He Sapa College Center
Annual Report Fall 2014 and Spring 2015
Oglala Lakota College Vision: Rebuilding the Lakota Nation Through Education
Oglala Lakota College Mission: “The mission which emanates from the charter of the Oglala
Sioux Tribe is to educate students for professional and vocational employment opportunities in
Lakota Country. The college will graduate well-rounded students grounded in Wolakolkiciyapilearning Lakota ways of life in the community-by teaching Lakota culture and language as part
of preparing students to participate in a multicultural world.”
He Sapa College Center Vision: Assist in the rebuilding in the Lakota Nation Through Education
He Sapa College Center Mission Statement: The He Sapa College Center will provide
educational opportunities that enhance Lakota life by helping to fulfill academic aspirations and
dreams of our students. He Sapa will foster community involvement and support of the College
center. We will continue to foster Wolakolkiciyapi by incorporating the language and culture
throughout the college center and within the community it serves.
Staff/ Personnel Data:
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Shirley Lewis- Director- Adjunct from 2003- and FT Director December 2002 to current
Ginna Arguello- Assistant to the Director- Academic Counselor from August 2004 to
2012. Assistant to the Director from October 2012 to present.
Cassie Big Crow- Academic Counselor since March 3, 2013
Darelyn Runnels- Academic Counselor since November 5, 2012
Jacqueline Alcantar- Student Support Services Counselor 2008-September 2012,
Academic Counselor since September 7, 2012
Madonna Wright- SSS Counselor July 2007-2008, Academic Counselor December 2008
to present.
Vanessa Quintana- Grinnell- SSS Counselor July 2014 to present
Maintenance Staff:
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Jorge Geliga
Jimmy Walker
Jerry McMath
2014-2015 Budget: $529,993
Standing Committee Participation: Shirley Lewis and Ginna Arguello-Student Services
Committee.
Madonna Wright- Retention Committee
PWO: Ginna Arguello and Shirley Lewis are members of Piya Wiconi Okolakiciye
Professional Development Activities: QPR Training, Financial/Budgeting Workshop, Career
Planning Workshop, Jenzabar and Early Alerts.
Professional Development Needs: Better Communication between Registrar and Financial Aid
and other Departments.
Common Customer Service Complaints: Noise level in hallways- We addressed this by closing
classroom doors when classes are in session. Length of time students are waiting to see their
Academic Counselors- Encouraging the students to utilize email to contact their counselors, if
they cannot wait to visit with them. Better attitude and professionalism by the staff at the front
desk- we train the front staff on how to properly answer the phones and encourage
professionalism and friendly service to all of those whom they have direct contact with at the
front desk.
Most Significant Accomplishments: Number of Graduates each year and former graduates who
have gained employment in the community. Active Student Organization.
Significant Challenges: Student participation in college activities, Ex: Student Organization
Activities, Workshops sponsored by staff. – We will continue to encourage students to
participate in college activities and provide them with early notification as to when activities will
be. We will continue to schedule the times of the activities, at a more convenient time for the
students.
Critical Needs: We would like to have more trainings on the changes and updates to the Jenzabar
System and Reference Web and also Customer Service Training.
Persistence, Retention and Competion: We addressed the needs of persistence, retention and
completion by offering workshops in Remedial Course Refresher Workshops, New Student
Orientation, Scholarship and Financial Aid workshops, Cultural Workshops- Tipi Raising, He
Sapa Writers Group, Mini Job Fairs, Attending post high nights for student recruitment at
Central and Stevens High Schools, Career Planning Training, and College Readiness prep
sessions. We offered tutoring to facilitate persistence, retention and completion rates of students
Educational goals. We made phone calls, sent out emails and mailings to students and had face to
face meetings with students, to make sure their academic needs are being met. We informed the
students when pre- registration begins and assist them as needed. We advised 11,913 students
this academic year.
Gas VouchersNumber of gas vouchers distributed for the fall 2014- 42
Number of gas vouchers distributed for spring 2015- 100
Work-Study: Fall 2014- Steve Hudson and Jnayia Cardoza
Work- Study: Spring 2015- Jnayia Cardoza- VA Workstudy- Paul Heinert
Student Organization Officers: Fall 2014: Jeremy Vu- President, Jacob Ferguson- VP, Tada
Vargas- Student Senate, Stanley Hawkins- Treasurer, Methina Brave Heart- PWO Rep and
Camille Griffith- Secretary. Spring 2015 Officers- Jeremy Vu- President, Amanda Ruiz- VP,
Tada Vargas- Student Senate, Stanley Hawkins- Treasurer, Ann Lopez- Secretary and Methina
Brave Heart- PWO Rep.
