FNECC begins search for new director

Three years after being officially established on campus, the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center has begun its search for a tenured director.

According to a statement regarding the search, the candidate who fills the position will serve as both the director of the center and will be a faculty member in a department appropriate to the person’s credentials.

So far, three candidates have been interviewed and at least one more will be interviewed.

Executive Director of Multicultural Initiatives Dr. Charles Sykes, who also supervises culture center directors, said the director’s job will be split and the center hopes to fill the position by fall 2010.

“I hope this director, first of all, will be able to build a community around the center,” Sykes said. “The center does not function on its own, but it grows as part of the larger IU community.”

Sykes said he believes filling the position long term will add stability and organization to the center. He said the longevity of the position will also allow the center to build networks.

“It takes time so the person would come in and work with his or her community or strategic plan,” he said. “They’d say here’s what it would be like and then would start working to shape it into something that has a positive impact for the native community on campus.”

Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Kevin Hunt, who is on the search committee, said the search is unusual because the potential candidates could end up in a variety of faculty positions including anthropology, folklore, history and communication.

Hunt said he also hopes the future director will make connections with American Indians outside of Indiana, because many used to live within the state but were forced to live in other places, such as Oklahoma.

“To recruit students from that far away you need to establish connections and meet potential students and establish lines of communication to be maintained,” Hunt said.

Current FNECC Director Joseph Stahlman, who began his position in Fall 2009, said he felt one year was not sufficient to make many accomplishments.

“I spent the first year learning about the bureaucracy at IU,” Stahlman said. “If I had more time, like another year, I could have accomplished more.”

Stahlman said he juggles the responsibility of being a graduate student and being the director, and he said he thinks it will be no different for the future director.

“Well, they have to teach, and IU is a research-based university so these people will still have to do that as well,” Stahlman said.

He said the stability of the director’s position will benefit the FNECC.

“They’re going to make IU their home,” Stahlman said. “They’ll be more committed to recruitment and to the retention of Native American students.”