College and Research Libraries The Role of Libraries in American Indian Tribal College Development Cheryl Duran This paper presents a model for assessing the role libraries play in meeting the institutional goals and objectives of the American Indian tribal colleges. The Carnegie Report entitled Tribal Colleges: Shaping the Future of Native America serves as the departure point for this assessment. In analyzing the library's role, the paper applies to tribal colleges an organizational development model constructed by Eric G. Flamholtz. The model identifies key developmental tasks associated with four stages of organizational growth: (1) new venture; (2) expansion; (3) professionalizing; and (4) consolidation. The analysis considers parallels between the tribal colleges' tasks and the libraries' tasks. Application of the development model suggests a set of hypotheses that frame the role of the library in meeting the institutional goals and objectives of the colleges. The library-related hypotheses consider the three unique tribal college goals: (1) preserving tribal culture; (2) enhancing community economic opportunity; and (3) improving health care. The next phase of this investigation will consist of extensive data gathering from the twenty-four tribal colleges to test the hypoth- eses identified in this paper and to generate additional hypotheses and research in the area of tribal college libraries. his study assesses the role of the library in meeting the goals and institutional objec- tives of American Indian tribal colleges. There has been nominal discussion of the status of tribal colleges in the general higher education litera- ture and virtually no discussion of tribal college libraries in the library and infor- mation science literature. I will present an overview of tribal colleges, identify their objectives, and then consider the fulfillment of these objectives by apply- ing an organizational development model to the tribal colleges. Finally, from this model I will derive a set of hypoth- eses that consider the contribution of li- brary and information resources to meeting these institutional objectives. Based on the hypotheses formulated in this paper, future research will include an extensive longitudinal study on the role of libraries in tribal college develop- ment. A focus group drawn from the tribal college presidents perceives these hypotheses as relevant. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRIBAL COLLEGE The development of American Indian tribal colleges represents the determina- tion of native peoples to achieve aca- demic excellence rooted in cultural traditions. Tribal colleges seek to rectify the inability of the U.S. government to honor the educational provisions agreed upon in more than 300 treaties dating from 1778.1 Cheryl Duran is Assistant Dean at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024. 395 396 College & Research Libraries Federal control of Indian education, excluding mission schools, began in 1870 with a $100,000 appropriation to operate federal industrial schools.2 One of the few successful efforts in higher education was the 1882 founding of the Haskell Indian School (in 1965 renamed Haskell Junior College) in Lawrence, Kansas. In 1887, the Lumbees estab- lished Old Main Indian College at Pem- broke, North Carolina.3•4 In the early twentieth century, the idea of an Ameri- can Indian college was proposed by a number of American Indians, including August Breuninger (Menominee), who in 1911 suggested the development of an Indian university. Arthur C. Parker (Seneca) established the Society of American Indians to found an "Indian College."5 It was not until the 1960s that Ameri- can Indian higher education became of pivotal concern to both American Indian communities and the federal govern- ment. Beginning in 1965 and extending into the 1970s, American Indians lobbied for the passage of legislation to support the establishment of tribally controlled higher education in their communities. The thrust of this predominantly federal legislation was to enable American Indi- ans to affect the direction and expansion of American Indian education. Conse- quently, the educational system changed from one that had been controlled by religious and governmental agencies to one designed and controlled by Ameri- can Indian communities. Thus, the task became to manage major change in Amer- ican Indian higher education. A primary manifestation of this change was the de- velopment of tribally controlled colleges. These colleges have been confronted not only with meeting the challenges faced by all traditional community colleges, but also with the need to ensure that their institutional objectives coincide with their cultural imperatives.6 TRIBAL COLLEGE OBJECTIVES The objectives of tribal colleges are not significantly different than those of other community colleges. Arthur Cohen iden- tified five educational objectives that com- September 1991 munity colleges in America attempt to meet: 1. Preparation for transfer, typically to four-year colleges; 2. Preparation for job entry, both pro- fessional and para professional; 3. Literacy development; 4. Career upgrading and skill enhance- ment;and 5. Support of personal interest activi- ties? In addition to establishing curricula and practices to achieve these five objec- tives, tribal colleges also have defined a set of goals that are intrinsic to their mis- sion: (1) preserving and communicating traditional culture; (2) enhancing eco- nomic opportunity within the reserva- tion community; and (3) improving health care at the community level through support or participation in alco- hol and drug abuse programs.8 While adequate funding is a standard concern of all community colleges, it is even more critical and complex for tribal community colleges. These three goals were identified in a recent Carnegie Special Report, Tribal Colleges: Shaping the Future of Native America, as