Community Forum Presentation

December 4, 2017 Youth Centre

Saddle Lake Cree Nation

“Assisting Students to Achieve Personal Success and Academic Excellence”

SLPS Mission Statement

Saddle Lake Post Secondary Program will facilitate and administer post secondary education for onicikiskwapowin Cree Nation members, provide career and personal counselling and financial assistance for students; it will be the student’s responsibility to achieve personal success and academic excellence.

Student Enrolment

Our main goal each year is to sponsor as many students as possible based on funding received from Indigenous & Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Some of the factors which affect our budget in any given year are:

1) Changes to government policies, council directives and sponsorship requests; 2) Rising tuition and living costs, etc.; and 3) Little or no control over student withdrawal and/or terminations throughout the year.

We funded 136 applicants for the Fall 2017 term and have conditionally approved 22 additional applicants for the Winter 2018 term for a total of 158. We will be able to fund all applicants provided they meet our criteria and submit all documentation by our deadline dates.

Student Enrolment

The Saddle Lake Post Secondary Program sponsored 174 students for Fall 2016, Winter 2017 and Intersession 2017 terms (155 full time and 19 part time). A total of 30 students withdrew (self/required) and we paid out incentives for 3 graduates who returned and completed their studies but were not considered part of our overall count.

We have also been keeping track of our referrals to other agencies such as Freehorse Family Wellness Society & SLCN Reinvestments, SLCN Employment & Training (E&T), etc. For 2016/17 we provided 83 referrals to Freehorse, 65 referrals Reinvestments and 3 to E&T for a total of 152.

Finances

The 2017-2018 total budget is $3,393,548 and there was increase in INAC funding of 1.838% this new fiscal year. The 2016-2017 budget was $3,332,519.

Expenses such as training allowances account for 50%, tuition at 25%, books, supplies and student expenses at 15% and program administration at 10%.

Post Secondary had a deficit for the 2016-17 year in the amount of $348,110. This is the result of the increase in student numbers this past year and the increase in the Post Secondary Allowance rates that were approved by the previous board in 2015/16 ($200 for single rates and $100 in the other categories)

We hosted our Biennial Round Dance in February 2017 at a cost of $37,020 and honored 71 Post Secondary graduates from January 2015 to December 2016.

Finances - continued

Other factors included a Chief and Council directive on May 16/16 requesting that Post Secondary transfer $250,000 of the accumulated surplus to the capital funding account as per motion made on May 9/16. In February 2016 the SLPS program also purchased a new shuttle ($98,030.25) that was amortized for the 16/17 year.

For 2016-17 we were able to issue one student incentive to help offset living allowance and other costs incurred by students. In December 2016 part time students and/or those who attended only 1 term were given $250 and full time students were given $500 for a total of $68,300.

INAC Annual Reporting

INAC provides the Data Collection Instrument (DCI) for the annual reporting and documents student information (full name, birthdate, Indian registry number, marital status and dependents) rolled over from previous reports submitted. Every year we update the educational institute, full/part time status, student program information and expenses and the administration expenses.

For 2016/2017 SLPS reported on 197 student files each with 1-4 terms (Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter) attending 34 educational institutes.

Staffing Changes

Post Secondary employees:

• Bernadine Houle-Steinhauer as Director; • Betty Ann Cardinal, Student Advisor; • Melodee Duckchief, Administrative Assistant • Felix (Jonas) White is the contractor for our Shuttle Service to BQFNC and St. Paul

(from September – June).

• Amberly Makokis, Receptionist (1/2) time • Debra Cardinal, Superintendent (1/3) time

Melodee assumed the roles of Administrative Assistant after Pamela Large returned to school for Fall 2017.

