North Dakota State University

The Bush Community Innovative Administrative (BCIA) Team was reorganized as directed by President Lindquist. The team now consists of three members from Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) Next Steps Program and one individual from North Dakota State University School of Nursing (NDSU SON). This collaborative team continues to manage, implement, and evaluate the overall grant activities. Additionally, the Community Stakeholder Committee (CSC) was revised due to job movement and election of new personal into tribal council positions. Membership on the CSC includes: District Judge, Associate Judge, Juvenile Court, BIA police, lawyer, Tribal Health Council Chairperson and Council members, Tribal Health Director, high school principals and superintendents, high school counselors, Director of Student Success, Director of Employment and Training, public health nurse, CCCC President, CCCC Next Steps Director, CCCC Next Steps Assistant Director, CCCC Job Placement Specialist, CCCC GED Director, CCCC Board of Regents, CCCC faculty and staff. We are in the process of selecting students to join this committee.

At the start of each meeting, CSC members are provided with an overview of the Bush Community Innovation Grant, purpose, and proposed activities. CSC members developed and edited the Youth In School and Drop Out interview questions starting with the following words: Involvement, expectations, school engagement, bullying, culture, discrimination, isolation, academic achievement, belonging, feeling unsafe, homelessness, literacy, suspended or expelled, friends, peers, dating, school climate, drugs, alcohol, tired, abuse, violence, physical illness (student and/or family member), pregnancy, anger, mental illness, trauma, PTSD, poverty, transportation, teachers, counselors, parental support, alternative school models, and “other”. After reviewing the literature and high school study results, 28 questions were developed for each group. CSC members responded to the Survey Monkey questions and the results were tabulated and presented back to CSC members for discussion. CSC members finalized 2 sets of interview questions. The interview packet consisted of seven demographic questions, 30 questions for enrolled students and 31 questions for dropped out adults. NDSU IRB approval was granted.

Twenty interviews were completed (10 individuals who dropped) in January 2017 and (10 students who remain in high school) in February 2017. Two undergraduate students were hired to transcribe the data. Once the interviews were transcribed, Dr. Heuer completed a content analysis of the data. The following themes for In School Youth included: School Involvement, Study Skills, Support in School, Family Support, Dropping Out of High School, Challenges in School, and Future Plans. The overarching themes were presented to the BCIA Team. The team requested student quotes be added. Dr. Heuer broke each theme into subthemes and student quotes were analyzed and added to appropriate sections. Then the In School Report was sent to President Lindquist and Mr. Longie for their feedback along with questions on how we will: 1) present that data to the CSC, 2) pare the report down for the CSC and then 3) who will report the data to the CSC. Dr. Heuer is still working on the Drop Out Report but it should be completed within the week. She is cross checking the transcriptions, tapes, and field notes for accuracy.