Bachelor of Arts, Tribal Governance and Business Management Program Outcomes

Sovereignty

It is recognized that Native American (Indian) Tribes are inherently sovereign nations, who possess both the inherent and acquired rights to govern themselves, their traditional homelands, and their natural resources. Contemporarily, Tribes find themselves in the position to provide a broader range of culturally specific, social and economic programs, to their respective citizens.

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Articulate and apply knowledge of inherent and acquired rights.
• Analyze the sovereign rights of Tribal nation status with regard to the purpose of governing authority.

Leadership

The Tribal Governance and Business Management program aspires to train future Tribal leaders and managers of Native American (Indian) communities through the pursuit of coursework specific to the exploration of the traditional, historic, and contemporary importance of sovereignty, ethics, administration, management, economic development, and leadership. The cultural elements of service learning components will be interwoven throughout TGBM coursework.

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Practice culturally competent leadership in decision-making, organizational development and human resource management.
• Act as community change agents towards improving the quality of life in Tribal communities.
• Contribute to the restoration of Tribal knowledge.

Management and Administration

Although management and administration are implicitly Western terms, they are ideologies by which Tribal people have governed themselves throughout their respective and/or collective, inherent Tribal histories. Therefore it stands to be within reason that contemporary Tribal communities regularly engage in the effective implementation of organizational and administrative structures, business management and financial decision-making.

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Develop and implement organizational structures to meet the needs for Tribal, community, and personal development.
• Utilize broad knowledge of management and administration to support Tribal organizational goals, including the evaluation and use of financial statements, decision-making, and leadership models.
• Demonstrate effective use of business and project management technology.

Entrepreneurship

The entrepreneur has always served as the catalyst for economic development and subsequently the economic stimulation of a given community. Nowhere is the aforementioned statement more accurate than within a given Tribal community. Entrepreneurship is a pathway to not only self-sufficiency but perhaps more importantly to economic stimulation.

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Integrate physical, social, and human capital regarding healthy Tribal economies.
• Utilize, implement, and organize resources to meet community needs in creative ways.

Economic Development

Throughout the history of colonization, the seemingly inevitable consumption and foreseeable fate of vast and valuable inherent Tribal resources has lain within the hands of the colonizers and the federal government. Contemporarily however, Tribal nations and their respective Tribal governments have taken back the power over their own economic development and their inherent cultural resources and have above all involved themselves with the institution and sustainability of those resources.

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Utilize and implement effective processes for strategic community and business planning.
• Employ sustainable, culturally sound practices in Tribal organizational and business development.