Post Secondary Staff

Left: Jonas White

Above: Pamela Large, Betty Ann Cardinal, Bernadine Houle- Steinhauer, Debra Cardinal

Above Right: Melodee Duckchief

Right: Amberly Makokis

Program Improvements

In addition to other services provided, we encourage and support our students to stay in school by co-ordinating and organizing annual events each year such as the Education/Employment & Training/ Reinvestments round dance (every 2 years), our August orientation, student retreats, student & institution visits, grad attendance, etc. We also make presentations to the locals schools about our program and recruit potential students.

We continuously work at improving our program throughout the year by taking on other projects, as per specified goals and objectives and budget.

Students files are maintained by all three staff members so that we are all aware of what is happening with all of the students and increased communication is established internally and externally.

23th Annual PS Orientation

Last year’s Post Secondary Student Orientation was held at the St. Paul CPac Centre on Friday, August 18, 2017. It was a good time with lots of food and prizes; a great way to start a new school year.

Students are provided with an overview of what is contained in the SLPS Policy Handbook, their roles and responsibilities as well as those of the SLPS staff, committee and Chief and Council.

Students are also provided with their SLPS book bags filled with essential school supplies, the student handbook and other promotional items and they are provided with their first monthly Post Secondary Training Allowances.

15th Annual Student Retreats

We hosted two retreats during this past year: One was held at the CPAC Centre for our Blue Quills and Portage students on February 21 & 22/17 and the other was held at the Fantasyland Hotel for our Edmonton students on February 23 & 24/17.

Activities included beadwork, rattle & drum making, sewing ribbon skirts, make up, hair and nail services, massage treatments, and photo sessions. All of our service providers with the exception of Koko’s Spa were our local community members. We had an awesome turn out at the St. Paul retreat and many commented how much they enjoyed the services and the different venue.

Students enjoyed food and great prizes including laptops, IPads, headphones and hourly draws for cool prizes. In addition, they were provided with travel incentives of $50/day to attend.

STUDENT RETREAT 2017

Student Visits and Grad Attendance

We completed visits in St. Paul, Edmonton, Calgary, Medicine Hat, Saskatoon and Regina. This year we are looking at paying attention to our first year students, those who are on probation and who live away from our nation. They need the support and assistance to make the transition from their homes and we can help them liaise with their educational institute’s aboriginal centre if they have one available.

We tried to attend most of the graduations; where possible, board and family representation was available. It is always an honor to witness and share the ceremony with all of our graduates & their families. Some of these graduations took place in Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Vancouver and the surrounding areas. We had 43 students graduating from various programs this past academic year.

Graduation Rates

Prior to 2012 the Graduation Project calculated over 1244 credentials from our SLPS student records and have confirmed via official transcripts and copies of the parchments 680 graduates.

The numbers of the past five years are as follows:

Year Graduates

2012 68

2013 46

2014 39

2015 40

2016 31

2017 44

SLPS Graduates of 2016/17

Annual Sponsorship & Policy Review

Sponsorship reviews are held in July of each year with the SLPS staff and board. Each application is reviewed and discussed to ensure consistency and fairness in applying the SLPS guidelines.

We also go through the SLPS Policy handbook at this time to determine if any changes are required or recommended. A copy of the INAC Post Secondary Student Support Program and the Freehorse Family Wellness Society Post Secondary 2017-18 guidelines are also provided for information.

There is an appeal process in place for students to make presentations to the board as a result of extraordinary circumstances.

SLPS Annual Cycle

January - winter session starts - start preparing new year budget

February - Reading week, SLPS hosts student retreats

- Biennial Round Dance, date TBD

March - Intersession deadline March 15, review held end of month - prepare for fiscal year end - student visits

April - student file maintenance

- high school presentations, recruitment

May - prepare for audit and INAC reporting June 1 - graduations - accepting fall applications for June 1 fall deadline

SLPS Annual Cycle

June - June 1 deadline for Fall applications - graduations - prepare for fall sponsorship review - follow up on graduation incentives, student requests, etc.

