Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

land-grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...

in Cloquet,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. FDLTCC is located within the

Twin Ports The Duluth MN-WI Metropolitan Area, commonly called the Twin Ports, is a small metropolitan area centered around the cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. The Twin Ports are located at the western part of Lake Superior (the weste ...

area of

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

and Superior, Wisconsin in northeastern Minnesota. The college is a member of Minnesota State, the

American Indian Higher Education Consortium The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) was established in 1972 to represent the interests of the newly developed tribal colleges, which are controlled and operated by American Indian nations. The four founders were Gerald One F ...

, and the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium. FDLTCC was Minnesota's first tribal college. FDLTCC is the only college in the nation both established as a tribal college under federal law and operating as part of a state-funded higher education system.

History

The

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (or Wayekwaa-gichigamiing Gichigamiwininiwag in the Ojibwe language, meaning "Lake Superior Men at the far end of the Great Lake") is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) band located near Cloquet, Minnesota. Their l ...

Indians recognized that post-secondary education was crucial to the tribe's comprehensive education planning in 1979. Beginning in 1985, Mesabi Community College began holding classes at the Tribal Ojibwe School on the

Fond du Lac Indian Reservation The Fond du Lac Indian Reservation (or Nah-Gah-Chi-Wa-Nong (''Nagaajiwanaang'' in the Double Vowel orthography), meaning "Where the current is blocked" in the Ojibwe language) is an Indian reservation in northern Minnesota near Cloquet in Carl ...

. The Fond du Lac Reservation Business Committee provided the leadership necessary to unify tribal, state, and community support for a community college that would serve both the Fond du Lac Band and surrounding community areas. Following a feasibility study of higher education needs of the American Indian and non-Indian people in Carlton County area, recommendation was made for a joint venture between the Fond du Lac tribal government and the Arrowhead Community College Region (ACCR). In 1987, the Fond du Lac Higher Education Center Task Force was formed. The task force's efforts resulted in the creation of the Fond du Lac Community College Center, a Mesabi Range Community College extension located in the Cloquet, Minnesota Garfield Community Center building. In 1989, the State of Minnesota appropriated $6,990,000 for the founding of FDLTCC. A new community college site was built and opened to students in 1992. The college's first president Jack Briggs envisioned a college founded to support tribal cultures, tribal values, and tribal spirituality but also committed to equally serve and welcome non-tribal students. The college was designated a

land-grant college A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

in 1994 alongside 31 other tribal colleges. The following year, the Minnesota Community College Board fully funded FDLTCC and the institution became independent from ACCR. In 1996, the State of Minnesota reorganized its higher education institutions and FDLTCC became a member of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. In May 1999, after an intensive self-study process and site visit evaluation the college received its first ten-year accreditation as a stand-alone college by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2012, FDLTCC celebrated its 25th anniversary. Celebrations included a special premiere of Extraordinary: Celebrating 25 Years, a video commemorating the college's history through the voices of those who were among the original “dreamers” and those who were among the college's graduates. The 22-minute movie won silver in the Special Video Production category at the national 2013 Collegiate Advertising Awards.

Accreditation

Higher Learning Commission

FDLTCC was accredited as part of ACCR and Mesabi Range Technical College until 1997. In 1995, FDLTCC was granted candidacy for accreditation as a separate entity. Since 1997, FDLTCC has been accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium

In 2017, FDLTCC became a fully accredited member of the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC). WINHEC was established in August 2002 at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education in Alberta, Canada. WINHEC accreditation performs a number of important functions including the validation of credibility on the part of the public being served and encouragement of efforts toward maximum educational effectiveness. The accrediting process requires schools as well as other educational institutions and programs to examine their own goals, operations, and achievements in light of being committed to building partnerships that restore and retain indigenous spirituality, cultures and languages, homelands, social systems, economic systems and self-determination. WINHEC is not recognized by the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

as an accreditor.

Athletics

FDLTCC is a member of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC). The college fields teams in basketball and volleyball.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Two-year colleges in the United States Educational institutions established in 1987 Education in Carlton County, Minnesota American Indian Higher Education Consortium 1987 establishments in Minnesota Community colleges in Minnesota Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa