Leech Lake Tribal College
Encyclopedia
Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC) is a small, associate degree-granting, Anishinaabe
college
in Cass Lake, Minnesota
, chartered by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
(LLBO) and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission
. In 2010, LLTC was ranked 7th of the top 50 two-year colleges in the USA by the magazine The Washington Monthly
.
Offered programs of study include:
Leech Lake Tribal College provides quality higher education grounded in Anishinaabe values.
Vision
Leech Lake Tribal College aspires to be recognized as a center of academic excellence that advances the Anishinaabe worldview and empowers life-long learners who are fully engaged citizens, stewards, and leaders.
Guiding Principles
“It is vitally important that Native people a) have a sense of history and are able to connect contemporary and historical issues; b) have a sense of values; c) acknowledge philosophical kinship and our responsibility to these relationships; and d) understand the Circle of Life as both a privilege and a responsibility.” –Dr. Henrietta Mann (Cheyenne)
In keeping with Dr. Mann’s philosophy, Leech Lake Tribal College has established the following guiding principles:
To those ends, LLTC pledges to prepare its students to:
, Bemidji State University
, Itasca Community College
and Central Lakes College
(then known as Brainerd Community College). In the fall quarter of 1992, LLTC began offering its own courses leading toward the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Applied Science Degrees.
The first LLTC student was Sean Fahrlander, graduating with an Associate of Arts degree in Anishinaabe Language and Culture in the spring of 1993. In 1994, the College was accorded status as a Land Grant Institution by the United States Congress. Also, in 1994, seventeen graduates completed their Associate of Arts degrees and Associate of Applied Science degrees. By the spring of 1995, the number of graduates had increased to twenty-four.
The College moved classrooms and administration to the former Cass Lake High School building in the fall of 1994, resulting in greatly increased enrollment of 196 students. These students were enrolled in two-year Associate of Arts transfer degree programs, or in two-year technical programs leading to an Associate of Applied Science degree, or in one-year vocational programs. Today, LLTC includes approximately 70 faculty, staff, administrators, and 250 full-time students. Most of our students come from the Leech Lake Reservation and the surrounding Reservations in Northern Minnesota. In addition, approximately 8% of the students enrolled at the College are non-Native American.
The College was accredited as a vocational school in 1993. The College was awarded candidacy status with the Higher Learning Commission
of the North Central Association in 2002, and awarded continuing candidacy status in 2004. After a final site visit in April 2006, the Higher Learning Commission bestowed full five-year accreditation on LLTC, further cementing LLTC's status as an educational leader, and providing a springboard to tremendous growth in the ensuing years. LLTC is currently in the process of applying for continuing accreditation. According to an article published on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 in The Bemidji Pioneer, a review team from the North Central Association will meet from October 4-6, 2010 with LLTC President Ginny Carney and other administration officials to study the college’s governing documents, strategic plans, marketing information, student enrollment, academic standards and other materials.
LLTC is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and the National Association of Land Grant Institutions. The College receives its base funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs
under the authority of the Tribally Controlled Community College Act (Title I, P.L. 95-471).
LLBO adopted the original LLTC Charter in 1999 and established an independent Board of Trustees; in 2002, the LLBO revised the LLTC Charter. In 2003, Leech Lake Tribal College separated from the LLBO and assumed its own accounting and human resources functions, and the LLBO formally transferred all bank accounts, equipment, and some property to LLTC. Also, the IRS granted 501(c)(3) status to LLTC as a non-profit educational entity. While separately incorporated today, LLTC still enjoys a vital relationship with LLBO, and receives about 11% of its annual funding from the Band.
LLTC is located on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation
in north central Minnesota, three miles northwest of the town of Cass Lake. Four buildings have been completed on the new campus, and funds are being raised for construction of a fifth building, continuing the pattern of growth at LLTC. The 2007-08 academic year saw record student enrollment, and the 2008 graduating class was the largest in college history.
Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek, which is the plural form of the word—is the autonym often used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples. They all speak closely related Anishinaabemowin/Anishinaabe languages, of the Algonquian language family.The meaning...
college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
in Cass Lake, Minnesota
Cass Lake, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 860 people, 331 households, and 192 families residing in the city. The population density was 753.2 people per square mile . There were 384 housing units at an average density of 336.3 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 30.12% White, 64.42%...
, chartered by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, also known as the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians or the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, and as Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag Ojibweg in the Ojibwe language, is an Ojibwa tribe located in Minnesota. The tribe boasts 8,861 tribal members as of July, 2007...
(LLBO) and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission is part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Higher Learning Commission oversees the accreditation of degree-granting colleges and universities in nineteen Midwestern and South-Central states, including Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa,...
. In 2010, LLTC was ranked 7th of the top 50 two-year colleges in the USA by the magazine The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly is a bimonthly nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C.The magazine's founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue. Paul Glastris, former...
.
Offered programs of study include:
- Liberal EducationLiberal educationA Liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment...
- Liberal Education with a STEMSTEM fieldsSTEM fields is a US Government acronym for the fields of study in the categories of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The acronym is in use regarding access to work visas for immigrants who are skilled in these fields. Maintaining a citizenry that is well versed in the STEM fields...
Emphasis - Indigenous Leadership
- BusinessBusinessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
- Early Childhood EducationEarly childhood educationEarly childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home. 'Early childhood' is usually defined as before the age of normal schooling - five years in most nations, though the U.S...
- Law EnforcementLaw enforcement agencyIn North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
- Building and Construction Trades, including Residential CarpentryCarpentryA carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
and Construction ElectricityElectricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
Basis
MissionLeech Lake Tribal College provides quality higher education grounded in Anishinaabe values.
