Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet
1661 Crescent Pl. NW #502
Washington, DC 20009
202-745-5916
manuelitokerkvliet@hotmail.com

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

• First woman president of Diné College, Navajo Nation, Tsaile, Arizona, the first tribally-controlled community college established in 1968 that serves eight campus centers and an average student enrollment of 2000.
  
  
• Founded and directed the Indian Education Office at Oregon State University in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. This office served as a model to establish three additional minority education offices to serve Hispanic, Black and Asian students.
  
  
• Worked over 16 years in Indian higher education at University of Wyoming, New Mexico State University, Oregon State University, University of New Mexico and University of Oregon.
  
  

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Successfully secured a major contribution of art and private library collection from R.C. Gorman, an internationally renowned Navajo artist, for Diné College’s Kinyaa’annii Library. This was the largest gift received by the College from an individual since its inception in 1968. I laid the foundation for a $35 million capital campaign to build the R.C. Gorman Fine Arts Academy and Museum at the main campus in Tsaile, Arizona.
  
  
• Successfully lobbied and increased Diné College’s annual tribal appropriation of $925,000 in 2001 to $2.1 million in 2002 and to $4.2 million in 2003 with the 88-members of the Navajo Nation Tribal Council.
  
  
• Successfully led Diné College through a comprehensive institutional reaccreditation process and site visit from NCA--Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For the first time, the College earned an eight-year reaccreditation and NCA’s recommendation to become a four-year institution.
  
  
• Successfully facilitated Diné College’s financial administrative processes and received four successful audits from KPMG, our independent CPA firm in three years.
  
  
• Successfully solicited, developed and administered the $1 million Harold Gilman Smith Endowed Indian Scholarship at Oregon State University.
  
  
• Successfully secured a recruiting and retention grant of $46,000 from Pew Charitable Trust and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and matching funds from Oregon State University to support student activities and academic tracking through the Indian Education Office.
  
  
• Successfully secured $11,500 from Oregon State University’s Enrollment Services Program to develop and produce Paths with Proud Moments, a 20-minute recruiting video for American Indian and Alaska Native students.
  
  

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

University of Oregon
Ph.D. candidate, Educational Leadership and Administration, 2004
Recipient of Oregon Laurels Tuition Award
Recipient of Instructionally Related Minority Faculty Doctoral Advancement Fellowship

University of Wyoming
M.S. Counselor Education, 1987
B.A. Social Work, 1976

PROFESSIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE

Diné College, Tsaile, Arizona
President, 2000-2003
As Chief Executive Officer, I worked within established policies and procedures and was responsible for the overall administration of Diné College. I worked closely with the Board of Regents in program and policy development and implementation in accordance with the College’s mission and philosophy. I coordinated Board meetings and activities, informed and presented recommendations and resolutions about academic programs, projects, budgets, and policies. I coordinated Board training and implemented the Board’s actions and directives. I represented the College externally to alumni and constituents, the media, the Navajo Nation Tribal Council, Arizona and New Mexico state legislators, U.S. Congress, tribal colleges and mainstream institutions and other tribal, state and federal agencies. I served as the College’s lobbyist to solicit and secure funds from federal, tribal, state and private sources. I worked with the College’s legal counsel as deemed necessary. I established, coordinated and implemented short and long range goals, objectives and activities, and communicated recommendations and actions of the President’s Council. I supervised executive staff and provided leadership to the College community.

• Signed Memorandum of Agreement with then-Governor Jane Hull and Navajo Nation President Kelsey Begaye to fund Diné College from the Arizona Transaction Privilege Sales Tax for 20 years at $356,000 annually.
• Signed Memorandum of Agreement with R.C. Gorman to donate his private library collection and artwork to Diné College’s Kinyaa’aanii Library.
• Signed Memorandum of Understanding with Coconino Community College President, Dr. Tom Jordan, in Flagstaff, Arizona to form a collaborative partnership to enhance higher education opportunities for Peoples and Nations of Northern Arizona.
• Grant Review Team Leader for American Indian Higher Education Consortium and Center for Disease Control and Prevention project “Honoring our Health: Tribal Colleges and Communities Working Together to Prevent Diabetes” in Arlington, VA, September 2003.

Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
Program Coordinator of Indian Education Office, 1990-1996
I aided and assisted in the recruitment and retention of American Indian and Alaska Native students, staff and faculty. Worked collaboratively with University programs and services regarding academic tracking, advising, counseling students and improving the coordination and dissemination of information on academic regulations, residential housing, student health, financial aid and scholarships, and streamlined college transfer procedures with tribal communities and other colleges and universities. I expanded the University’s awareness of and responsiveness to Indian cultures and values and their relationship to the productive and successful educational attainment of Indian students. I served as a campus resource in curricula planning, special programming and grant proposal writing. I maintained liaisons with tribal, community and national Indian education organizations, secondary and post-secondary institutions, and local, state and federal agencies. I increased the accessibility of scholarships and improved the selection process for recipients of the Oregon State System of Higher Education’s Underrepresented Minority Achievement Scholarships and Oregon State University’s American Indian and Alaska Native scholarships.

