Post by Okwes on Feb 9, 2006 11:13:24 GMT -5
Proposal made to reopen HU to educate Native American teachers
www.plainsman.com/main.php?story_id=7901&page=23
BY ROGER LARSEN
A proposal to reopen Huron University as a four-year school to educate Native American teachers has gone before the executive committee of the task force charged with examining potential prospects for the closed campus.
Ron Volesky and Gary Montana of National Native American Education Corpor-ation met with the committee last week.
“We think that we have put together a really solid plan,” Volesky said.
The school would have a Native American student population of at least 50 percent so it could qualify for government grant funds.
The curriculum would also include a business aspect in which graduates could be trained to help reservation economies.
Financing and accreditation are two of the major challenges facing the group, and Volesky said there is only a 60-day window of opportunity to come up with agreements on those and other issues.
But he said he thinks the new corporation can succeed where others have failed because there will be a local board of directors and it won’t be affiliated with any Indian tribes.
“We just think we can bring good, sound management and inspiring leadership to make this enterprise go,” Volesky said.
He said the group is examining a possible articulation agreement with another institution of higher learning in South Dakota in which the reopened university would be accredited for a time under an established school.
Attracting students to the school will be another challenge.
“We think that with aggressive recruiting and having a good product and marketing it correctly that we can get the students here,” Volesky said.
Task force publicity officer Pat Haley said the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office and the F&M Bank have asked the task force to continue examining potential prospects for the campus.
The task force is receiving inquiries primarily by telephone and through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development Web site.
“The task force doesn’t believe it’s appropriate to comment on any one project because most of the projects do not want public discussion about their proposals,” Haley said.
“If Ron Volesky and Gary Montana want to talk about their proposal publicly, that’s their business,” he said. The task force is interested in looking at any suggestions or contacts from the public, he said.
“We think it’s important that the community understands that we are not making any decisions about what projects may be preferable to others,” Haley said. “We give information to any prospect about both the facility and, if it is a school proposal, we try to provide guidance to help the prospect put together a business plan.”
The executive committee has also given information to prospects about the accreditation process, which he said is very important and complex.
Any actual purchase of the property is a decision to be made by USDA and the bank. USDA has appraisers going through the property as part of the liquidation process.
Volesky said his proposal doesn’t suggest that the property would be handed over to his group for a nominal fee.
Last summer, at a sheriff’s auction, the F&M Bank was the lone bidder when it purchased the property for $3.9 million following a bankruptcy filing by Si Tanka University.
“We’re operating under a plan in which we would offer ‘X’ number of dollars to purchase it in that manner,” Volesky said. “We feel with grants, foundations, BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) funding we can make this work.”
He declined to release any financial specifics of the plan.
Volesky said he wrote to Si Tanka officials a year ago to offer to meet with them at any time.
“Obviously, it would have been nice to have been handed the baton rather than have it drop on the track,” he said.
But he said he remains optimistic. “With good local community support we can make it happen,” he said.
“It’s important for the community to stand up and say this is what we want,” he said.
“It’s so significant to be a college town,” Volesky said. “We’ve always been able to say that in this community for 100 years. Now all of a sudden we can’t.”
www.plainsman.com/main.php?story_id=7901&page=23
BY ROGER LARSEN
A proposal to reopen Huron University as a four-year school to educate Native American teachers has gone before the executive committee of the task force charged with examining potential prospects for the closed campus.
Ron Volesky and Gary Montana of National Native American Education Corpor-ation met with the committee last week.
“We think that we have put together a really solid plan,” Volesky said.
The school would have a Native American student population of at least 50 percent so it could qualify for government grant funds.
The curriculum would also include a business aspect in which graduates could be trained to help reservation economies.
Financing and accreditation are two of the major challenges facing the group, and Volesky said there is only a 60-day window of opportunity to come up with agreements on those and other issues.
But he said he thinks the new corporation can succeed where others have failed because there will be a local board of directors and it won’t be affiliated with any Indian tribes.
“We just think we can bring good, sound management and inspiring leadership to make this enterprise go,” Volesky said.
He said the group is examining a possible articulation agreement with another institution of higher learning in South Dakota in which the reopened university would be accredited for a time under an established school.
Attracting students to the school will be another challenge.
“We think that with aggressive recruiting and having a good product and marketing it correctly that we can get the students here,” Volesky said.
Task force publicity officer Pat Haley said the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office and the F&M Bank have asked the task force to continue examining potential prospects for the campus.
The task force is receiving inquiries primarily by telephone and through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development Web site.
“The task force doesn’t believe it’s appropriate to comment on any one project because most of the projects do not want public discussion about their proposals,” Haley said.
“If Ron Volesky and Gary Montana want to talk about their proposal publicly, that’s their business,” he said. The task force is interested in looking at any suggestions or contacts from the public, he said.
“We think it’s important that the community understands that we are not making any decisions about what projects may be preferable to others,” Haley said. “We give information to any prospect about both the facility and, if it is a school proposal, we try to provide guidance to help the prospect put together a business plan.”
The executive committee has also given information to prospects about the accreditation process, which he said is very important and complex.
Any actual purchase of the property is a decision to be made by USDA and the bank. USDA has appraisers going through the property as part of the liquidation process.
Volesky said his proposal doesn’t suggest that the property would be handed over to his group for a nominal fee.
Last summer, at a sheriff’s auction, the F&M Bank was the lone bidder when it purchased the property for $3.9 million following a bankruptcy filing by Si Tanka University.
“We’re operating under a plan in which we would offer ‘X’ number of dollars to purchase it in that manner,” Volesky said. “We feel with grants, foundations, BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) funding we can make this work.”
He declined to release any financial specifics of the plan.
Volesky said he wrote to Si Tanka officials a year ago to offer to meet with them at any time.
“Obviously, it would have been nice to have been handed the baton rather than have it drop on the track,” he said.
But he said he remains optimistic. “With good local community support we can make it happen,” he said.
“It’s important for the community to stand up and say this is what we want,” he said.
“It’s so significant to be a college town,” Volesky said. “We’ve always been able to say that in this community for 100 years. Now all of a sudden we can’t.”