May 20, 2003 For Immediate Release

Two projects at UNBC are aiming to improve the prospects for success among aboriginal students pursuing university education.

Improving Student Retention
A primary goal of UNBC is to foster the success rates of aboriginal students. The First Nations Centre is undertaking research that will outline the various factors contributing to aboriginal student outcomes at university: course enrolments, academic performance, and demographic information will be compared to the general student population.

UNBC has a program geared to helping rural and aboriginal students make the transition to university, and past students of that program - the Northern Advancement Program - will be surveyed to identify program strengths/weaknesses and the factors outside of university that affected their ability to succeed. Finally, focus groups will be held in four northern BC communities to assess community beliefs concerning UNBC's performance in educating First Nations students.

The research is being funded by the VanDusen Foundation and the Vancouver Foundation.

Expanding Opportunities for Teaching
The Education program is receiving funding from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada through the Aboriginal Teacher Education Consortium and the First Nations Education Steering Committee to expand opportunities for aboriginal students to pursue careers as school teachers.

The $140,000 grant will fund a one-year pilot program designed to improve the academic skills of First Nations students interested in becoming teachers. The program will be offered in the Northwest starting in September, 2004, with space for about 20 students. The program will provide courses in Math, Science, and English, and while students will receive regular UNBC credit for the courses, they will receive course preparation instruction up-front. Other courses will expose students to the teaching profession.

"There are approximately 400 Aboriginal teachers in BC. This falls far short of the 2000 Aboriginal teachers required to ensure that the composition of the teaching population is proportionate to the composition of the student population," says UNBC Education professor Monty Palmantier.