July - Sponsorship review

- providing student approval letters - providing third party sponsorship letters - prepare student handbook changes for printing

August - Student orientation

- continue following up with fall review paperwork

September - student visits

October - October 15 deadline for Winter applications

SLPS Annual Cycle

November - graduations - winter sponsorship review follow up - Knowing Our Spirits conference

December - Christmas staff functions

Ongoing - responding to student requests - advising students - advocating/liaison for students with their institution - updating/maintaining student files - attending meetings

SLPS Supports

A Resource Room is available to students which is located in front of the Education office. There are 3 new computers available for student use; some have utilized them for their on-line program.

A daily shuttle service is provided to students attending Blue Quills First Nations & Portage Colleges.

Our SLPS dynamic blog is available at www.slps.ca and is updated regularly by Post Secondary staff. It includes our SLPS Application forms, Student Policy which can be downloaded. Additional featured information, resources, & student highlights for the students to access are easily accessible online like Course Transferability, Scholarships, Research, Alumni & Student Recognitions etc.

Proposed Blog Updates: Post all graduate totals & credential statistics for SLPS Sponsored students from 1993 to present.

Special Projects – 2016/17

Post Secondary tours – Kihew Asiniy implemented a career planning program for Grade 6 to 12 level (Dream Navigators) and SLSP assisted in taking some of the students to tour the U of A facilities. This tour were well received and SLPS is looking at continuing this initiative. The educational institutes host open houses in October and March each year.

SLCN Community Gatherings – Leadership, programs and band members meet on the seasonal solstice/equinox and share information on community programs and services, have presentations from guest speakers and transfer traditional knowledge. To date 3 gatherings have been held, the next one will be hosted by Education and Employment & Training on December 21/17.

Special Projects – 2016/17

National/Regional Education Initiatives – The Liberal government announced budget allocations for K-12 initiatives and infrastructure in 2015/16, this past February they announced funding for Post Secondary. I am working with other Post Secondary Directors to ensure our issues continue to be identified to INAC Ministers Carolyn Bennett, Crown-Indigenous Relations & Northern Affairs and Jane Philpott, Indigenous Services.

In 2015/16, the Alberta government announced the provision of 3 years of funding for First Nations to work collaboratively with local provincial school boards and many meetings were held to get information, strategize and plan. Saddle Lake decided to apply this funding for 16/17 year to build a relationship with with St. Paul and Aspenview school divisions.

Special Projects – Proposed for 2017/18

SLCN Programs – SLPS hosted a couple of meetings of all our program service delivery departments to educate one another of our respective roles and responsibilities and clarify application procedures/processes when a nation member is requesting assistance for education and/or training initiatives. There is a database program called “career cruising” that enables clients to do a self assessment of their skills and abilities to enable to see what kind of education/training they would need to get into their career goal. The school already uses it and SLSP has access to the learning license. A career workbook was produced using our local history (the Blue Quills story), our students and our workplaces to use as a companion resource.

The local school (Kihew Asiniy, Oskaya), social development (FLEP & Reinvestment), Health, and Employment and Training programs are all involved. This will require ongoing dialogue for this upcoming year.

Special Projects – Proposed for 2017/18

SLCN Education Law – Our SLCN Education Law was passed with the previous leadership, we still have plenty of work to do to promote it among our members and add to some of the sections after feedback is heard.

SLPS Grad Project – Since April 1, 1986 we have administered the Post Secondary program and have been collecting statistics. Previous SLPS staff members initiated this “living project” and we need to build on all the hard work they have done. The student files over the past 5 years need to be incorporated into the SLPS Grad Project so the number of credentials and the type of credentials can be highlighted and displayed on the “Wall of Recognition” in the SLCN Administration foyer.

Special Projects – Proposed for 2017/18

Membership – A committee was formed to look at our membership code to address funding issues created as a result of members who are coded as Bill C-31. This work needs to continue as we now have members who are affected by Bill C-3 and Bill S-3 who cannot get funding from either Saddle Lake or Freehorse. Many more of our members are feeling these affects and the numbers for Freehorse are growing.