Carleton’s brand new Indigenous Policy and Administration (IPA) programs are ready for student applications and will be starting up in the summer of 2015.
The graduate diploma in IPA and new masters of arts concentration will prepare students for working in indigenous governments and organizations, said Frances Abele, Carleton professor and IPA program supervisor.
The programs will teach skills such as financial management, community development, organizational design, and leadership.
Over the past 30 years there has been huge growth in indigenous governments and government relations with indigenous people, Abele said. Carleton’s new programs will educate students to fill needed positions in this field.
“We are meeting what we think is an important need in society,” Abele said. “Trying to respond to the changes that have taken place and playing a part in de-colonization by training people to work in new organizations.”
Abele said she hopes graduates of the program will go on to become leaders and senior administration staff in national aboriginal organizations.
While she doesn’t know how many applicants the program will receive, Abele said she receives inquiries from prospective students almost everyday.
Both new programs were developed with input from many different stakeholders in the aboriginal community and non-aboriginal community. Tracy Coates, a lawyer specializing in cross-cultural strategies, was hired by Carleton to assist in seeking feedback to help design the program.
“Coates was involved in careful discussions of various kinds,” Abele said. “She talked to 170 people in different ways.”
The new IPA programs have been created to be as accessible as possible. They will be offered though a mixture of intensive summer courses and online courses, all on a part time basis.
One challenge being faced is access to reading materials and curriculum to supplement course content, Abele said.
“If we are teaching a course on indigenous leadership we will need actual case studies, actual examples,” she said.
As a result of this, the educational part of the program will run parallel to a research program to supply it with case studies and research papers.
The new programs are aimed at improving the educational experience of indigenous students and to attract more indigenous students and faculty to the university, Abele said.
“What we’re doing . . . contributes to Carleton’s work in making the university more accessible to indigenous people and more relevant to indigenous people,” she said.
