environmental Sustainability/Natural Resource Department Information Department Chair

Title

Email Address Telephone Number

TCU Authorization

I hereby authorize submission of this application to the American Indian College Fund’s Building Sustainability Pathways Grant Application:

TCU President Signature: Date:

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Grant Proposal Instructions

The Building Sustainability Pathways funding period can last either from 1 to 3 years

depending on the needs of the TCU; thus it is negotiable over what time period TCUs would like grant funds administered. Be sure to include your proposed program period in your program proposal and timeline.

I. Program Proposal

The Program Proposal should provide a general overview of how your TCU plans to

strengthen your capacity for Environmental Sustainability programming through expanding the existing core academic courses, or creating new programs and

certificates, and/or offering programming that leads to more community based action; AND give a detailed description of the specific program(s) that will be funded by the requested grant.

Be sure to respond to the following questions within your Program Proposal (that are applicable to your TCU):

• In what ways has your current Environmental Sustainability Program incorporated preservation and restoration of Native life ways and intergenerational learning?

o If it has incorporated these, how will you strengthen these components during your project time frame?

o If it hasn’t incorporated these, how will you integrate these program components into your proposed project?

 How will these be identified and taught?

• What issues and challenges do you anticipate/or have you encountered when integrating the use of traditional values, life ways, knowledge and practices, and intergenerational knowledge transfer in an academic setting?

o How do you plan to respond to these?

• What do you feel is missing from your current academic courses or programs on Environmental Sustainability topics?

o How will your proposed program changes and additions respond to existing gaps?

o How do you plan to build upon the existing programs?

• What are the goals of the proposed project?

o What specific strategies will you use to meet your proposed program goals? o What services will the program deliver?

o What population will the program serve?

o Identify how your TCU community will define what a successful initiative or project entails

 How will that success be measured, especially areas of culturally informed sustainability practice and community based action?

• How do you propose to sustain the programs developed through this project? o What other funding sources will support the newly proposed or expanded

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• A short bio of the staff who will be working on the project, their experience and qualifications to perform the activities that will be funded.

• The number of students and community members that you expect will participate in the proposed Environmental Sustainability program

II. Program Timeline

Provide a timeline of activities that will be conducted to support the initiative of the grant. Your program timeline should reflect your program description and provide enough detail for the College Fund to monitor your progress. The project timeline must fall within the grant period you select, between 1 and 3 years, ending no later than June 2017.

III. Budget

This grant opportunity awards up to $50,000 for TCUs creating Environmental Sustainability programs and $10,000 for schools expanding existing Environmental Sustainability programs. Provide an itemized budget with categories of expenditures that will be funded by the requested grant. Your budget should account for any expenditure that the project will incur during the grant award year.

Application Check List/Required Documents

Applicants must submit the following documents and information to receive full and equal consideration during the selection process:

 Application Cover Sheet with President and Program Administrator authorizing signatures

 Program Proposal

 Timeline for completing the Pathways to Environmental Sustainability

 Itemized budget

Applications and all supporting documents must be received through mail or electronic submissions by 5 pm MST on Tuesday, September 23, 2014. Only complete applications will be reviewed.

If you have any questions about the application process, please don’t hesitate to contact the Program Coordinator, April Negrette at (720)214-2555.

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Electronic Submission of Application Materials

Email Application to: anegrette@collegefund.org

Mail Application to: April Negrette

Program Coordinator

Building Sustainability Pathways American Indian College Fund 8333 Greenwood Blvd.

Denver, CO 80221