The Certificate Program in Native American Indian Studies
(CPNAIS) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst came about
after several years of discussion and planning initiated by concerned
Native American students and a small group of faculty. Subsequently,
in February 1992, Associate Provost Norman Aitken offered his support
for the development of a certificate program in this field, the
University's procedure being that a minor cannot be established
without an academic major for a discipline, and therefore a certificate
program would become the developmental stage before a major can
be established. Professor Robert Paynter (Anthropology) and Associate
Professor Ron Welburn (English) constituted the steering committee
for the Certificate Program proposal, which the Faculty Senate approved
in May 1997. During the period of study, graduate and undergraduate
students, faculty and staff contributed valuable observations and
ideas to the Proposal; and in 1994 Joyce Vincent, the recently appointed
Director of the Josephine White Eagle Cultural Center, joined the
Steering Committee as a regular member.
Mission Statement