Colleges hit stumbling blocks, but good news at NTC

Diné College, the Navajo Nation's flagship institution of higher learning, struggled through an epic management crisis in 2010, while its lesser-known counterpart in Crownpoint quietly achieved a milestone.

Among the heads that rolled was that of Ferlin Clark, Diné College president for the past seven years, who was furloughed Jan. 25 by a divided board of regents following months of complaints and counter-complaints about his management of personnel, students and college grant money.

He was accused of favoritism, retaliation against subordinates who questioned him, and improper expenditure of grant money. His firing of several top administrators and instructors polarized the campus, and an outside investigator hired by the regents to investigate the complaints reported that there was evidence to substantiate some of them.

Clark supporters rallied support for him among Navajo Nation Council delegates, which led to the removal of three regents by a Council committee. And Clark never was able to regain his job, as the Navajo Nation Supreme Court ruled that his employment contract had expired and a new one had not been signed.

The high court also reinstated the ousted regents and ordered the president to fill three other vacancies on the board so it could achieve a quorum and govern.

Meanwhile, Navajo Technical College announced Dec. 15 that it has instituted its first four-year degree program, a bachelor of applied science in information technology, has won several new grants, and is working on other enhancements in its academic offerings.

A third two-year college, Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute, lost its accreditation in July, forcing the Office of Navajo Nation Scholarships and Financial Assistance to suspend financial aid to SIPI students. At year's end there had been no further word of its accreditation being reinstated, forcing Navajos who were enrolled there to find an alternative source for their education.

NEXT, No. 7: A mixed record on human rights

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