Fort Belknap Agency, Montana – On February 13, 2020, Aaniiih Nakoda College (ANC) received approval from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the regional accrediting agency, to begin offering the ANC's first bachelor's degree program. Starting fall semester 2020, ANC will offer a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology. In the NWCCU letter of approval, the review panel commended ANC for developing a program plan that "meets the needs not only of the local community, but also provides individuals with the skills to work in growing fields in the state of Montana." Reviewers went on to say: "ANC has a proven track record of providing quality graduates that are successful in their careers after college and contribute positively to the community."

ANC, originally named Fort Belknap College, was first chartered by the Fort Belknap Indian Community Council in 1983, has been providing high-quality postsecondary education opportunities at the associate degree level for residents of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and surrounding communities. In 2017, college faculty and administrators launched an intensive curriculum development process for the new Bachelor of Science degree with support from a grant awarded by the American Indian College Fund. The culmination of that planning process was approved to begin offering a B.S. degree program in Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology. The Bachelor of Science degree will begin fall semester, admission applications can be accessed on the college website, http://www.ancollege.edu or contact the Registrar/Admissions Officer, 406-353-2607.

For Aaniiih Nakoda College President, Dr. Carole Falcon-Chandler, the new four-year degree program represents an important milestone in the history of ANC. "This is an exciting and truly historic occasion for us. The Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology program is not only our first four-year program, but it is a program firmly grounded in the college's mission statement and one that reflects the uniqueness of who we are as Aaniiih and Nakoda people."

The goal of the new Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology program is to prepare graduates to become effective caretakers and stewards of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and surrounding ancestral lands. Through a combination of innovative coursework, field-based instruction, internship opportunities, and undergraduate research experiences, students in the program will acquire first-hand knowledge of the dynamic interconnections that exist between the Aaniinen and Nakoda nations and the place they call home – the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and the surrounding prairies, river bottoms and island mountain ranges of northcentral Montana.

Throughout the curriculum, Western scientific content will be matched by a strong emphasis on law, policy, ethics and traditional ecological knowledge. Embedded in the lifeways, histories and identities of the Aaniinen and Nakoda nations, the B.S. degree program offers students a culture-, place- and community-based approach to learning eco-logy (from the Greek words oikos-logos), literally understood as "the way of the home place."

As ANC's first bachelor's degree offering, the Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology program is generating support and excitement within the Fort Belknap community. For Katelyne Goes Ahead, one of several recent ANC graduates who plans to enroll in the program this fall, it represents an exciting new opportunity for her and other community members. "This college has given me so many opportunities up until now, and I'm excited about what it will be doing for me in the future. This is an opportunity to stay home, earn a degree, and then give back to the community." Beau Blackwolf is another recent graduate who plans to begin the program in fall 2020. As Beau explains, "This program will do what the college has already been doing. We grow our own here. Job opportunities will open up for people who get this degree."

Students like Katelyne and Beau, who have already earned their Environmental Science A.S. degrees at ANC, will be able to finish the new B.S. degree program in two years. The graduating students will possess the necessary scientific and technical expertise, but, as ANC Science Department Chairman Dan Kinsey explains, "Graduates will be equipped with the knowledge and work experiences that give them a unique indigenous perspective when it comes to resource management and environmental protection."

For more information about Aaniiih Nakoda College's new B.S. degree program in Aaniiih Nakoda Ecology, please contact Dr. Sean Chandler, Dean of Academic Affairs (406.353.2607, schandler@ancollege.edu), or Dan Kinsey, Science Department Chair (406.353.2607, dkinsey@ancollege.edu).