Page 18 - November report 2023

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY MEETING REPORT (2)
credits. They also receive the summer housing. The endowment, which was fully funded with $1 million each from JSF and Gonzaga, now stands at about $2.5 million. Gonzaga’s annual investment return rate is among the top 10% for higher education institutions across the US. With a distribution rate of 4.5%, the interest from the endowment spun off about $103,000 in direct scholarship and financial aid support this year for the 11 students. When asked about other support available to the students (like tribal or other organizations), no one had any firm answers. It was pointed out that Native Forward Scholars Fund does offer graduate level scholarships.
Joe Poss said that coming out of COVID had forced some new strategic work with fundraising. Undergraduates are the primary focus. He did express that a benefactor has been responsible for some of the Native directed efforts, including renovations to the Native American House. He made several references to past conversations with local tribes that “had not been handled well” and the “harm that had been done”. The initial request for support of the MBA-AIE program had “not been well received”. There are no active approaches to the tribes in the works right now as Gonzaga is working to address issues and build trust before making any more approaches. Malcolm suggested that this program is “a big story to tell” as it is the only program of its type in the country. He noted that this successful program has built trust. Wendy expressed that even with the trust in the program, there were and are issues in connection with Gonzaga University.
The fundraising discussion ended with Sherry announcing that she had just been advised that Native American Agriculture Fund has offered $200,000 to the endowment. Since this organization, funded by money from the federal government, is focused entirely on agriculture, there would need to be some stipulations that the students who benefit from this addition to the endowment be involved in agricultural endeavors. Sherry offered to assist in discussions.
Sherry kicked off the conversation about Convening insights by sharing information from her research about the program and the fact that the 25th Anniversary will be in 2026. By that time, there will be more than 100 graduates. This has been a highly successful program, something that the alumni at the Convening and the reception affirmed as “life changing”. Becky, Ken, Wendy and Dan Stewart had attended the Convening. Becky was impressed with the fact that these students are getting their degrees not just for themselves, but to make a difference. Ken was struck by the impact and found the Convening very inspirational. He noted that in spite of ups and downs over the years, the program has continued to evolve and is better today than it was yesterday. He tagged the success as being because of the attention to detail and the focus on individuals. The power of the cohort model was expressed repeatedly and demonstrated by the fact that the alumni continue to network and connect with their own cohort members and other MBA-AIE alumni. They expressed that it helps motivate them to give back through sharing and mentoring both each other and current MBA-AIE students. The conversation included the huge value of Stacey Chatman and the nurturing, welcoming culture she cultivated for so many years.
Becky explained that plans for 2023/2024 academic year include a newly hired recruiter who is speaking to potential applicants for the Gonzaga MBA programs at various venues. This is not specifically focused on the MBA-AIE program. Once Stacey left, MBA-AIE recruiting declined greatly. When asked about recruiting within the Gonzaga’s own undergrads, it was noted that there are about 1,200 undergrads in business, with very few Natives. They acknowledged very little “advertising” to their own business students and agreed that recruiting Native American students is an issue for the University as a whole.
That brought us back to the question of whether or not they plan to hire someone with primary responsibility for managing the MBA-AIE program. Becky said that she has drafted a request for a full-time position with a note that it would be especially valuable if this person were a Native American. At the Convening, Ken had suggested that the funds simply are not there to do this. At this meeting, he repeated how much he had heard and learned at the Convening and expressed his personal commitment to try to make such a hire a reality. The position, including benefits, would cost about $100,000/ year. Joe spoke to the realities of monitoring costs across all of Gonzaga University, and reminded that they also have to consider how adding another staff person would impact student costs.
Bobby closed the meeting by thanking everyone for their hospitality and commitment to this productive site visit. He said that the Johnson Scholarship Foundation is very proud of the MBA-AIE program and stressed JSF’s desire to help see it continue.
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