Statistical Data:
Number of classes offered fall 2014- 101 / spring 2015-96
Number of classes cancelled fall 2014-7 / spring 2015- 9
Number of students enrolled fall 2014-367 / spring 2015- 375
Number of 100% drops fall 2014-56 / spring 2015- 31
Number of students who applied for in house scholarships fall 2014-143 / spring 2015- 164
Number of students disapproved for in house scholarships due to low GPA, Ineligibility or no
financial need fall 2014-18 / spring 2015- 21
Number of students who received in house scholarships fall 2014- 125/ spring 2015- 143
Number of Lakota Courses offered fall 2014- 16 / spring 2015-15
Number of FT Faculty Fall 2014-60, Adjunct Faculty 41 -40 % of courses were taught by
adjunct faculty.
Number of FT Faculty Spring 2015-58, Adjunct Faculty- 38 -36 % of courses were taught by
Adjunct Faculty.
Reasons for drops- Financial aid, Incarceration, Day Care issues, Attendance-no shows,
Employment, transportation, family/personal, Health, Moving/Housing and Military duty.
Number of Graduates for spring 2015- Certificates- 1, AA- 9, BS/BA- 21 - Total 31
Number of student contacts from counselor’s daily logs for the months of August 2014December 2014- 5,180 (Fall 2014). Number of student contacts from counselor’s daily logs for
the months of January 2015-May 2015- 6,733 (spring 2015).
He Sapa College and Community ActivitiesFall 2014:
August 11-August 15, 2014- Registration Week
August 14 and August 15, 2014- OLC Bookstore here at the HSCC- Approximately 160
students picked up their books at this time and signed up for laptops. He Sapa staff picked up
approximately 170 book orders for students.
August 13 and August 14- Oglala Lakota College Remedial Course Refresher WorkshopsHeld by Foundational Studies Department had 4 participants.
August 19, 2014- Course Cancellation meeting at Piya Wiconi
August 20, 2014- New and Returning students were encouraged to attend orientation. A
power point presentation was given and the OLC handbook was gone over with students, as well
as other important key points. MJ Farrington (College Campus Coalition) was a guest speaker
and the HSCC Student Organization President also spoke to the students. Breakfast and lunch
were provided and door prizes were given out. 21 students participated in the orientation and a
survey was completed by each of them as well. See attached results. (Student Orientation
Survey Fall 2014).
September 16, 2014- First HSCC Student Organization meeting was held and new Officers were
sworn in for the year.
September 5, 2014 and September 12, 2014- American Indian College Fund/ TCU
Scholarship Workshops were held in the computer lab for new and returning students.
Assistance was provided and questions were answered by Academic Counselors and Student
Support Services Counselor. 16 participants (see attached survey results)
September 3, 2014- Welcome Back lunch for students sponsored by HSCC Student
Organization- Chicken, salads, fruit, drinks and desserts were served- 124 participants
September 24, 2014- Student Support Services held an Indian Taco fundraiser- 45
participants
September 24, 2014-Peace Corps Outreach- 9 participants
September 30, 2014-American Indian Business Leaders held an Indian Taco Fundraiser- 45
participants
October 9, 2014- QPR Training for Staff and Students: Facilitated by Lance Christensen
(suicide prevention coordinator for OLC) 13 participants
Sioux San-presentation/booth on Obama Care 101- Information was given out to those who
were interested in health care. Approximately 30 students stopped at their booth, which was set
up in the lounge.
October 21, 2014- Student Support Services cooked soup and served fry bread in the lounge for
students- 30 participants
October 21, 2014- Shirley attended the Central Cobbler post high night at Central High
School- departmental flyers and some catalogs were handed out to interested high school
students.
October 21, 2014- Tipi Raising and educational experience sponsored by C. Yellow Boy and
the Lakota Culture class. Student Support Services staff prepared a traditional meal. Event was
open to all students, staff and community. 50 participants
October 27, 2014- Addictions Presentation- 12 participants
October 29, 2014- Sioux San Hospital was here giving flu shots to enrolled tribal members, who
have a chart at Sioux San- 62 participants
October 31, 2014- He Sapa Halloween Bash: sponsored by the He Sapa Student Organization.
