NSF Award Abstract - #0123149| NSF Award Abstract - #0123149 |
AWSFL008-DS3 |
| NSF Org | HRD |
| Latest Amendment Date | August 17, 2004 |
| Award Number | 0123149 |
| Award Instrument | Cooperative Agreement |
| Program Manager |
Lura J. Chase HRD DIVISION OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT EHR DIRECT FOR EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES |
| Start Date | September 1, 2001 |
| Expires | August 31, 2006 (Estimated) |
| Expected Total Amount | $2500000 (Estimated) |
| Investigator |
Michael Fredenberg mfredenberg@olc.edu (Principal Investigator current) John Haas (Principal Investigator former) Adel Heriba (Co-Principal Investigator current) |
| Sponsor |
Oglala Lakota College P.O. Box 490 Kyle, SD 577520490 605/455-6000 |
| NSF Program | 1744 TRIBAL COLLEGE & UNIVERS PROGR |
| Field Application | |
| Program Reference Code | 9178,SMET, |
Oglala Lakota College (OLC) is a tribally controlled and community governed four-year academic institution with 1300 students located in ten college centers across the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota (SD). The student base is approximately 90% American Indian. As one of six NSF-designated Model Institutions for Excellence (MIE), OLC has developed the infrastructure to offer Science, Engineering, Math and Technology (SMET) degrees and increase the number of Native Americans continuing on to graduate school. We currently have general collaboration agreements with the SD School of Mines & Technology (SDSM&T;) and SD State University. Since 1995, the MIE Program at OLC has developed five new accredited degrees in the SMET areas.Presently the Oglala Lakota Nation is forced to outsource all analytical work to off- reservation labs due to the lack of qualified facilities and expertise. Our long-term goal is to train a pool of highly skilled scientists and lab technicians who will serve their communities as self-employed entrepreneurs or hired employees. Also, one of the major shortcomings of our SMET programs is the lack of lab facilities with modern analytical equipment. This creates a disadvantage for our students at every level of their career.
We propose a multifaceted approach to develop the technological infrastructure of our institution and the reservation as a whole. We will build a research center housing several federal and state certified labs that will provide us with the capacity to conduct research and routine analytical work in the areas of chemistry, environmental science, and biology. Collaboration agreements with three faculty members at SDSM&T; and Black Hills State University in these areas are procured for this proposal. We will actively seek partnerships with tribal agencies to provide research and analytic services. This insures that a significant portion of the funding allocated by tribal agencies would be re-infused into the reservation economy. This would also sustain the project beyond NSF funding.
Our faculty and students will be trained on the equipment by the collaborators and through industrial short courses, workshops and seminars. Both collaborators and faculty will initiate research projects involving our students utilizing the new equipment. We will strengthen our curriculum by developing new analytical lab classes and by enhancing existing sciencecourses. Finally, students and faculty will reach out to reservation communities to help them address their concerns about economic development and the environment. Students and faculty will also teach SMET classes at reservation schools and will open up the labs for teachers and students to stimulate scientific knowledge and curiosity .
