Nebraska Indian Community College Tribal-Researcher Collaboration

This project involves a new partnership with a tribal community college and researchers at UNO. The project is responsive to NIJ’s Tribal-Researcher Capacity-Building Grants Program. This project has four specific aims: (1) a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Advisory Board will be established with representation from a tribal community college (i.e., students, staff, and faculty). This GBV Advisory Board will work collaboratively with UNO researchers to (2) complete an organizational assessment of the strengths and needs for the prevention of and response to (GBV (i.e., domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking) on campus and among tribal community college interested parties, (3) identify areas for new partnerships or where partnerships may be strengthened to increase service capacity for GBV among interested parties, and (4) develop a culturally centered campus climate survey instrument to assess the tribal community college parties experiences with, knowledge of, and access to resources regarding GBV. Finally, the proposed collaboration will also provide a replicable model for other tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) interested in enhancing prevention and intervention efforts for GBV among their community members. It is anticipated that the findings from the proposed project will lead to policy and procedural changes regarding TCUs’ response to affected parties’ health, well-being, and GBV experiences. The tribal community college will use the culturally centered campus climate survey in the future to identify areas of need and create necessary changes. The culturally centered campus climate survey instrument will also be shared with other TCUs through a TCU tribal training and technical assistance provider. The UNO researchers will disseminate results through academic research articles, practitioner articles, webinars, and conferences.