meriting immediate action and additional research. The Carnegie Report cited two reasons, also supported by the tribal college presidents, for em- phasizing these goals. The primary ra- tionale is to provide an educational curriculum that can help rectify the neg- ligence of the federal government's pol- icies and practices regarding American Indian higher education. The second reason is to define explicitly the role of the tribal college in facilitating commu- nity development and promoting eco- nomic self-determination. The Carnegie Report offered a set of recommendations aimed at enabling tribal colleges to man- age better their growth and to shape their own educational future. (As pre- viously noted, the fundamental change was movement from nonindigenous control of education to indigenous de- sign and management of education.) The Carnegie Report also identified assess- ment criteria for evaluating tribal colleges' ability to meet their objectives. These criteria depend on adequate fund- ing, staffing, and accreditation. While adequate funding is a standard concern of all community colleges, it is even more critical and complex for tribal community colleges. The funding issue is complex in that it involves analysis and application of treaties, federal legis- lation, state and local laws, private . sources, and tribal allocations. Inadequate funding affects the stability of faculty and administration. The Carnegie Report and other studies have identified low pay, large teaching loads, and geographic iso- lation as the funding issues that contribute to substantial faculty and administration turnover.9 The Carnegie Report suggested that these high rates of turnover have had an adverse effect on the colleges' ability to meet accreditation standards, support existing academic programs, and maintain linkages with the student body and community as a whole. Historically, the primary indicator of institutional performance and recogni- tion has been the achievement of accred- itation. For community colleges, including tribal community colleges, institutional accreditation means that "a postsecond- ary institution's own goals are soundly conceived, that its educational programs have been intelligently devised, that its purposes are being accomplished, and that the institution is so organized, staffed, and supported that it should continue to merit confidence."10 Navajo Community College, the first tribally controlled col- lege, was chartered in 1968 at Tsaile, Ar- izona, as a result of the interest and determination of the Navajos. At present there are twenty-six tribally controlled colleges in the United States and two in Canada. Twenty-four of the twenty-six tribally controlled colleges are tribally chartered institutions. They are located primarily in the Northwest, with seven in Montana, five in North Dakota, and four in South Dakota.11 Twelve of these are accredited and eight are candidates for accreditationY Given the relatively Tribal College 397 short history of American Indian tribal colleges, the results have been remark- able. The ability to acquire adequate funding, retain faculty and administra- tors, and achieve accreditation are all measures of institutional performance. Be- fore considering the role of libraries in the assessment of institutional performance, it is necessary to provide a brief descrip- tion of the colleges' current status and growth prospects. Following the discus- sion of tribal college status, an organiza- tional development model will be used to identify and assess the role that librar- ies play in the tribal colleges' efforts to meet their institutional objectives. TRIBAL COLLEGE STATUS Curriculum Tribal colleges parallel most non tribal community colleges in offering two-year degrees in general education and in pro- fessional and paraprofessional fields. Two of the colleges in South Dakota (Oglala Lakota and Sinte Gleska) have developed baccalaureate degree programs in educa- tion, business administration, and human services. Unique among these tribal col- leges, Sinte Gleska also offers a master's degree in educationY Culture The role of culture in the curriculum of tribal colleges is important. As pre- viously stated, preservation of the tribal culture is acknowledged as a key institu- tional goal of the coll~ges. This goal is significant when contrasted with past federal educational policies which con- tributed to the eradication of native cul- tures by promoting forced assimilation at the expense of intrinsic values. In con- trast, the policies of tribal colleges reflect the goal of integrating native culture into the curriculum. As a result, native stud- ies programs are an important compo- nent of all tribal colleges. Enrollment The economic lifeblood of all commu- nity colleges is student enrollment. Community colleges receive funding based on the number of students who enroll, not on the number of students 398 College & Research Libraries who complete programs or who move on to four-year institutions. 14 Therefore, tribal colleges are especially affected by enrollment figures because the total community from which each one draws is both small and generally dispersed. In 1989, therewere4,400full-timeequiv- alent students enrolled in tribally controlled colleges throughout the United States. While this number is minuscule compared to the number of students enrolled in nontribal community colleges, it is a notable in- crease from 1981, when only 1,689 stu- dents were enrolled. However, enrollment figures must be considered in relation to total reservation population. For exam- ple, in 1989 Salish Kootenai College in Montana had 500 students enrolled out of a tribal community of3,100, represent- ing 16 percent of the total population.15 Two findings of the Carnegie Report in regard to enrollment merit note. The first is that most of a tribal college's en- rolled students live on the reservation, and the second is that most of the stu- dents are single women (average age 33) with an average of two dependents. These findings validate the linkages that tribal colleges have with their own com- munities, particularly with single-par- ent families. Resources The adequacy of classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other support systems available to students varies across tribal college campuses. While Navajo Com- munity College has focused on the de- velopment of dormitories, classrooms, and recreation facilities within a central- ized framework, Oglala Lakota, for ex- ample, operates as a decentralized college, offering classes throughout the reservation. Fiscal necessity has forced other campuses .to take creative ap- proaches to securing space for instruc- tional purposes. Two important laws partially address the inadequate funding base of tribal col- leges. The 1971 Navajo Community Col- lege Act (P.L. 89-192) was of major significance in American Indian higher education because it paved the way for the development of other tribally con- September 1991 trolled colleges. 16 For example, Navajo Community College was developed by the Navajos themselves, who estab- lished the college with monies from var- ious grants. Two years later, Congress provided support through the Navajo Community College Act. Other tribes rec- ognized the achievement of the Navajos and began to pursue the development of their own colleges. These colleges were the outcome of tribal commitment to higher education made feasible by the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of1978 (P.L. 95-471).17 This act is central to the survival of tribal colleges because the majority depend on it to meet 80 per- cent or more of their annual operating ex- penses.18 The problem is that while enrollments have increased, the allocated amount of funds has decreased. The Car- negie Report highlighted this issue: Congress authorized $4,000 per stu- dent in the originallegisla tion-an au- thorized level that has since been increased to nearly $6,000-but the amount actually released has become only progressively smaller. In 1980, for example, $5 million in federal money was distributed under the Tribally Controlled Community College Act, providing about $3,000 per student. This year (1989) the appropriation climbed to $8.5 million, but the amount generated for each student declined to $1,900! In effect, tribal colleges are being penalized for their own success.19 Tribal colleges have struggled val- iantly to provide quality educational programs in less than adequate facilities for adult students living below the pov- erty line. They have contended with high faculty and administrative turnover in the face of inadequate funding. Despite these difficulties, a spirit of optimism pervades the tribal colleges' determina- tion to meet their institutional objectives. Library Status Unfortunately, there is a paucity of in- formation in the library literature con- cerning the status and role of libraries in tribal colleges. Yet libraries were specif- ically mentioned in the second Carnegie Report recommendation, which urged that libraries at tribal colleges be signifi- cantly improved through federal gov- ernment appropriations. 20 Given the lack of descriptive literature and research lit- erature in this area, I conducted inter- views with seven tribal college presidents in January 1990 to determine the status of libraries within these institutions. 21 One of the indicators of library status is the availability of a librarian. Only one of the seven colleges had a full-time li- brarian with an MLS. Five of the seven colleges had librarians with college or graduate degrees in other fields, and one of the colleges was conducting a search for a librarian. The range of services, facilities, and adequacy of collections varies among the colleges. Little Big Horn College Li- brary is located in a gymnasium and houses 6,500 volumes. Navajo Commu- nity College has a functioning commu- nity college library with 45,000 volumes. In the interviews conducted thus far, all seven college presidents recognized that the colleges require additional informa- tion resources. Specifically mentioned by the presidents was the desire to en- hance access to various databases, in- crease acquisition and preservation of archival materials, expand reference ser- vices to support broader curriculum, and facilitate the delivery of community- based health and educational programs. DEVELOPMENTAL MODEL Having briefly identified the institu- tional goals of tribal colleges and their current operational status, I will now apply a model for identifying and as- sessing the role of libraries and informa- tion resources in meeting the colleges' institutional goals and objectives. While there are numerous developmental mod- els with close parallels, I will use the model developed by Eric G. Flamholtz and his associates.22 The Flamholtz model has been successfully used to as- sess the stages of growth in developing organizations. Organizational Growth The Flamholtz model has seen its greatest value in respect to organizations Tribal College 399 undergoing significant transition and growth. For the purposes of this article, the primary value of the model is that administrators have used it for manag- ing transition in a limited resources en- vironment. The focus of this study is to examine the role of libraries at each stage of tribal college growth. The Flamholtz model defines four stages of growth common to all maturing organizations: 1. The New Venture Stage, which fo- cuses on preparation, planning and analysis; 2. The Expansion Stage, where the em- phasis is on increasing resources and enhancing services; 3. The Professionalizing Stage, where- by methods, procedures and prac- tices are formalized; and 4. The Consolidation Stage, where the organization's objectives are both ac- cepted and operationalized through- out the system.23 Applying the model to tribal colleges shows that their very existence is a testi- mony to the new ventures stage of their development. Tribal colleges were a di- rect result of community activity and were initially founded as culturally unique re- sponses to the tribes' educational require- ments. During this initial stage, tribal colleges concentrated on defining the ed- ucational population, planning and devel- oping a curriculum, identifying faculty and administration requirements, secur- ing space for facilities, designing support systems, and · establishing budget re- quirements and allocations. During this initial stage, tribal colleges explicitly considered the core require- ments for providing library and infor- mation services to support both the curriculum and potential community needs. As previously stated, one of the unique goals of the tribal college was to serve proactively as the institutional guardian of tribal culture and tradition. One specific manifestation of this goal during this first stage was the attention given by some tribal colleges to includ- ing archival functions within the library. These functions were linked directly to the desire of the community to have ready access to the print and nonprint 400 College & Research Libraries materials associated with the tribe's his- tory and current status. During this start-up stage, tribal col- leges also recognized the need to iden- tify the level of library and information resources necessary to support the core curriculum. As might be expected, the result was that each individual college determined what constituted the appro- priate level of library and information resources for its institution. The developmental model postulates that during the next stage, expansion, institutions concentrate on acquiring the fiscal, human, and material resources nec- essary to begin providing the services they have planned for the end-users. For the tribal college, this implementation and growth stage translates to enrolling stu- dents, communicating its mission to the community, offering a core curriculum, recruiting and retaining faculty and staff, and preparing for accreditation. At this second stage, the tribal college makes a conscious effort to enhance its economic commitment to the commu- nity. One of the more tangible outcomes of this commitment takes the form of college alliance with community health care providers, especially with regard to drug and alcohol abuse and mental health programs. During this stage, the community also becomes increasingly integrated into various components of the college curriculum. In essence, the college seeks ways to expand internally and externally into the community. The adequacy of library and informa- tion resources is an important consider- ation during the expansion phase. Each tribal college deals daily with the reality that library and information resources- including staff, space, equipment, and materials-are barely adequate to meet the needs of students, faculty, adminis- tration, and community. While resource limitations are acute in all areas, they are especially evident in the level of profes- sional staffing and the libraries' use of complementary electronic technology, such as computers. At this stage, library and information resources attempt to play integral roles in meeting at least two of the tribal college's immediate objec- September 1991 tives: first, basic curriculum support by providing students and faculty with ma- terials, reference · services, and basic re- search support; and second, community support by meeting the basic needs of community-based individuals and agencies, particularly those working in health care and related areas. Each tribal college deals daily with the reality that library and informa- tion resources are barely adequate to meet the needs of students ... and [the] community. As an institution enhances its ability to deliver products or services, it migrates to the professionalizing stage, which is characterized by the building of the management infrastructure to support the institution's achievement of its objec- tives. This third stage requires a qualita- tive change in the nature of the institution, particularly in respect tore- structuring and formalizing goals, defin- ing managerial responsibilities, and establishing procedures and control sys- tems. In the professionalizing stage, in- stitutions need to formalize a planned program of organizational development with a dual focus of implementing oper- ational systems and improving the capa- bilities of the people who manage the institutions. For tribal colleges, this stage is characterized by broadening the cur- riculum and by improving support for student and faculty research. At this stage, tribal colleges will have to depend increasingly on the functional capabilities of their libraries because the libraries' resources and services ensure the colleges' ability to support an en- hanced curriculum and a research orien- tation. Most tribal colleges are just now entering this third stage because of their relatively short history. As previously stated, one-half of those tribal colleges now migrating through this stage have an overarching requirement-accredita- tion-that must be met in order to ensure their ability to provide an officially rec- ognized level of quality education. The 1 emphasis on libraries and their related information resources is significant, as libraries are specifically referenced in ac- creditation handbooks as one of the stan- dards by which accreditation is granted. During the accreditation process, a li- brary must demonstrate competencies in three areas. The first has to do with the degree to which the philosophy, goals, and objectives of the library reflect the institution's (tribal college's) goals and objectives. The second major area is that of the quality, quantity, and appropriate- ness of library staff, holdings, services, facilities, and budget. The third area re- lates to evaluating the use of library ser- vices by the college community. The developmental model used by Flamholtz and other org~nizational the- orists suggests that institutions encoun- ter a different type of challenge in the consolidation stage. During this stage, the institution moves from implement- ing workable systems for planning, or- ganization, management development, and control to consolidating its more in- tangible asset: the institutional culture. The development of institutional culture is necessary to complete the institution's transition from a fledgling entity to a professionally managed one. Some tribal colleges are just now be- ginning to address how they will man- age transition during this fourth stage. The preliminary view held by the seven tribal college presidents contacted for this article is that at least three key goals must be met during this consolidation stage. The first is the tribal college's abil- ity to direct or control its own future by successfully competing for and obtain- ing external or noncommunity-based monies. The second goal concerns the college's being recognized as a contrib- uting institution by other tribal colleges as well as by the larger educational com- munity. The third goal is to increase the presence of faculty and administration, which reflects the ethnic and cultural composition of the community. 24 Libraries and information services will have a critical role to play within the tribal colleges as they move toward the consolidation stage. During this stage of Tribal College 401 tribal college development, the role of the library will be essential to the colleges' achievement of the three afore- mentioned goals. The library has an es- pecially vital contribution to make in the area of institutional recognition and co- operation. That contribution takes the form of the library's ability to forge co- operative ties with other libraries and information networks, including other tribal college libraries. As a result, the linking of the tribal college's library re- sources, including the archives, to other institutions is in itself a measure of insti- tutional recognition. Developmental Tasks Tribal colleges exist as a result of a self-determined effort by American Indi- ans to develop culturally sensitive insti- tutions capable of providing a range of relevant educational services. Currently, they are facing the same management issues encountered by other developing organizations as they move through stages of organizational growth. Having presented the four stages of organiza- tional growth according to Flamholtz and applied them to the growth of tribal colleges, I will now consider the inter- play between the colleges' developmen- tal tasks and those of the libraries undertaken to achieve the institutional objectives. 25 The first set of tasks undertaken by the tribal college library is to define its phi- losophy, establish its goals, and specify its operational procedures in relation to supporting the overall mission and ob- jectives of the tribal college. 26 Concurrent with this set of tasks is the requirement to plan and provide core library materi- als and services to assist students and faculty. While it is making basic library services available, the library must frame and implement a plan for increas- ing staff, expanding holdings, adding services, and improving facilities to bet- ter serve students and faculty in addition to the local community. Following the accomplishment of the first set of tasks, the library's focus turns to the operational systems necessary for the organization and dissemination of 402 College & Research Libraries the library's resources. This includes at- tention to the following: technical pro- cessing of materials, including archival and multimedia resources; consistent provision of reference and basic research services; improved delivery of archival services; circulation control systems for all materials; and evaluative measures of resource use and service quality. The third set of developmental tasks centers on acquiring and developing the human and physical resources needed to support an adequate level of services. For the tribal college library, the immedi- ate priorities are to professionalize the staff (librarians with an MLS), to en- hance the holdings (including archival holdings), and to increase services to the community. The tribal college is simi- larly engaged in retaining and nurturing faculty, supporting research efforts, im- proving physical facilities, and actively supporting community-based programs. The aforementioned tasks, in turn, re- quire the development of those library operational systems needed to imple- ment policies and procedures for ex- panding the range of library programs. These operational systems address the following functional areas: material ac- cessibility, resource selection guidelines, principles of collection management, guidelines for budget preparation, pro- cedures for staff development, plans for technology implementation, and inter- nal performance measures. The college is similarly involved in implementing operational systems for budget forma- tions, staffing programs, community re- lationships, and internal assessments. The Flamholtz model characterizes the fifth set of tasks as developing the management systems required for the overall functioning of the organization on a long-term basis. Comparably, the tribal college's emphasis is directed at strategic, operational, and contingency planning, with the immediate purpose of achieving accreditation and cultural integrity. Concurrently, the tribal college library seeks to implement management systems for determining collection poli- cies, community involvement, staff de- velopment, technology implementation, September 1991 and internal assessments (personnel and information resources). The successful completion of these five sets of developmental tasks is pred- icated on the early formalization of