A. ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT*

Montana State University-Billings enjoyed the following percentage enrollment of American Indians and other minorities during fall semester 2000 (as compared to the state residential percentage as characterized in Montana QuickFacts: http://ceic.commerce.state.mt.us/quickfacts.htm).

Montana MSU-Billings

American Indian 6.5% 6.31%

Hispanic 1.8% 2.56%

Asian or Pacific Islander 0.6% 0.88%

Black 0.4% 0.55%

B. COMPLETIONS*

Montana State University-Billings enjoyed the following percentage graduation of American Indians and other minorities during spring semester 2000 (as compared to the state residential percentage as characterized in Montana QuickFacts: http://ceic.commerce.state.mt.us/quickfacts.htm).

Montana MSU-Billings

American Indian 6.5% 4.6%

Hispanic 1.8% 1.7%

Asian or Pacific Islander 0.6% 0.06%

Black 0.4% 0.01%

C. FUNDING

Montana State University-Billings uses discretionary institutional dollars to recruit, retain and graduate American Indian and other minority students in the following manner:

Multicultural Student Services: The institution provides $41,284 of discretionary dollars to provide this office. The mission of this office is to recruit, retain and support minority students through graduation as well as to provide culturally educational programs and opportunities to the campus community.

The Admissions and Records Office uses 10% of its annual $480,000 budget (approximately $48,000) to recruit American Indian and other minority students. These are all discretionary dollars.

D. FACULTY

Per your request, the following is based on the Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) for MSU-Billings (revised May 2000):

Montana State University-Billings increases the employment of American Indians and other underrepresented minorities in administrative, faculty and staff positions (including senior leadership) to achieve representation equal to that of the relevant labor force by these:

(1) The University is strongly committed to nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunity for all persons, including American Indians and other underrepresented minorities, in all aspects of human resources, which incorporates the staffing function and employment of qualified applicants.

(2) The Chancellor of the University is fully committed to the Affirmative Action Plan, both on an institutional and personal basis

(a) the Chancellor has designated the HR Director as the person responsible for developing the AAP as well as monitoring, distributing and communicating the policies to all levels of management and employees as appropriate

(b) the Chancellor has charged the Vice Chancellors, Deans, Directors, Department Heads and Supervisors with the responsibility of hiring and training employees in full accordance with the AAP

(3) The Human Resources/EEO-AA Office ensures compliance by

(a) monitoring all phases of the employment process reviewing all position announcements, advertisements, screening devices, selection criteria and lists of candidates/finalists

(b) conducting a workforce analysis and an utilization analysis on an annual basis to determine hiring trends and possible underutilization

(d) maintaining all employment files and information related to the hiring decision

E. COURSEWORK AND PROGRAMS*

In the State of Montana, any board of trustees for an elementary or secondary school district located on or in the vicinity of an Indian Reservation may require its certified personnel to have instruction pertaining to the history, traditions, customs, values, beliefs, ethics, and contemporary affairs of American Indians, particularly Indian tribal groups in Montana. At the present time, certified teachers in Montana holding any teaching endorsement are eligible to teach Native American Studies. MSU-Billings offers a diverse group of courses to fulfill this requirement, including courses in Native American Studies, Art, Philosophy, Political Science, and English.

MSU-Billings College of Education and Human Services received two federal grants for the Big Horn Teacher and Personnel and Big Horn Career Ladder Projects. Each grant was awarded $1.25 million over five years and the projects involve five school districts on or around the Crow Reservation, Little Big Horn College (LBHC), and Montana State University-Billings. Primary goals are to increase the number of certified Native American teachers, provide professional development to the school districts, offer a 5-day Native American institute each summer, and integrate multicultural concepts into college and university courses. Currently 41 students are enrolled in the programs.

F. FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Montana State University-Billings is creating an academic support center in an effort to retain more first-year students. This should help increase retention of American Indian and other minority students as well as white students. Montana State University-Billings will continue to attempt to increase our enrollment of American Indian and other minority students through recruitment, retention and positive campus climate efforts. Retention and campus climate efforts should result in an increase in graduation percentage rates. Our goal is to meet or exceed all American Indian and other minority state percentages in both graduation and enrollment rates by the year 2003.

*See attached Excel Worksheets on FY Completions, Fall 2000 Enrollment, and Coursework.