GPRA 5.2 Number and percent of Promise Neighborhood students who graduate from a two-year or four-year college or university or vocational certification completion.

Definition. College, university, and vocational certification completion. This includes the number and percentage of former high school graduates from the target high schools who graduated from their post-secondary institutions (i.e., community college or associate’s programs, four-year college and universities, and technical or vocational programs held separate from colleges or universities) within 100 and 150 percent of traditional completion time. The traditional length of time for associate’s degrees is two years after first enrolling (or 100 percent time). Students who complete in 150 percent of time will take three years. For four-year colleges and universities, 100 percent traditional completion time is within four years and completing with 150 percent translates into graduating six years after entering. For vocational and technical programs and certificates, the traditional length of time depends on the particular program.

AASB works with the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) to pull data from the National Student Clearinghouse database by high school graduation cohort.

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Successful Scholars / Retention through Intervention (Post-secondary):

40 students in the spring and 19 students in the fall received support and mentorship through the UAS Successful Scholars program. 7 events were hosted throughout the year, including topics such as study habits, Qaspek Making (a traditional AK Native clothing item), and health/ wellness. Students were also connected to other events and resources on campus. With the loss of the grant coordinator, the program was transferred to the Native and Rural Student Center (NRSC) starting with the fall 2022 semester. Two student employees/leaders were identified as mentors for Successful Scholars. The student employee mentors were tasked with making sure Successful Scholars received outreach for engagement in UAS events and activities, especially those hosted by the NRSC and designed for supporting Native and Rural students.

Fall 22 Retention through Intervention Early Progress Reports (through EAB) ran  9/26 - 10/14. After identifying 115 gateway courses (developmental or 100/200 level courses that students must pass in order to successfully advance in their chosen program of study), 18 faculty signed up to participate. 15 of those faculty submitted progress reports and identified students who were of academic concern.

Professional Learning with UAS Faculty & Staff (Post-Secondary):

In the spring, the First Alaskans Institute held a two-day training on race and equity dialogues with 24 faculty members from the Sitka and Juneau campuses. The training fostered deep engagement and transformative learning while also modeling indigenous approaches to teaching and sharing knowledge. Ongoing professional development opportunities are also available through the Monday Morning mentors program, which features different topics on a regular basis.

In the fall, the Gardner Institute presented a two-day workshop on transforming the foundational postsecondary experience. Presentation titles included The First Year Experience for UAS: Lessons learned from the Gardner Institutes work on redesigning the first college year; The Transfer Experience: Creating a more equitable and successful postsecondary system; and UAS Gateway Course Completion Line: A Call to Action for all Educators. 120 UAS faculty and staff attended the workshop. The workshop presenter also met with various staff groups including the Provost’s Council and the Arts and Sciences Dean Council to discuss improving outcomes for students of color. UAS was invited to join the Gardner Institute’s cohort of institutions focusing on a long term “transformative experience” institute under development, anticipated to start Summer 2023.

Vocational Training & Certification (Post-Secondary):

Angoon - High school students have the opportunity to earn work ready certificates and vocational training through Applied Technology, Drone training, and culinary arts classes. In Drones: Through the Eyes of Raven, students earned work ready certificates, requiring them to learn about the FAA rules and regulations of flying a drone. Students planned builds, built drones, learned about weather and wind, tested the drones, and then computed the changes needed.

Juneau - Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA)’s Vocational Training and Resource Center (VTRC), renamed Generations Southeast, has largely been inactive, with several course offerings being canceled due to low enrollment. They were able to offer an Administrative Assistant Level I course in the spring and in the fall, serving 7 students. They also supported the Child Development Academy (see GPRA 1a, solution “Childcare Certification & Provider Training”), the Summer Career Academy (see below), and are working toward offering a Commercial Drivers License training program that will work for rural residents (new federal regulations have made getting a CDL much more difficult for people who live in small, remote communities).

Sitka - The Sitka Tribe of Alaska provided scholarships to 20 tribal citizens to pursue adult vocational training opportunities.

Regional - The Summer Career Academy offered work-ready certificates. (These numbers were counted under Dual Enrollment in GRPA 5.1.) Students signed up for one of four week-long Career and Technical Education courses in Intro to Construction, Small Engine Repair, Health Careers Exploration and Intro to Behavioral Health. In addition to college credit, students in Intro to Construction received OSHA certification while those in Health Careers received CPR certification and Intro to Behavioral Health received Mental Health First Aid certification. Small Engine repair was also offered because many people living in rural Alaska rely on snow machines or small boats to travel between communities or secure food. Similarly, Health Careers, Behavioral Health, and Construction are all careers that are available to students in their home communities as well as in larger communities. Students from Hydaburg, Yakutat, Sitka and Juneau participated in the program.

Data for postsecondary indicators (GPRAs 5.1 and 5.2) is delayed due to staffing changes at the reporting state agency, Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE). A solution is in place and data should be available by the next report.

STEPS partners are continuing to investigate how colleges and other institutions of higher education can better meet the needs of Alaska Native and rural students once they enroll. Dannielle Carlson, who worked as a recruiter at UAS after graduating from the school, recently wrote a master’s thesis which used an indigenous approach to research to interview and then analyze the experiences of a dozen Alaska Native college students. The common theme was that each of the students had to tap into tremendous reserves of resiliency in order to survive in an institution that felt misaligned to them. Danielle’s paper highlights the ongoing disconnect between the Western approach to higher education and traditional Alaska Native values, and it notes that asking college students to have super-human reserves of resilience and grit is not sustainable or fair.

Contributing factors are the ongoing recognition that institutions can and should do more to support students to be successful once they have enrolled, as demonstrated by projects like the Retention through Intervention program, which provides more coordination among departments and proactive support for students.

Solutions reported in this GPRA area are focused on increasing a sense of safety and connection through proactive outreach and programming and professional development focused on culturally responsive and trauma engaged practices, as well as expanding career pathways through vocational and career and technical education options.

Some Successes:

• Embedding programs for sustainability. UAS will not be funded during the no-cost extension both because some of the targets have been met and because they have identified sustainable funding sources for this work from private or state funding sources. They also felt the documentation was burdensome.  However, these programs have sustainability strategies: direct outreach to underserved freshmen continued through the Native and Rural Services office rather than as part of the Successful Scholars program. And the concept of adjusting practices to meet the needs of students (rather than asking students to continually meet the needs of the institution) has continued through the University’s ongoing partnership with the Garner Institute. And while there is less funding for Dual Enrollment scholarships, the University has designated a dual enrollment coordinator who can more fully and thoroughly streamline dual enrollment opportunities.
• However, for post-secondary targets that have not been met by UAS to date, it seemed unlikely that they would be able to make large program adaptations so we have identified other partners that can help with small contracts that can be seen in the strategy response behind the curve.

Some Challenges:

• Staffing. Tlingit and Haida has had difficulty filling positions to support the vocational technical programs (the same challenge that has made achieving tribal youth employment goals difficult).

Foster culturally relevant career and technical education. STEPS partners are exploring models from other areas of the state including the Bristol Bay Region Career and Technical Education, which is a collaborative effort among four school districts to offer career related intensives that are connected to their communities and culture. Work with the Department of Education to host a Community of Practice for practitioners who are developing culturally relevant CTE courses and pathways like Native Arts & Entrepreneurship.