Vision
Leech Lake Tribal College aspires to be recognized as a center of academic excellence that advances the Anishinaabe worldview and empowers life-long learners who are fully engaged citizens, stewards, and leaders.
Guiding Principles
“It is vitally important that Native people a) have a sense of history and are able to connect contemporary and historical issues; b) have a sense of values; c) acknowledge philosophical kinship and our responsibility to these relationships; and d) understand the Circle of Life as both a privilege and a responsibility.” –Dr. Henrietta Mann (Cheyenne)
In keeping with Dr. Mann’s philosophy, Leech Lake Tribal College has established the following guiding principles:
- Acknowledge and embody the core values inherent in Anishinaabe culture and tradition.
- Practice conscientious stewardship of institutional resources: fiscal, human, intellectual, physical, and natural.
- Value employees and promote professional development and growth for faculty, staff, and administrators.
- Serve as a seat of technological, intellectual, and cultural knowledge for the communities LLTC serves.
- Foster positive relationships with multiple constituents, collegial associations, and communities of service.
- Build a stronger community through promotion of healthy living, leadership, and dissemination of the Anishinaabe worldview.
- Proactively promote a campus community that honors teaching, learning, and service.
To those ends, LLTC pledges to prepare its students to:
- Exemplify leadership skills, creative engagement, pride, and dedication to their chosen profession and civic and social responsibilities.
- Acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities to achieve personal and professional goals.
- Demonstrate the ability to articulate an understanding of Anishinaabe values and worldview.
- Possess the skills to research, identify, and interpret information to inform problem-solving and to inspire life-long learning.
- Demonstrate competency in oral, written, and technological communication.
- Demonstrate competency in financial, cultural, numerical, and analytical literacy.
History
LLBO established LLTC by Tribal Resolution in July 1990. For two years, courses were offered in extension from the University of Minnesota DuluthUniversity of Minnesota Duluth
The University of Minnesota Duluth is a regional branch of the University of Minnesota system located in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. As Duluth's public research university, UMD offers 13 bachelor's degrees in 74 majors, graduate programs in 24 different fields, a two-year program at the School of...
, Bemidji State University
Bemidji State University
Bemidji State University is a public state university in Bemidji, Minnesota, USA, located on the shores of Lake Bemidji. It is a part of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities .-History:BSU was founded in 1919 as Bemidji State Normal School...
, Itasca Community College
Itasca Community College
Itasca Community College is a two-year community college located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It was founded in 1922 and is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools...
and Central Lakes College
Central Lakes College
Central Lakes College is a Two-year community and technical college with campuses in Brainerd and Staples, Minnesota.Central Lakes College in Brainerd includes courses in the liberal arts and sciences with an Associate in Arts degree and Minnesota Transfer Curriculum for transfers to a four year...
(then known as Brainerd Community College). In the fall quarter of 1992, LLTC began offering its own courses leading toward the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Applied Science Degrees.
The first LLTC student was Sean Fahrlander, graduating with an Associate of Arts degree in Anishinaabe Language and Culture in the spring of 1993. In 1994, the College was accorded status as a Land Grant Institution by the United States Congress. Also, in 1994, seventeen graduates completed their Associate of Arts degrees and Associate of Applied Science degrees. By the spring of 1995, the number of graduates had increased to twenty-four.
The College moved classrooms and administration to the former Cass Lake High School building in the fall of 1994, resulting in greatly increased enrollment of 196 students. These students were enrolled in two-year Associate of Arts transfer degree programs, or in two-year technical programs leading to an Associate of Applied Science degree, or in one-year vocational programs. Today, LLTC includes approximately 70 faculty, staff, administrators, and 250 full-time students. Most of our students come from the Leech Lake Reservation and the surrounding Reservations in Northern Minnesota. In addition, approximately 8% of the students enrolled at the College are non-Native American.
The College was accredited as a vocational school in 1993. The College was awarded candidacy status with the Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission is part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Higher Learning Commission oversees the accreditation of degree-granting colleges and universities in nineteen Midwestern and South-Central states, including Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa,...
of the North Central Association in 2002, and awarded continuing candidacy status in 2004. After a final site visit in April 2006, the Higher Learning Commission bestowed full five-year accreditation on LLTC, further cementing LLTC's status as an educational leader, and providing a springboard to tremendous growth in the ensuing years. LLTC is currently in the process of applying for continuing accreditation. According to an article published on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 in The Bemidji Pioneer, a review team from the North Central Association will meet from October 4-6, 2010 with LLTC President Ginny Carney and other administration officials to study the college’s governing documents, strategic plans, marketing information, student enrollment, academic standards and other materials.
LLTC is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and the National Association of Land Grant Institutions. The College receives its base funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
under the authority of the Tribally Controlled Community College Act (Title I, P.L. 95-471).
LLBO adopted the original LLTC Charter in 1999 and established an independent Board of Trustees; in 2002, the LLBO revised the LLTC Charter. In 2003, Leech Lake Tribal College separated from the LLBO and assumed its own accounting and human resources functions, and the LLBO formally transferred all bank accounts, equipment, and some property to LLTC. Also, the IRS granted 501(c)(3) status to LLTC as a non-profit educational entity. While separately incorporated today, LLTC still enjoys a vital relationship with LLBO, and receives about 11% of its annual funding from the Band.
LLTC is located on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation
Leech Lake Indian Reservation
The Leech Lake Indian Reservation or Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag in the Ojibwe language, is an Native American reservation located in the north-central Minnesota counties of Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard. It is the land-base for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe...
in north central Minnesota, three miles northwest of the town of Cass Lake. Four buildings have been completed on the new campus, and funds are being raised for construction of a fifth building, continuing the pattern of growth at LLTC. The 2007-08 academic year saw record student enrollment, and the 2008 graduating class was the largest in college history.