UNC Asheville is making history. Asheville’s local U has become the first undergraduate institution in the US to join the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP). The program’s goal is to increase the number of Native American + Indigenous students enrolled in graduate programs in STEM fields (a.k.a. science, technology, engineering and math).
UNC Asheville doesn’t have these graduate programs, so where does the school come in? With their four-year sub-award from the Sloan Foundation, part of a $4.5 million grant to Purdue University, the university will fund undergraduate STEM students identifying as Native American to increase the number who go on to SIGP graduate programs. They’ll also work with the students to provide opportunities for mentorship, undergraduate research, travel to conferences + internships.
The university has been working hard to increase opportunities for and partnerships with Indigenous communities + students, including through an American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program minor in which students work to learn + preserve the Cherokee language and the history + culture of its people, and the co-creation of memorandums of understanding with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) + the United South and Eastern Tribes (USEBT).
Want to know more about the Sloan Foundation award and the SIGP partnership? A free virtual information season will be held at 12 p.m. on Oct. 1. Email Trey Adcock or Susan Reiser to sign up.
The SIGP has supported over 200 graduate students, many of whom provide service to their tribal communities and aid in diversity + inclusion efforts in their respective fields. DYK: Although the American Indian + Alaska Native population of the United States is 1.2%, Indigenous students only earned .3% of all doctorates in 2012 – a decrease from .5% in the previous two decades.
