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Highlighting Tribal Colleges - Bay Mills Community College, MI
Bay Mills Community College (BMCC) is situated on the southeastern shore of Lake Superior, on the Bay Mills Indian Reservation, which is in Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula. The Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC) is five miles northwest of Brimley, Michigan and twenty miles west of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
The college began as a vocational program in response to the economic development needs of seven Native American communities that were initially served by the program; in 1981 the Department of Education funded this program. In 1984 the college was chartered by the Bay Mills Indian Community under the Tribally Controlled Colleges Act. Since its establishment in 1981 with an enrollment of eleven students, the college has grown to currently serve over four hundred students on campus and through its virtual campus.
BMCC is Michigan’s only fully accredited (www.higherlearningcommission.org) Tribal College, located on an Indian Reservation and was designated as a Land Grant Institution by the Equity in Educational Land Grant Status Act of 1994. BMCC is chartered by the Bay Mills Indian Community as a nonprofit education corporation and has been declared tax-exempt by the Internal Revenue Service. Control is vested in a Board of Regents, which elects the officers of the administration and establishes overall institutional policy. BMCC is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.
BMCC serves the twelve federally recognized tribes of the state. In addition to the Bay Mills Indian Community, BMCC has been working with all of the federally recognized tribes of the state with the goal of setting up academic programs. Although the college specialized in programs for American Indians, who represent approximately 60% of the annual student enrollment, its doors are open to all people who want to benefit from the educational process. BMCC is dedicated to providing academic and personal enrichment programs to Native Americans and residents of their neighboring communities.
In recent years, BMCC has developed an impressive, cutting edge technological infrastructure; this has allowed BMCC to reach beyond the borders of Michigan and offer on-line instruction throughout North America. BMCC currently offers two complete degree programs through the Virtual College; Early Childhood Education and Accounting. BMCC is also offering free on-line classes in Native American culture for members of Federally Recognized Tribes. For more information see www.bmcc.edu.
 Dr. Michael Doyle, Director of Research at Bay Mills Community College was recently notified of his selection to receive an International Honor Award from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS). Being selected to receive the award was the result of Dr. Doyle's recent work related to school garden programs in the African nations of the Congo and Rwanda.
According to USDA administrator A. Ellen Terpstra in her notification of award letter, "The selection process is very competitive and so I congratulate you, emphasizing my appreciation for your hard work and dedication. On behalf of the entire agency and to express my gratitude, you will be recognized at the 2006 FAS Awards Ceremony, which will be held in the Patio of the Jamie L. Witten Building at 10:00 a.m., March 7, 2006."
Over the past few months Dr. Doyle has made trips to the Congo and Rwanda as apart of an educational team from the USDA-FAS, to support school garden projects aimed at supplementing school feeding programs and serving as teaching tools for the schools. As a plant scientist, Dr. Doyle provided expertise in translating the science of gardening into the school curricula and assisted in the development of a resource manual/curriculum for use by African teachers. Future trips to Africa are in the works for Dr. Doyle as he continues to position himself and Bay Mills Community College as resources for international education efforts. The school garden projects undertaken by USDA-FAS in the Congo and Rwanda are funded by the President's African Education Initiative.
Dr. Doyle has an extensive photo library from his recent trips to Africa and looks forward to sharing his photos and information about Africa with local school children and the community in general. Other areas of inquiry for Dr. Doyle currently include a wind resource study, bio-diesel and oil-seed projects, utilizing hoop houses to extend growing seasons, and organic gardening.
For more information contact Dr. Michael Doyle at Bay Mills Community College at (906) 248-3354.
Interconnection.org
ThreeHoops and InterConection are working together to make computers and websites accessible to tribal nations.
InterConnection is a Seattle based non-profit dedicated to making computers and Internet services available to underserved communities around the world. InterConnection operates a Computer Reuse and Learning Center where skilled volunteer technicians work to provide quality, refurbished computers to non profits and low income. InterConnection’s online volunteers design websites for non profits, free of charge, to ensure they can get online and gain support for their work. See www.interconnection.org
In the past, InterConnection’s refurbished computers and website donation program were made available only to non profits in other Countries. These programs are now available to qualified tribal nations across the U.S.
WEBSITE DONATIONS
Receive a custom designed website, email and website hosting through InterConnection’s virtual volunteer website donation program. This program matches skilled web design volunteers with organization in need of websites. To request a website see www.interconnection.org/subscribe
REFURBISHED COMPTUERS
Here are our standard computer packages, costs do not include shipping; to keep shipping costs low computers do not include monitors; includes 30 day warranty; new modems, extra memory or larger hard drives can be installed for an additional fee; discounts for volume purchases. For more details see http://www.computers.interconnection.org/nonprofits-local.htm:
PENTIUM II 350 - 450 Mhz $50, Old, but still Internet ready! Minimum 2 GB hard drive, 128 MB Ram, Windows 2000 Pro
PENTIUM III 500 – 667 Mhz $65, Mid-Range, Minimum 4 GB hard drive, Minimum 128 MB ram, Windows 2000 Pro
PENTIUM III 700 - 933 Mhz $85, High-End, Minimum 10 GB hard drive, Minimum 256 MB Ram, Windows 2000 Pro
InterConnection Computer Reuse and Learning Center
124 N 35th St, Seattle WA 98103
Administration: 206 310-4547
Computer Center / Retail: 206 633-1517
For more information or to place and order, please e-mail computers@interconnection.org or call 206-310-454
Last Updated Feb 03 07
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