1. Dr. Audrey J. Penner Higher Education Summit, November, 2016
Examining ourselves: Becoming a college of choice for Indigenous learners
Dr. Audrey J. Penner
Higher Education Summit,
November, 2016

2. The Partnership

3. Why this study
To define the challenges and opportunities for Northern College in becoming the College of choice for Indigenous peoples.
Recognizing the Indigenous population within the college, did not reflect the Indigenous population in the community

4. Contributions Northern College Northern Policy Institute
Research Expertise/design
Space
Contacts/network
Northern Policy Institute
Two interns
Back up research expertise
Follow up for contacts

5. Research Questions
How does Northern College become the college of choice for Indigenous people in North Eastern Ontario?
What are the challenges?
What are the distinct advantages?
What do we need to change/improve/remove from our institutional mosaic?

6. Process College: Design the study
Develop interview and focus group questions
Analyze data
Store data
Conduct and record Key Informant Interviews :
responsible for scheduling KII
conducted the interviews
assured recording/summary of information. 
while not responsible for the data analysis, they participated, as a skills building exercise

7. How
Worked with the Chair of Northern College’s Indigenous Council
Identified education agencies to contact
Identified the approach and style of the discussions
Conversations

8. What we found Access Culture Post Secondary Needs Racism Themes:

9. Access Financial Geographical
“I think the economics, as much as anything else, I think we can all appreciate the expense for students living in the cities…very low income (referring to students). Sharing an apartment or living with a relative …one of those types of set ups is a big advantage for some students “

10. Culture Family Community
 ”In regard to learners and Aboriginal people…it’s been known that First Nation…are visual learners. Not having an instructor face to face is challenging for some people. Maybe just have 1 instructor (referring to on the Moosonee campus) “
Family
Critically important to have this link wherever
Community
A nucleus of support
“ A lot of college faculty don’t know (referring to Indigenous people’s history) “

11. Post Secondary Needs College Alternatives Student Success Program
Housing
“mode of delivery… in the recent years for Northern College, the mode of delivery is different. A lot of online, video conferencing, correspondence…combination of that…Having an instructor for some of the courses is good because they have that teacher face to face context, however I think that’s why some choose not to (referring to choosing NC because of the online stuff)…They prefer to have an instructor right there “

12. Racism Within the community Within the region
“For individual success it is important to focus on who you are as an indigenous person a lot of students do not enter school with that confidence. There is a lot of racism in Timmins could happen at Walmart, getting groceries, etc. This can make people drop out. They need to be confident in who they are and learn how to handle the racism. They often want to run back to the reserve where it is a safe place. Lots of students have families they come with. . it is the reality. “

13. Barriers Culture Shock Support for families
Lack of face to face instruction
Awareness of Northern College

14. Opportunities Quality of instructional staff Community outreach
Short term programs
‘stacking’ the learning

15. Next Steps Develop the full report Define recommendations
Build an action plan from the recommendations

16. Contact Information
Northern College
Dr. Audrey J. Penner
VP Academic and Student Success,
Northern Policy Institute
Charles Cirtwell
President and Chief Executive Officer