Washington State University Archives

WSU Brings Classroom to Students With Online Certification in American Indian Studies

wsu-online.blogspot.comWashington State University is now offering an online program in American Indian Studies that leads to certification. — wsu-online.blogspot.com
Washington State University is now offering an online program in American Indian Studies that leads to certification.

Washington State University is now offering an online program in American Indian Studies that leads to certification. This will provide an opportunity for those living away from campus to expand their education and enhance their opportunities for future employment.

Michael Holloman, Colville/Coeur d’Alene, heads up the American Indian Studies program at WSU. He talked of the advantages in having an online certification program, not only for Native people but also for others who work with reservations and tribes in a variety of ways.

He acknowledges that attrition rates are often high for Native students. “Our familial ties are enormous, sometimes exceeding our own personal interests.” An online program would help alleviate that problem by offering a certificate program for those who choose to remain at home rather than attending a college. The certification program is identical to a minor in American Indian Studies in terms of courses required and class hours.

The requirement for certification is that students take nine hours (three classes) of core courses plus another nine hours of elective work.

Holloman said that in the four years he’s been at WSU he’s only had two people pursue a certificate, “Mainly because people involved in our program are taking it for a minor. Now that we have the certificate online, that’s for non-degree seeking students. Anyone who wants to apply to a global campus is able to apply and take course work.” He also noted that in the two weeks over the holidays he’d received “at least 20 calls from area codes all throughout the west.”

Josiah Pinkham works in the cultural resource program for the Nez Perce Tribe. “I think it will be helpful because we have tribal members here that lack the resources, either time or financial, to go to the WSU campus. It’s definitely a helpful thing.” He added that he is interested himself, even though he has a bachelor’s degree but hopes to one day receive advanced degrees. “I think the online certificate would be a great way to kind of get me back in the groove.”

Pinkham has had overlapping work experiences with Holloman, “and it’s always been positive. He has set up a pretty vast network in the Pacific Northwest and also in Washington, D.C. He’s a well connected man.”

Pinkham also commented on the value for non-Native people taking the class. “One of the things growing clear is a need for people who are educated (about tribal culture) in working with tribes. There is a growing need and people are responding with requests for cultural awareness training.”

Frequently this interaction concerns environmental subjects. Avista Utilitiesis one such company and has interactions with all the Upper Columbia tribes. Toni Pessemier serves as American Indian Relations Advisor for the company and she pointed out values in having some of their employees sign up for an online class. “Having the ability to understand and appreciate and work effectively with individuals or their organizations is important to their jobs and roles at Avista. If they had a certificate or background in American Indian Studies, such as the program at WSU, it really helps create that experience or background they could bring to their job in our company. It helps them to do their job better.”

Holloman pointed out that industry employees can frequently get their course work paid for them by the company. Employees from various companies have expressed to him in the past a wish to have access to such an online course.

He isn’t aware of other schools offering online certification, saying they haven’t found them in their research but acknowledges there might be others.

“The dream is that this is the first step of a larger online degree program. It doesn’t mean we won’t offer the certificate, which we will. Maybe down the road WSU will have an online major in American Indian Studies and will definitely have a larger offering.”

For more information about the American Indian Studies Program at WSU, contact Michael Holloman at 509-335-0449 or michaelholoman@wsu.eduor check out the Global Campus websiteto see all the university’s offerings. The specific American Indian Studies Program page can be found here.

WWU Spring Pow wow pictures

(Click Image to see more photos.)

The Native American Student Union of Western Washington University hosted a spring pow-wow, April 26, 2014, in MAC Gym at WWU in Bellingham. The meaning of the pow-wow is to bring people together in a traditional celebration to share the mind body and spirit. The spring pow-wow featured vending, music, traditional dancing food and more. MATT MCDONALD — THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Buy Photo

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/04/27/3611151/nasus-2014-spring-powwow.html#storylink=cpy

Greenhouse gardeners begin transplanting crops to aid local food banks

by Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

TULALIP – Gardeners in training took part in a transplanting extravaganza on Sunday, March 16, at the Hibulb Cultural Center.

A new partnership between the Tulalip Tribes and the Washington State University Snohomish County Master Gardeners Foundation is making it possible for participants to learn the nit and grit of greenhouse gardening.