University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Research Assistant for Project SUSTAIN (Strategies for Understanding and Sustaining Educational Innovations), 1997-2000
I studied factors associated with sustainability of educational innovations in secondary and transition services for youth with disabilities in Oregon and Arizona public high schools. I adopted the research protocol for multicultural populations, conducted interviews, focus groups, and analyzed data to produce summary reports and case studies for the Youth Transition Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Program Specialist for American Indian Student Services, 1995-1996
I provided academic advising and counseling support to American Indian students. I developed and maintained a database for retention studies and provided specialized expertise in recruitment and retention issues to New Mexico Indian officials and secondary schools. I served on UNM’s American Indian Council and the State of New Mexico’s Legislative Oversight Committee on Indian Education.

Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
Counselor, Advisor and Instructor for Educational Opportunities Program (EOP), 1988-1990.
I counseled and advised EOP students on academic issues, financial aid and personal, career and cultural adjustment issues. I maintained academic records on assigned caseload and referred Indian students to appropriate sources and service agencies to better meet their needs in housing, financial aid, child care, legal services, medical and dental care and employment. I taught Methods of Study, a learning skills and strategies course; Personal Development, a freshman orientation course; Peer Counseling Orientation and Projects, an introductory counseling course; and Contemporary Indian Issues, a graduate-level cultural anthropology course.

BOARD MEMBERSHIP

• National Science Foundation (NSF), Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIOAC), Arlington, VA, 2002-present.
• American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), National Board, Arlington, VA, 2000-2003.
• American Indian College Fund (AICF), National Board of Trustees, Denver, CO, 2001-2003.
• National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC), Board on Agricultural Assembly Policy Board of Directors (BAA-PBD), Washington, DC, 2001-2003.
• Tribal College Journal, Advisory Board, Mancos, CO, 2000-2003.
• WERC (Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development), Executive Board, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 2000-2003.
• Arizona Tri-Universities in Indian Education (ATUIE), Advisory Board, Arizona University System, 2000-2003.
• Southwest Diabetes Prevention Center (SDPC), Executive Board, Gallup, NM, 2000-2003.
• National Indian Education Association (NIEA), 1988-2005.
• Oregon Indian Education Association (OIEA), 1988-2005.
• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), 1988-2005.

PRESENTATIONS

• Seminar presentation to AIHEC/MSI’s (Minority Serving Institutions) W.K. Kellogg Leadership Program Institute in Washington, DC, August 2003.
• Commencement address at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College in Hayward, WI, May 2003.
• Presentation at 13th Annual Environmental Design Conference, WERC--Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development, New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM, April, 2003.
• Presentation at “Framing the Issues: A Panel of Women Presidents” at Strengthening our Place in the Academy: A Summit for Women Administrators and Faculty of Color, sponsored by the American Council on Education’s Office of Minorities in Higher Education and Office of Women in Higher Education in Berkeley, CA, February 2003.
• Presentation at “The American Public University: Setting a New Agenda” a post-inaugural televised forum for Arizona State University President, Michael Crow, Tempe, AZ, November 2002.
• Keynote address at Navajo Nation’s Financial Aid and Scholarship Awards Dinner for Chief Manuelito Scholars in Farmington, NM, May 2002.
• Keynote address at Conference on Native American Issues: Professionals in Outreach Education, University of Arizona’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and American Indian Studies in Tucson, AZ, April 2002.
• Keynote address at Monument Valley High School’s Awards Dinner in Monument Valley, AZ, April 2002.
• Public testimony to Committee on Native American Affairs, Arizona House of Representatives, 45th Legislature, First Regular Session in Phoenix, AZ, March 2001.
• Presentation of “Motivating Indian Students into Graduate School” at American Indian Studies Symposium, University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, 1996.
• Presentation of “Recruitment and Retention of American Indian Students: The Oregon State University Experience” at Ethnic and Minority Recruitment and Retention Strategies National Conference in Santa Fe, NM, 1995.
• Presentation of “Bliss and Blues, Scholarship News” at National Indian Education Association’s National Conference in Mobile, AL, 1995 and at RETAIN (Retention of American Indians) Annual Conference in Tempe, AZ, 1995.
• Presentation of “Cultural Sensitivity in Career Counseling with Native Americans” at WSSA (Western Social Science Association) Annual Conference in Albuquerque, NM, 1989.

PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES

Peterson Zah
Assistant to the President
Office of the President
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287
408-965-5793

Dr. Paul Goldman
Associate Professor
Educational Leadership
170C Education
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
541-346-5065

Dr. Phyllis Lee
Director
Office of Multicultural Affairs
330 Snell Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-1634
541-737-4381

Karen Francis-Begay
Director
Native American Student Affairs
203 Nugent
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
520-626-2067

Laurence Gishey
Director of Institute for Native Americans
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
928-523-9295

Toney Begay
Special Assistant
White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities
555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Suite 408
Washington, DC 20209
202-219-2181

James Bilagody
Diné College Board of Regents
P.O. Box 2467
Tuba City, AZ 86045
928-283-6250

Morrie Jiminez
Indian Educator and Consultant
2708 Shelly Anne Way NE
Salem, OR 97303
503-364-5922

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