Northwest Indian College
Northwest Indian College’s goal is to effectively use data to create institutional change that will close achievement gaps and enhance the success rate of disadvantaged students, particularly Native American students.
With the guidance of Achieving the Dream Coaches and Data Coaches, NWIC would like to accomplish the following goals:
- Promote student success in college-level courses through the skill development of the First Year Experience program, especially for first-generation and low-income students
- Prepare students to be successful at the associate, baccalaureate, or graduate level
- Use data and assessment to inform their practice, change their practice, and ultimately improve institutional effectiveness
Achieving the Dream will help focus the college’s attention on how to utilize the best program practices and reinforce the process by which NWIC makes and broadly communicates data-informed decisions. Identifying the critical elements that enhance graduation rates are also a high priority, while committing to transformational change that will help all students, particularly the most disadvantaged.
Northwest Indian College (NWIC) was established in 1973 and is run by the Lummi Tribe of Native Americans with its main campus located within the Lummi Nation in Washington state. The college also has sites at numerous tribal locations throughout the state of Washington at Swinomish, Tulalip, Muckleshoot, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Nisqually, and at the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho.
The student body of NWIC is very diverse. While their students are increasingly in the 18 to 24 year age range, with many going to the college directly from high school, the average NWIC student is still 30 or older, works 30 plus hours per week, and has one or more dependent children. Most students are the first in their family to attend college. While some are capable of succeeding at college-level courses, many require developmental education courses. As a regional tribal college, NWIC does not serve just one tribe (as do most tribal colleges), but an entire region, and they are the only accredited tribal college in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The student body is divided among Lummi (35%), extended campuses (34%), and distance learning (31%), while 82% of their total student enrollment for Fall 2009 was Native American students. In 2009, 54% of students had received Pell grants.
The Achieving the Dream Model
Achieving the Dream community colleges commit to our Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. Based on four principles, the model frames the overall work of helping more students, particularly low- income students and students of color, stay in school and earn a college certificate or degree.
Each college approaches the work differently, but Achieving the Dream’s five-step process provides practical guidelines for keeping the focus where it belongs and building momentum over time. Throughout the process, Achieving the Dream coaches offer customized support and help each college’s core team implement data-informed programs and policies that build long-term, institution-wide commitment to student success.