During Sunday’s event, 40 gardeners of all ages transplanted 75 flats of broccoli, kale, and chard seedlings into larger pots. These seedlings will be part of a crop grown to aid local food banks, such as Tulalip Food Bank, and other Snohomish County Master Gardener food bank gardens.

Tulalip tribal member Gisselo Andrade Jr., helps transplant broccoli that will be harvested for the Tulalip Food Bank during the Greenhouse Gardening class hosted by the Tulalip Tribes and Washington State University Snohomish County Master Gardeners Foundation on March 16, 2014. Photo/ Richelle Taylor — Tulalip tribal member Gisselo Andrade Jr., helps transplant broccoli that will be harvested for the Tulalip Food Bank during the Greenhouse Gardening class hosted by the Tulalip Tribes and Washington State University Snohomish County Master Gardeners Foundation on March 16, 2014.
Photo/ Richelle Taylor

“We all got to know each other more and shared our passion and enthusiasm for gardening,” said Veronica Leahy, Diabetes Educator at the Tulalip Karen I. Fryberg Health Clinic. The gardens began with the clinic’s diabetes management care and prevention education as the ‘Gardening Together as Families’ program. The program expanded through the Rediscovery Program at the Hibulb Cultural Center to incorporate traditional plants and traditional foods

“Even in the rain we were warm and comfortable inside the greenhouse, enjoying each other’s company,” said Leahy.

An additional class was held on Wednesday, March 19, that focused on proper transplanting, water, and sanitization techniques, along with how to seed and label plants, and protecting young plants as they grow.

For more information on ‘Gardening Together as Families’ program at the Hibulb Cultural Center, please contact Veronica Leahy at 360-716-5642 or vleahy@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov.

Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Seventy-five flats of broccoli, kale, and chard seedling were transplanted during the Greenhouse Gardening class hosted by the Tulalip Tribes and the Washington State University Snohomish County Master Gardeners Foundation on March 16, 2014 at the Hibulb Cultural Center. Photo/ Richelle Taylor — Seventy-five flats of broccoli, kale, and chard seedling were transplanted during the Greenhouse Gardening class hosted by the Tulalip Tribes and the Washington State University Snohomish County Master Gardeners Foundation on March 16, 2014 at the Hibulb Cultural Center.
Photo/ Richelle Taylor

One Year Later: Assaulted Native Professor Continues Healing and Hoping

AP Photo/The Spokesman-Review, Colin MulvanyWashington State University instructor David Warner is seen in Spokane, Washington on June 27, 2013. Warner was assaulted on March 30, 2013, in Pullman, Washington. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and has trouble speaking and getting around. — AP Photo/The Spokesman-Review, Colin Mulvany
Washington State University instructor David Warner is seen in Spokane, Washington on June 27, 2013. Warner was assaulted on March 30, 2013, in Pullman, Washington. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and has trouble speaking and getting around.

Alysa Landry, Indian Country Today Media Network

David Warner was not expected to survive.

The culture, gender and race studies professor at Washington State University suffered a traumatic brain injury March 30, 2013, when he was assaulted outside a bar near the Pullman, Washington, campus. Warner, 42, doesn’t remember trying to prevent a verbal confrontation close to 2 a.m. that day or being tackled to the ground and striking his head against the asphalt.

Warner, whose heritage comes from Canada’s First Nations, was transported by helicopter from Pullman to Spokane, a distance of about 75 miles. Surgeons discovered that Warner’s skull had cracked into three pieces and his brain was swelling. They removed a four-by-six-inch piece of his skull to manage the pressure.

“My skull shattered on impact,” Warner said during a phone interview this month. “They didn’t expect me to survive.”

Warner doesn’t remember the two weeks he was in critical condition at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, or the following two weeks at a separate facility for serious head trauma. He remembers waking up at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute and struggling to put words together.

“I lost about a month and a half,” he said. “My vocabulary was reduced to five words. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t come up with words except the five that were in my vocabulary.”

The situation was a new one for Warner, who earned his PhD in American Studies in August of 2012 and was teaching courses in gender and race. Before the injury, he was characterized as a prolific reader, writer and poet, said his mother, Cherie Warner.

“He was a voracious reader his whole life,” Cherie said of her son. “He would go through books and remember them. He has a library that would rival the town’s library.”

