Research Project
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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The RISE project for Dine' College will enhance the research environment at this tribal college's campuses, which serve the Navajo Nation. The activities will encompass faculty, students, families, communities and Navajo professionals in a comprehensive effort to achieve a better integration of the academic and research functions of the college, and a more effective application of those functions within the wider Navajo and Native American community. The Dine' (Navajo) Educational Philosophy of the college will form the basis for a comprehensive process in which Navajo students conceptualize, plan, implement and validate their progress in achieving their academic and career goals. Students will be academically enriched through academic skills workshops, improved mentoring/advising by faculty, peer mentors, supplemental instruction facilitation in key courses, and opportunities for active learning as lab assistants. Students will be engaged with Navajo and other biomedical scientists through visits to their universities and labs, and having them visit our campus as speakers. Research training activities for students will be further developed and available on two campuses in areas of biochemistry, environmental science and public health/epidemiology. These activities will be student-centered and focus on topics of local interest. Research placements/ internships for students at on and off campus locations will be provided, including a four-credit research methods course for public health/epidemiology students. Faculty will be enhanced through workshops, conferences, courses, or research experiences as appropriate. A mentoring enhancement model for faculty to use with Tribal College students will be developed, implemented and disseminated. Laboratory research areas will be created through the renovation of a chemistry instructional laboratory area. Faculty will work with practitioners of traditional Navajo medicine to develop better approached to health research and better models of community participation for the Navajo Nation.