tribal college libraries' involvement in the colleges' planning processes. As a result of successfully implementing these tasks, col- lege administrations and library adminis- trations become partners in implementing new academic and community-based programs. Application of the model has shown that these tasks are always being per- formed to some degree at any given point in time by virtually all institutions, but that they do not always require the same amount of emphasis at any partic- ular stage. The utility of the model was validated by a representative sample of seven tribal college presidents who agreed unanimously with its application to tribal college development.27 The presidents also concurred that these developmental tasks are being performed currently at both the broad institutional level and the depart- mental (library) level. In addition, they noted that within the tribal college struc- ture, economic considerations affect the movement of any given department from one stage to another. While most tribal colleges are engaged in the developmental tasks associated with the second (expansion) and third (professionalizing) stages, a few colleges are moving toward stage four (consoli- dation). One tribal college president, Elgin Bad Wound of Oglala Lakota Col- lege, observed that movement within the four stages of development might be more accurately characterized in the tribal setting as circular rather than lin- ear. The remainder of this article identi- fies that set of variables and hypotheses that will be critical for tribal colleges as they move through the organizational growth stages and achieve their goals and objectives. HYPOTHESES The organizational development model as applied to tribal colleges provides a framework for considering the role of libraries in supporting a range of institu- tiona! objectives. This model makes it possible to identify specifically those de- velopmental tasks that have strong link- ages between the institution and the library. While a number of hypotheses can be generated readily through application of the developmental model, this study will focus on the set of hypotheses that contribute to the tribal college's set of unique objectives, specifically those con- cerned with preserving tribal culture, en- hancing community economic opportunity, and improving health care. The primary objective of this article is to establish a framework for conducting a longitudinal study of the role of librar- ies in meeting · tribal college objectives. Consequently, the hypotheses generated in the succeeding section will be tested in the next phase of the research. Discus- sion of the hypotheses is limited to pro- viding operational definitions and linking the hypotheses to the institutional goals. Also, the proposed hypotheses were submitted to the representative sample of tribal college presidents. The consen- sus among the group was that the hypotheses were relevant, reasonable, and testable. Most of the presidents sug- gested that low faculty salaries be con- trolled for as a factor that might affect faculty turnover in the third and fourth hypotheses. Tribal Culture The preservation of tribal culture is a tribal college objective that is most evi- dent in both the curriculum and the projects and programs related to com- munity involvement. Based on the Car- negie Report and the series of personal interviews, a primary criterion used by tribal colleges for assessing their effec- tiveness in meeting this objective is the extent of community use of institutional resources--especially tribal archives, where available.28 The development of a tribal archives under the management of the tribal college library is one of the most visible demonstrations of the college's commitment to the preserva- tion of tribal culture. The question to be addressed here is the extent to which the archival function of libraries contributes Tribal College 403 to the tribal college's objective of pre- serving tribal culture. The primary objective of this article is to establish a framework for con- ducting a longitudinal study of the role of libraries in meeting tribal college objectives. "Archives" may be defined as "those records of any public or private institu- tion which are judged worthy of perma- nent preservation for reference and research purposes and which have been deposited or have been selected for de- posit in an archival institution." 29 This study makes no distinction between the definition of an archives in a tribal set- ting and an archives in a nontribal set- ting. John Flekner, one of the recognized experts in this field, supports this posi- tion when he defines a tribal archives as "a body of materials permanently re- tained because it contains historically valuable information for the tribe and tribal members." 30 The following hypothesis considers the role of an archives in respect to meet- ing the institution's objective of preserv- ing tribal culture: Tribal college libraries that have an archives have more commu- nity use than those tribal college libraries without archives. The measure of "com- munity use" to be applied in this study will draw from the performance mea- sures identified by Nancy Van House and her colleagues in Output Measures for Public Libraries. These measures may in- clude library visits per capita, library registrations, circulation per capita, in- library materials use per capita, and turnover rate.31 "Community" will refer to two groupings that must be distin- guished: (1) the students, faculty, and administration of the college and (2) the area residents who are not students, fac- ulty, or administrators of the college. Economic Enhancement of Community The role of the library in contributing to the tribal colleges' objective of enhanc- ing community-based economic oppor- 404 College & Research Libraries tunity was presented in the discussion of the developmental model with its paral- lels between the college and the