AILRC Info

Some Background

The American Indian Learning Resource Center was established as the result of a Task Force Report on American Indian affairs to the University of Minnesota in June, 1977. The Task Force suggested that all Native American support personnel and student services be centralized in an American Indian Learning Resource Center. Problems with inter cultural communication in financial aid, career counseling and other student services were identified. Recommendations included adequate full-time staff for the recruiting methods for Native Americans, development of evaluation report and vision of the financial aid policy regarding Native American Students. The attrition rate among incoming Native American students at that time was estimated to be over 50% during their first year at the University of Minnesota.

Services

The AILRC serves approximately 260-300 American Indian undergraduate students each year. The AILRC provides a range of services that lend support to Indian students throughout their academic careers at the University of Minnesota. These services include: admissions information, financial aid counseling, student advising, academic and personal counseling, seminars teaching "survival skills" in a university environment, career information, as well as tutoring and mentor programs. The Center also provides referrals to a network of community agencies

The Need

American Indian students at the University of Minnesota are at risk academically. A recent report by the Office of the Inspector General, after an audit of the Federal Higher Education Scholarship program from 1989 through 1992, stated that 78% of 1,008 Minnesota American Indian freshmen failed to progress to their sophomore year. At the University of Minnesota, dropout rates for each freshmen class since 1982 have averaged 70-85%. An analysis of students at all undergraduate levels reveals that one third have GEDs, over 50% are non-traditional (older) students, and 53% have seriously considered dropping out. They are also more likely to have been on academic probation at some point in their college careers. They have self reported poor high school preparation in science, mathematics and social sciences. They are considered to be "at risk" as measured by the following factors: more single-parent families, low parental education, limited English proficiency, low family and personal income, and high sibling drop-out rates. A high number of these students repeat a year of school and perform below basic proficiency levels in mathematics and reading.

Goals

The goal of the American Indian Learning Resource Center is to address the unique educational needs and cultural adjustment problems faced by American Indian students. American Indian students at the University of Minnesota encounter academic roadblocks and cultural adjustment problems. Many of our students suffer from a lack of a clear vision or end result of their completion of a college degree. Their vision is clouded as they associate college matriculation with the subjugation of their needs and interests to seemingly irrelevant academic agendas. The philosophical approach of the American Indian Learning Resource Center seeks to help students understand the gap between the practice of their cultural values and the conformity to the educational practices of the dominant culture which serve to sanction a measure of the self worth of the majority of students.