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![](media/image1.jpeg){width="2.3229166666666665in"
height="0.7597222222222222in"}**121 Oronoco Street • Alexandria, VA
22314 • 703.838.0400 • FAX: 703.838.0388**

March 26, 2008

Deborah J. Cavett\
Executive Director

White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities

1990 K St., N.W. Room 7010

Washington, DC 20006

Dear Ms. Cavett,

On behalf of the nation's 36 Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs),
which comprise the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC),
I am writing to voice an ongoing concern regarding federally funded
collaborative projects involving TCUs and other higher education
partners, in which the tribal colleges play a minor, and often token
role. Over the past several years, we have encountered an increasing
number of cases in which one or more tribal colleges is included in a
proposal, either without any real participation on the part of TCU
academic administrators in the planning process, or in some cases
without actual knowledge about the project proposal prior to submission.

We understand that most federal grant programs make an effort to support
proposals that are likely to have an impact on underserved populations.
We believe that this priority has led to a situation where TCUs are
sometimes used to demonstrate the project's "broader impact" for the
benefit of the reviewers. However, if the proposal is ultimately funded,
project activities often fail to address priorities of the tribal
college in a manner that is likely to prove successful, or the project
budget fails to include the resources necessary for the TCU to
accomplish stated goals.

The tribal colleges have strong partnerships among mainstream higher
education institutions that have led to positive programmatic outcomes
for all institutions involved. However, an attitude exists among some
institutions that tribal colleges can be exploited for their status as
minority serving institutions, with little need to work with them as
equal partners.

To address this concern, we respectfully request that the following
policy be established within all federal grant programs: *Any
collaborative proposal involving TCUs in which a non-TCU is the lead
institution must include, among the supporting documents, letters of
support and commitment from the TCU signed by an authorized
representative of the institution (e.g. the president, chief academic
officer, or director of sponsored programs).*

Although this measure alone is not likely to rectify this problem, it
will help limit some of the more excessive abuses the tribal colleges
have experienced. This request results from a motion passed by the AIHEC
Board of Directors, on which the presidents of all accredited Tribal
Colleges and Universities sit, at our Spring 2008 Board meeting in
Bismarck, ND. The motion is as follows:

I am confident that you will work with federal agencies to address this
important issue, and I thank you for your attention to our concerns.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Crazy Bull Chair, AIHEC

Board of Directors and President, Northwest Indian College