FAQ

The Native American Support Program (NASP) is a Student Success Unit of the Office of Student Success and Belonging (OSSB) at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Our mission is to assist students in achieving their academic goals, increase student admissions and retention rates, and engage and promote knowledge and understanding among the Chicago and UIC community about Native American and Indigenous cultures. NASP provides academic and career coaching, culturally relevant activities, and creating a safe and supportive space for Indigenous student concerns.

NASP serves Native American and Indigenous students at UIC, with a primary focus to support undergraduate students. However, due to the lack of a Native American cultural center, we also do our best to support graduate and professional students as well. While we do support all Native American and Indigenous students, some opportunities require documentation of U.S federally recognized tribal citizenship or descendancy. This is because the United States government has legal responsibilities to U.S. federally recognized tribes. Opportunities which require documentation will be noted as such.

No, you do not have to be Native American to come to NASP events. Anyone who wants to learn is welcome to attend our events. Part of supporting Native students is educating Non-Native folks on how to be supportive allies, so don’t be shy about coming by and learning more!

NASP has academic support staff who are able to help you understand degree requirements, choose classes, and discuss your course load. We can also support professional development activities such as updating your resume and writing a cover letter. NASP also offers prospective students support with admissions to UIC programs.

The NASP staff brings a wealth of knowledge on cultural programming through their own lived experience and their connections to Native communities within and outside of Chicago. NASP puts on hands-on art demonstrations, creates and facilitates cultural presentations, and brings in outside speakers. These events are meant to boost the cultural wellness of our students and inform allies about Native and Indigenous ways of living and knowing.

The University of Illinois Chicago offers in-state tuition to all Native American and Native Hawaiian undergraduate and medical students. As an office, NASP helps admissions ensure that all those who are eligible for in-state tuition are provided with this opportunity. In addition, NASP offers a Tribal National Award, which you can learn more about here. Beyond that, NASP can help students with submitting outside scholarship opportunities for additional funding.

The Native American Support Program does not offer assistance with genealogical tracing. We recommend reaching out to the D’Arcy McNickle Center at the Newberry Library, who may be able to assist you with this. If you know the specific Tribal Nation that you are descended from, we also suggest that you look at that Tribal Nation’s website (or contact the Tribe directly) for information about Tribal enrollment requirements and documentation support.

NASP receives requests for support on student research projects and can assist with projects related to the mission of the office and with consideration for staff capacity. If you have a project, please contact us using the form here. The more information you provide (deadline, class requirements, estimated time needed, expected project tasks, etc.), the better NASP can triage your request and assess our availability and ability to assist you.

NASP receives requests to present to departments and classes and may be able to present to your department/class on topics related to the mission of the office and with consideration for staff capacity and availability. If you have a presentation request, please contact us using the form here. The more information you provide (deadline, location, estimated time needed, requested topics, etc.), the better NASP can triage your request and assess our availability.

If you would like to collaborate with NASP you can use the contact form or reach out directly to a staff member. We have collaborated with numerous units and departments on cultural programming, educational events, workshops, and more, so let us know your ideas!

There are three student organizations that support Native Students. The Indigenous Student Alliance, Indigenous Graduate Student Association, and the Pacific Islander Think Tank (PITT). You can connect with the student organizations here. We also work with the Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) grant to support Native Hawaiian students.

Yes, we can! NASP is a non-voting member organization of the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative. This provides us with a direct link to many of the other great Native-serving organizations in Chicago. Our staff also has a wide network that reaches across Indian Country.

There are several ways you can support our work.

1) You can provide a monetary donation to us by visiting https://nasp.uic.edu/giving/.

2) You can provide an in-kind donation such as art work or space to help offset costs. You can email us at nasp@uic.edu to coordinate this.

3) You can collaborate with our office on an event to help spread the word about our program and/or bring awareness and promote understanding of Native and Indigenous Peoples and issues.

4) If you have a Native American or Indigenous student, friend, or colleague send them our way so we can support them!