library's tasks, specifically in the third set of tasks. What contribution, if any, can the library make to enable the community to en- hance its economic base? A second hy- pothesis considers this question: Funding proposals submitted by tribal organiza- tions that use tribal college library re- sources in proposal preparation are more frequently granted than those proposals submitted by tribal organizations that do not use tribal college library resources. Before we consider this hypothesis, three terms require definition: (1) "funding pro- posal" is identified as a written document submitted to a funding agency (nontribal, nonlocal) for purposes of obtaining monies to support community-based programs or services; (2) "tribal organization" refers to any formalized group, department, agency, or program recognized by the current tribal government; and (3) "tribal college library resources" include the com- plete holdings and services of the tribal college library, including print, nonprint, archives, reference, and research. Testing this hypothesis will require control for the use of nontribal college library (e.g., pub- lic or special library) resources. Health Care Support The third unique tribal college objec- tive is that of addressing the provision of health care programs within the commu- nity, specifically in the areas of alcohol and drug abuse. Tribal colleges have at- tempted to address this issue by.empha- sizing three approaches: the training of health care professionals, the provision of physical facilities to support health care programs, and the direct implementa- tion of community health education ef- forts. Two of the major obstacles faced by tribal colleges in effectively supporting their total curriculum, especially the health sciences curriculum, have been the high turnover rate of faculty and the limited access to the library information resources needed to support the health sciences curriculum. As the primary information resource within the institution, the library has a September 1991 critical role to play in retaining faculty and in increasing access to specialized information resources. The hypothesis to be tested in this area is that tribal colleges that have established library networking and cooperative relation- ships with other libraries and informa- tion service providers experience less faculty turnover than tribal colleges that do not have such relationships. It may be possible to test a more specific hypothe- sis: Tribal colleges that have library net- working and cooperative relationships with health services information provid- ers experience less health science faculty turnover than tribal colleges that do not. Three terms require definition in re- spect to testing this set of hypotheses. "Established library networking relation- ship" refers to a contractual agreement that has been in place for a minimum of one year whereby the tribal college li- brary has access; via electronic or non- electronic means, to information from information service providers such as Medlars, OCLC, and DIALOG. "Established library cooperative rela- tionship" refers to a contractual agree- ment that has been in place for a minimum of one year between the tribal college li- brary and any other libraries (public, special, or academic) to share print and nonprint resources. Interlibrary loan arrangements are an example of this type of cooperative relationship. "Faculty turnover" is more difficult to define because of the relatively short his- tory of the tribal college. According to Arthur Cohen, a leading scholar in the field, turnover in nontribal American community colleges for full-time faculty is typically measured in reference to a mean institutional affiliation of twelve years. 32 For the purpose of testing this hypothesis, "faculty turnover" will be represented as the annualized percent- age of vacancies over a five-year period caused by the voluntary departure (ex- cluding death and retirement) of faculty members. Accreditation · Apart from these three objectives, which are specific to tribal colleges, the colleges also strive to meet the five pre- viously cited objectives that are com- mon to all community colleges: (1) preparation for transfer; (2) preparation for job entry; (3) literacy development; (4) career upgrading; and (5) provision of personal interest activities. The tribal colleges' ability to meet these five objec- tives is related to their success in achiev- ing and maintaining accreditation. The final hypothesis to be presented consid- ers the role of the tribal college library in helping to achieve institutional ac- creditation. According to the Accreditation Hand- . book, "the purposes of a library and learning resources program is to support and improve instruction and learning in ways consistent with the philosophy and evolving curricular programs of the insti- tution."33 Therefore, those tribal colleges that, from their founding, have identi- fied and implemented appropriate li- brary services to support all their institutional objectives should be more successful in achieving accreditation, par- ticularly at the initial time of submis- sion. Based on this rationale, the final hypothesis is: Tribal colleges with writ- ten strategic plans explicitly identifying the role of the library in meeting their institutional objectives achieve accredit- ation on their initial review more fre- quently than tribal colleges that do not have such plans. In this hypothesis, "written strategic plan" is defined as an officially approved tribal college docu- ment that addresses the educational mis- sion, philosophy, goals, and objectives of the institution. These four hypotheses focus on the role of the library in meeting the tribal Tribal College 405 · college's objectives, particularly that set related to tribal culture, economic em- powerment, and health care. While other hypotheses relate more directly to inter- nal assessments of library