AMC Agenda

Aboriginal Management Council Meeting

November 26, 2007

ATAC 3004

2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Present: Dr. F. Gilbert, President

Dr. L. Hayes, Vice-President

B. Sabourin, Vice-Provost (Aboriginal Initiatives)

P. Capon, Matawa First Nations

D. Burgart, LUNSA

B. Johnson, LUNSA

G. Martin, ARCO

P. Smith, Research Ethics, Advisors Committee Co-Chair

Advisors:

Dr. G. Boire, Dean, Faculty of Grad Studies

Dr. B. Dadgostar, Dean, Business Administration

Dr. E. Gardner, Aboriginal Education

D. McPherson, I.L.

Dr. J. O'Meara, Dean, Faculty of Education

L. Pelot, ACSS

Regrets:

S. Bebonang, NTEP

D.D. Frenette, NAN

C. Neckoway, NLIP

I. Peltier, NOSM

T. Pile, Chair M.N.O.

R. Ranger, F.W.F.N.

Dr. R. Strasser, Founding Dean, NOSM

Dr. S. Wolf, Aboriginal Education

Guest: Murray Waboose

1. Welcome and Opening Prayer: P. Capon, Acting Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting. G. Martin opened the meeting with a prayer.

2. Conflict of Interest: There was no declaration of Conflict of Interest.

3. Approval of Agenda: Moved: (B. Johnson/G. Martin) to approve the Agenda with the following amendments:

4. Approval of Minutes: Moved: (P. Smith/G. Martin) to accept the October 22, 2007 Minutes of the Aboriginal Management Council Meeting as distributed.

5. Business Arising from the Previous Meeting

a.) AMC Strategic Plan Monitoring Chart: B. Sabourin, Vice Provost (Aboriginal Initiatives) explained the handouts that members had received. One was the revised version from the last meeting and the other a condensed version for clarity.

A list of Aboriginal Initiatives priorities was distributed and discussed. The list was revised and renumbered with the following additions:

6 c. Graduate Studies Recruitment

8. Indigenous Learning Centre - capital funding and set up sub-committee.

1. Access to Opportunities - L. Hayes and B. Sabourin are working on the Access & Opportunities Strategy Proposal. The money will have to be spent in the current academic year. E. Gardner will review material and provide an update on what is currently being done in the Education Program such as brochures, etc.

LU will be applying for the Access to Opportunities grants in 3 categories: Health-- Native Nurses Entry Program; Education - for recruitment to theH.B.Ed (Aboriginal Education); and Transition--to increase Aboriginal graduate student enrolment and retention.

2. Native Access Program

Short-term - B. Sabourin and L. Hayes are working on SAGE funding.

Long-term- B. Sabourin will provide information in April on goals, mission, and best way to deliver the program. B. Johnson will forward some names of students who have been through the Access Program to be on this committee.

AETS - to be completed in January. Faculty heads were contacted to forward material about applicable projects in their departments.

3. Report on AMC Strategic Plan - Due January 19, 2008 (Review current LU Strategic Plan and add AMC additions and progress on each goal and objective.

4. Deans Survey - Inventory on Aboriginal Academic programming. Surveys will be presented to the Deans' Council this Wednesday and emailed to the department heads.

5. Promotion/Recruitment

Aboriginal Initiatives website and development of cultural promotional materials are being updated.

Aboriginal Recruiter - B. Sabourin is working with recruiters to ensure recruiters are aware of approaches that will attract Aboriginal students and looking into getting an Aboriginal Recruiter. Communities to visit have not yet been identified.

Graduate Studies Recruitment - B. Sabourin discussing with Aboriginal Graduate Students what positive experiences they have had and what attracted them to LU. B. Sabourin will be working with G. Boire for ways to increase graduate student enrolment through the Access to Opportunities potential funding.

6. Cross-Cultural Education

A lunch program seminar series is planned to promote Aboriginal cultural awareness. The presenters will be faculty from Lakehead University.

7. Discuss with VP Research Goal 1. Objective 2 under Research and Scholarly activity. Research Ethics Board will work on this after the meeting with the VP Research.

8. Indigenous Learning Centre - Set up sub-committee to raise capital funding. It was noted that AMC can obtain advice from the Advancement Office. The Transition Team will assist B. Sabourin with this.

Moved: (P. Smith/B. Johnson) that AMC supports the list of Aboriginal Initiatives' priorities as revised. Carried

b.) Targets for Aboriginal Graduate Students: Gary Boire - Faculty of Graduate Studies

G. Boire noted that prior to this no mechanism was in place to examine statistics related to Aboriginal graduate students. It was noted that one of the best ways to recruit is to treat the current students very well.

G. Boire plans to meet with graduate students and discuss what can be done to improve their experience. Additionally, celebrating successes can be a recruitment tool. One consideration is setting up a section on the website for Aboriginal Alumni. Aboriginal Graduate Education has plans to discuss how to increase enrolment.

Some interest has been expressed in having a transition program for those interested in the Master's Degree Program. The intent would be to provide a qualifying program that would provide the material necessary to meet rigorous requirements.

A mentoring system may prove useful to students concerned about their abilities to meet the demands of graduate programs.

Potential second and third year Aboriginal students could be targeted with graduate student recruitment efforts.

c.) Revised Secretariat/Secretary Policy - will be addressed at the January meeting.

6. Paul Capon and Murray Waboose Matawa First Nations - Slide handout distributed.

Mr. P. Capon discussed the Matawa First Nation communities. Many of these communities are remote access communities. To encourage education in these areas, new approaches to education are being implemented. The Matawa First Nations are "committed to supporting each other and working together as a regional group in order to build community strength for the future."

The First Nations are working on community-based education programming. The main objectives are: quality; accessible; and community-based. Mr. Waboose is facilitating with communities working collectively as communities move from provincial and federal schools to local control of the education system. Communities are forming partnerships where one community delivers primary school and another delivers secondary school education.

The regional strategic plan for the next five years is being reviewed and a steering committee comprised of education directors is being re-established. The Matawa First Nations is working toward improving stakeholder relations by improving communications including an updated website which will be launched soon as well as encouraging isolated communities to take advantage of e-learning and video-conferencing. As part of the overall planning, both administrator capacity and teaching capacity are being developed while maintaining the uniqueness of the community. Specialty services will be improved to provide additional services related to speech and language and psychologists.

7. New Business

a) Report from the Vice-Provost Aboriginal Initiatives - B. Sabourin:

B. Sabourin will be meeting with students enrolled in Business Administration to discuss how to improve recruitment and retention.

B. Sabourin represented Lakehead University at the Aboriginal University Education Roundtable in Winnipeg in November. Members agreed to accelerate efforts to improve the success of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students in Canadian universities. The Communiqu released after that meeting will be distributed to AMC members. It was noted that the goals discussed during this meeting were the same goals that AMC has been discussing.

AMC discussed representation on an Orillia Advisory Committee. Contact should be made with Sault College and with independent bands. Although some bands are represented by the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, it would be necessary to determine which bands will need separate representation.

Statistics related to self-declaration at Lakehead University were discussed. It was determined that there were a total of 521 self-identified Aboriginal students; 48 self-identified graduate students. Summer students were not included in these statistics.

b) Recommendations from the November Advisors' Committee meeting:

AMC discussed the Terms of Reference for the SAC/AMC Joint Committee.

MOVED: (P. Smith/E. Gardner) The following recommendations will be forwarded to the Senate Academic Committee Secretary:

1. That the three SAC appointees to the joint SAC/AMC sub-committee include only one student, rather than two.

2. That the joint SAC/AMC sub-committee Terms of Reference and Action items include the following:

To identify common elements in the AMC Strategic Plan and the Academic Plan

To develop a plan to monitor implementation of the common elements in the AMC Strategic Plan and the Academic Plan at the faculty, departmental, and classroom level

To revise these elements as needed, with the approval of both SAC and AMC

To ensure that relevant items from the AMC Strategic Plan are incorporated into the Academic Plan

CARRIED

(B. Johnson abstained)

c) Presenters for the January meeting - D.D. Frenette, 1^st choice; B. Johnson, 2^nd choice. The Secretary will make arrangements with one of these members.

d) LUNSA Update:

B. Johnson noted that LUNSA had chosen a theme for the annual pow-wow "Respecting the Past, Empowering the Future" and it was scheduled for March 14-16 to cap off AAC's Elders Conference.

The new LUNSA executive is working with ACSS to bring "movie nights" to the students. Other activities included selling LUNSA T-Shirts and planning the December Winter Feast on Dec 6th.

B. Johnson suggested recruiting students through e-mentoring whereby students at Lakehead University are connecting with high school students in the community.

8. Adjournment:

MOVED: (B. Johnson/F. Gilbert) that the meeting be adjourned. CARRIED

______________________ __________________________

Tim Pile, Chair Karen Roche, Secretary