David Warner is seen here before the assault. (Courtesy Warner family)

Warner always wanted to be a teacher, his mother said. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in American Studies at Washington State University. When the university offered him a teaching position, he jumped at the opportunity to teach classes about gender and race and to research topics like tribal sovereignty, self-determination, genocide studies and critical race theory.

“He’s very passionate about that subject area and the marginalization of minority people,” Cherie said. “He has a lot of knowledge in that. He knows and understands it.”

Warner’s life changed when his head hit the ground. During the weeks in the rehabilitation hospital, speech and physical therapists worked every day to help him relearn skills that at one point were second nature. He returned home at the end of May, still facing a long road to recovery.

A year after the injury, Warner is able to live alone and take care of himself, his mother said. He goes to conferences with colleagues and attends classes at the university. Some of the lingering effects include problems remembering names and difficulty with reading and comprehension.

“I can read books and understand words,” Warner said. “Before, I could read a book and remember all of it. I’m not retaining it now. I can’t recall the words and get the message. At the present time, my brain needs to heal some more.”

As Warner was in initial stages of recovery, Pullman police arrested five people who were connected with the assault. According to the police report, Warner was drinking with a friend that night at a bar called Stubblefields. Just before 2 a.m., Warner’s friend confronted a group of people and began insulting them.

Surveillance footage shows Warner trying to prevent the confrontation from getting physical. He stretched out his arms between the parties as his friend advanced and threw a punch. Warner and his friend were tackled, but cars obstruct the video and it is unclear whether Warner was injured when he hit the ground or if one of the assailants kicked him in the head.

David Warner is seen here after the assault. (Courtesy Warner family)

Because the video surveillance was inconclusive, prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges, said Bill Gilbert, an attorney representing Warner in a civil suit. Gilbert is in the process of investigating the incident. He may file civil claims against the people involved in the assault or against the bar and seek damages topping $250,000 to cover medical bills and expenses.

“It was a drunken, stupid episode,” Gilbert said of the incident. “The value in this case, you can’t put numbers on it. You’ve got a guy who’s brilliant, who has a PhD, who’s going to be messed up for life.”

Warner believes that, in time, he will heal and once again teach at Washington State University.

“There’s a quote I give my students,” he said. “I tell them I constantly think about hope. It makes me stronger and filled with life.”

Tulalip Husky and Cougar fans show their colors

Photos by Monica Brown

TULALIP Wash. – Fridays are usually reserved for Seahawks Blue Friday but this Friday, Tulalip Admin employees decided to sport their Husky or Cougar attire instead.

Click photos to view larger image.

Tulalip Admin Husky fans show their support

They even invited the Coug fans to join their photo

And after the Husky fans piled out of the picture and some of the Coug fans.

WSU lands $10 million toward Everett growth

By Jerry Cornfield, The Herald

OLYMPIA — Washington State University has snagged $10 million in state aid to help cement its presence in Everett.

Those dollars will be used to design and construct a building near Everett Community College where WSU and other universities expect to be conducting classes by next decade.

The money is included in the two-year, $3.6 billion state construction budget signed Monday by Gov. Jay Inslee.

WSU and its partners at the University Center of the North Puget Sound predict the number of full-time students they serve will rise from 465 this school year to 1,179 by the spring of 2021.

WSU is a newcomer to the University Center but will be playing a very big role very soon.

It began offering a mechanical engineering degree in 2012 and is looking to launch three additional degree programs in 2014. Moreover, WSU is on track to inherit command of the University Center from EvCC next year.

As part of the transition, WSU delivered a report to lawmakers in December on the center’s expected long-term growth. That analysis concluded the center will “outgrow currently available facilities on the EvCC campus and will need significantly more physical capacity.”

There is no specific project tied to the money. In March, officials of the city of Everett, WSU and EvCC talked about constructing a 95,000-square-foot building on the parking lot of the former College Plaza shopping center which is owned by the community college.

They also said the next steps hinged on securing state funds. Several area lawmakers in the House and Senate lobbied for the money on behalf of the community college and Pullman-based university.

The capital budget provided funds for other Snohomish County projects as well including $2.6 million to Senior Services of Snohomish County to provide housing for homeless veterans; $1 million to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department toward a substation in south county; $750,000 for drainage improvements on Prairie Creek in Arlington and $1 million toward preservation of Japanese Gulch in Mukilteo.