performance, the intent in this article has been to de- rive, from the development model, hypotheses that can validate the role li- braries have in meeting the institutional objectives of the tribal colleges. CONCLUSION While tribal college presidents recog- nize the value of libraries, a quantum leap in the provision of information ser- vices is needed to help meet their institu- tional objectives. For example, few tribal colleges possess adeqquatecomputer technology, yet in order to meet institu- tional objectives an electronic network- ing approach is essential. Similarly, the strong focus on archival collections for preserving tribal culture and history suggests the appropriateness of using newer technology such as image pro- cessing and CD-ROM. The role of libraries in tribal college development provides the field of aca- demic librarianship with a unique oppor- tunity to recast the mission of libraries with respect to meeting institutional and community-based objectives. The nature of the tribal college has many parallels to the entrepreneurial nature of many busi- nesses. As such, the academic library world may want to look at the applica- bility of developmental models that have been used in the business commu- nity. The dearth of research in this area mandates an intensive look at the role of tribal college libraries in a nonbiased fashion, free of preconceived notions. REFERENCES AND NOTES 1. The first such treaty was signed between the United States and the Delaware Tribe on September 17, 1778. From that date until1871, treaties were the legal basis of federal policies concerning American Indian education. Thomas Thompson, ed., The Schooling of Native America (Washington, D.C.: American Assn. of Colleges for Teacher Educa- tion, 1978), p.168. 2. Ibid., p.169. 3. Maigaret Cornell S:zasz and Carmelita Ryan, "American Indian EducatiOn," in History of Indian- White Relations . ed., Wilcombe Wasbum, v.4. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian, 1988), p.289. 4. Thompson, The Schooling of Native America, p.170. 406 College & Research Libraries September 1991 5. Steven Crum, "The Idea of an Indian College or University in Twentieth-Century America before the Formation of the Navajo Community College in 1968," Tribal College 1:20-21 (Summer 1989). 6. For a list of tribally controlled colleges, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the author. 7. Arthur Cohen, "The Transfer Indicator," unpublished paper presented at the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges annual convention, Seattle, April 24, 1990 (University of California-Los Angeles and Center for the Study of Community Colleges, 1990), p.l. 8. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Tribal Colleges: Shaping the Future of Native America (Princeton, N.J.: Carnegie Fndn. for the Advancement of Teaching, 1989), p.41, 45-46. 9. Norman Oppelt, "The Tribally Controlled Colleges in the 1980s: Higher Education's Best Kept Secret," American Indian Culture and Research Journal8:39 (1984). 10. Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Accreditation Handbook (Seattle, Wash.: Northwest Assn. of Schools and Colleges, 1988), p.3. 11. Carnegie Foundation, Tribal Colleges, p.27. 12. Carolyn J. Mooney, "Colleges for American Indians Said to Need Money and Recogni- tion," Chronicle of Higher Education, v.36, ll:A20 (Nov. 15, 1989). Carnegie Foundation, Tribal Colleges, p.28. 13. 14. 15. 16. Cohen, "The Transfer Indicator," p.2. Carnegie Foundation, Tribal Colleges, p.30. . U.S. Congress, House (1971), P.L. 89-192 Navajo Community College Assistance Act, 89th Congress, 1st Session. . 17. U.S. Congress, House (1978), P.L. 95-471 Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978, 95th Congress, 2d Session. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. Presently, it is not possible to obtain specific data related to operating expense budgets for individual colleges. This is due largely to complex bureaucratic regulations and the fragmented nature of funding sources that contribute to operating budgets. Carnegie Foundation, Tribal Colleges, p.36-37. Ibid., p.72. Personal interviews conducted between Cheryl Duran and the presidents of the seven colleges which were included in the Carnegie Special Report, Tribal Colleges: Shaping the Future of Native America (Interviews conducted January 17-22, 1990). A formal inter- view schedule was administered; there was a 100% response rate. Eric G. Flamholtz, How to Make the Transition from an Entrepreneurship to a Professionally Managed Firm (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986), p.31-47. Ibid., p.32-33. Cheryl Duran, personal interviews with seven tribal college presidents, January 1990. For a copy of the developmental task sets chart, which presents a three-tiered analysis of the developmental tasks associated with nontribal organizations, the tribal college, and the tribal college library, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the author. These library tasks are derived from the Accreditation Handbook, p.45-46. Second set of personal interviews conducted between Cheryl Duran and the presidents of seven colleges which were included in the Carnegie Special Report, Tribal Colleges: Shaping the Future of Native America (Interviews conducted July 16-20, 1990). CheryfDuran, personal interviews with seven tribal college presidents, January 1990. T. R. Schellenberg, Modern Archives: Principles and Techmques (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1956), p.l6. John Fleckner, Native American Archives: An Introduction (Chicago: Soc. of American Archivists, 1984), p.l. Nancy A. Van House and others, Output Measures for Public Libraries: A Manual of Standardized Procedures, 2d ed. (Chicago: American Library Assn., 1987), p.37-49. Personal interview between Duran and Cohen, May 22, 1990, University of California- Los Angeles. 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