We had several different games and activities for students, staff and their families. Lots of prizes
and candy were given out, as well as gift cards for the Halloween costume contest. Everyone had
a great time and enjoyed the party. 110 participants (see attached sign in sheets and survey
results)
November 6, 2014- Shirley attended a Steven’s Raiders College Prep night. Booth was set up
with OLC departmental brochures, catalogs and favors from the Registrar’s office.
He Sapa Mid semester survey- Counselors distributed and collected surveys from enrolled
students for the fall 2014 semester. This survey consisted of student’s interest and participation
and overall satisfaction with services at the He Sapa center. 143 participated in this survey (see
attached results)
November 13, 2014- Student Senate and He Sapa Student Organization held a handgames
tournament and bought gift cards as prizes out of the money that was given to them from enpeta
luta (Shelly Middleton’s program). Light snacks were also provided for this event. 50
participants
November 19, 2014- He Sapa Student Organization sponsored a Wopila Gathering/
Thanksgiving Dinner at the center at noon for students and staff. Ham, Turkey, and all of the
side dishes were provided and 125 students, staff and community members ate and visited
with one another.
December 11, 2014- HSCC Student Organization sponsored a Christmas Party for students and
their children. A meal was provided, door prizes were drawn for and each child received a
Christmas present. 231 participants (see attached survey results)
Spring 2015:
January 5-9- Registration Week
January 8th and 9th- OLC Bookstore was here, so students could purchase their books.
Approximately 100 students picked up/purchased their books at this time. He Sapa staff picked
up 210 book orders from the bookstore for students.
January 14, 2015- New Student Orientation- All returning and new students were encouraged
to attend orientation. Power point presentation was given and all important forms/information
were gone over with the students. We had a session at 10 and at 1- breakfast and lunch were
provided and door prizes were given out. Jerilyn Chasing Hawk from OLC Financial Aid office
was here to speak to the students. 27 participants
January 30, 2015- New Student Orientation- We wanted to hold another new student
orientation after classes started to see if we would get a higher turnout of students to attend, we
only had 7 participants at this orientation. All important information that we did in the first 2
sessions was gone over with these students. Student Organization also did an incentive door
prize for those students who attended one of the orientation sessions and had perfect attendance
for the first 5 weeks in all of their classes. A drawing was done after we checked attendance and
3 winners were chosen. Eldridge Grinnell won the laptop, Wendy No Moccasin won a 40” inch
TV and Kiara Miner won a tablet. All 3 of them are new students at OLC this semester.
January 19, 2015- spring 2015 classes started today.
January 28, 2015- HSCC Student Organization sponsored a Welcome back dinner for students
and staff/faculty 55 participants
January 29, 2015- AICF Scholarship workshop was held in the computer lab from 9-3.
Counselors and Student Support Services Counselor were available to assist students with
questions or concerns on the scholarship websites. 12 participants (see attached sign in sheets
and survey results)
January 30, 2015-AICF Scholarship workshop was held in the computer lab from 1-4 a total of
16 participants on this day
February 6, 2015- AICF Scholarship Workshop was held in the computer lab from 9-3.
Counselors were available to assist students with questions or concerns on scholarship website.
23 participants
February 13, 2015- HSCC Student Organization sponsored snacks for the open mic day that
English instructor Jessica Charest did at the center. Students were encouraged to attend and read
poetry, do music or any other talent they would like to share. 10 participants
February 28, 2015- Free skate night for HSCC students and their families was scheduled at the
Roosevelt Ice Skating arena from 9-11 p.m. This event was sponsored by the College Campus
Wellness Coalition/ MJ Farrington 40 participants
March 12, 2015- Student Support Services held a financial budgeting workshop and had a
speaker from Credit Counseling Agency come in to do a short presentation. Snacks were
provided. 7 participants
March 12, 2015- QPR Training was done for students/community and staff members by Lance
Christensen (Suicide Prevention Coordinator for OLC) A light meal was provided after the
training 16 participants
AIHEC- American Indian Higher Education Consortium was held in March 2015 in Alb. New
Mexico. Several of our He Sapa Students had the opportunity to attend this conference and
participate in several different events. Several of them placed in a variety of the categories and
the student of the year Lacey Thompson also attended the conference. They all said that it was a
positive experience and they enjoyed meeting, visiting and competing with the individuals from
the other tribal colleges that attended the conference. Majority of the students who attended, said
they would like to attend the conference again.
March 25, 2015-OST Higher Education Office was here from 1-5 to assist students in applying
for Higher Education Grant for the summer and fall semester. 18 participants- students signed
up for higher education grant
March 30, 2015- Stevens High School Post High Night- Shirley L. attended this event. A booth
was set up and information about OLC was available for any student who was interested in OLC.
April 1, 2015- HSCC Student Organization sponsored a Mid Semester Honoring/Easter
Dinner for students and staff at the center at noon – A drawing was also held for 20 Easter
baskets. 165 participants
April 1, 2015- Shirley attended the High School Career Day at Rapid City Civic Center- A
booth was set up and information about OLC was given out to interested high school students.
Approximately 25 students stopped by the booth
April 16, 2015- 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Shirley and Ginna attended the Rapid City Area American Indian
Education Meeting- the purpose of this meeting is to maintain connection and dialogue with
American Indian Educators in Rapid City and the surrounding areas.
April 17, 2015- Student Support Services held a Career Workshop- the Department of Labor
was here to give a presentation on their website and showed students how to create a profile on
the Department of Labor website. They were also shown how to complete a resume. A meal was
provided for the attendees. 15 people attended this workshop.
April 20, 2015- Pre- Registration began today for the summer 2015 and fall 2015 academic
semesters.
April 24, 2015- He Sapa staff held a financial aid workshop today- Staff were there to assist
students with financial aid for the next academic year. There were only 3 participants
April 28, 2015- He Sapa Student Organization sponsored a luncheon for students for finals
week- The menu consisted of Sub sandwiches, chips and salads. 125 participant’s
students/staff/faculty.
May 8, 2015- Disabilities Training for Staff at Piya Wiconi- Jackie Alcantar, Darelyn Runnels
and Ginna Arguello attended this training. They brought back pertinent information to those staff
who were unable to attend the training.
May 8, 2015- Mayoral Debate-65 Community members, students and staff attended/participated
in this debate between Mayor Sam Kooiker and Steve Allender.
June 8, 2015-Wheaton College students visit He Sapa and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for
a class covering the Oglala Sioux Tribe. They meet with He Sapa staff who talked about the
culture and history of OLC. Tomorrow they head to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and later
in the week meet with Cory Yellow Boy for an educational program which includes a Tipi
raising.
May 29-June 10, Allied Health is sponsoring a CNA-Certified Nursing Assistant class. They
have 10 students between He Sapa and Cheyenne River.
Student Support Services: We had a total of sixty-nine students that received tutoring from
Student Support Services. We only had two tutors available this semester, Delaine Peterson and
Samantha Good Iron. Peer Mentor- was Samantha Good Iron for the fall 2014 and spring 2015
semesters.
Graduation Celebration and Honoring: June 13, 2015- He Sapa Student Organization will
sponsor a graduation picnic for all of the He Sapa graduates. The picnic will be held at the old
storybook island shelter and Indian tacos, chicken and a variety of side dishes will be provided.
Corey Yellow Boy will sing an honoring song for our graduates. Graduates will receive a gift
from He Sapa student organization at this time. Honoring our graduates and having a day of fun
for them and their families will be the focus of this gathering. He Sapa College Center has 21
students graduating with their bachelor’s degrees (4 with Social Science degrees, 1 Early
childhood, 9 BSW, 2 Lakota Studies, 3 Math and Science and 2 Business Administration), 9
students graduating with their AA degrees (3 Nursing, 1 Early Childhood, 4 Lakota Studies and
1 Automotive Tech), and 1 graduating with a certificate in Lakota Studies.
A binder containing, survey, flyers, sign-in sheets and photographs is available for review and is
located at He Sapa College Center.
Prepared By:
Shirley M. Lewis, HSCC Center Director
Ginna D. Arguello, HSCC Assistant Director-
Attachments: Student Orientation Survey, American Indian College Fund workshop survey, Holiday Activity survey, He Sapa Midway Survey, Christmas Event survey, AICF Scholarship Workshop survey.