National Indigenous University Senior Leaders' Association (NIUSLA)

National Indigenous Citizenship Forum

Registration is now open.
Please visit https://www.nicforum.ca/ for further details.

The 2^nd National Indigenous Citizenship Forum will be held at FNUniv’s Regina campus on March 21st and 22nd, 2023. Similar to the inaugural forum, but with expanded contributions from Indigenous communities, it will be restricted to Indigenous participants and feature presentations, panels, and discussions with Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers, staff, students, scholars, and academics from across Canada.

Final Report – March 2022

Indigenous Voices on Indigenous Identity

The Final Report from the inaugural National Indigenous Identity Forum was released on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. Indigenous Voices on Indigenous Identity summarizes What Was Heard throughout the 2-day virtual forum held March 9 and 10, 2022.

The Report covers the intent of the Forum, key highlights of the panel discussions, Elders’ videos, and conversation circles. Recommendations from this report include hosting a second two-day hybrid event.

Purpose

The purpose of the National Indigenous University Senior Leaders’ Association (NIUSLA) is to bring together Indigenous senior administrative leaders from academic institutions, who have a University or Faculty/College/School-wide mandate, to network and to engage in constructive dialogue and actions that pertain to the roles and responsibilities of leadership within the academic university context.

NIUSLA members will have the opportunity to share experiences and information, provide recommendations, and identify areas of success and need within post-secondary institutions.

NIULSA strives to:

Develop a vibrant and recognized leadership association of university Indigenous senior leaders;
Address challenges and issues relevant to Indigenous senior leaders;
Increase the communication and resource capacity of NIUSLA; and
Strengthen and build capacities of Indigenous senior leaders.

Mizowaykomiguk paypomwayotung, Dr. Jacqueline Ottmann, FNUniv President and Ms. Denise Baxter, Lakehead University, co-chair the association.

Membership

Indigenous senior leaders with a university, college or faculty-wide mandate are invited to join NIUSLA.

The term ‘Indigenous’ refers to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of Canada and the United States mainland.

Co-Chairs

Dr. Jacqueline Ottmann – First Nations University of Canada (1-year term extension)
Ms. Denise Baxter – Lakehead University (2-year term)

Executive

Outgoing Co-Chair – Dr. Michael Hart – University of Calgary (1-year position)
Treasurer – Dr. Jan Hare – University of British Columbia (18 months left in her term)
Secretary – Dr. Lori Campbell – University of Regina (up to 3-year term)

Meet NIUSLA’s Current Membership

Terms of Reference

If you would like to become a member, please contact the Co-Chairs, Dr. Jacqueline Ottmann or Ms . Denise Baxter.

National Indigenous Identity Forum 2022

On March 9 & 10, 2022, the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) in partnership with the National Indigenous University Senior Leaders’ Association (NIUSLA), will host the first National Indigenous Identity VIRTUAL Forum.

The Forum plan will include discussions of wise practices for validating identity for Indigenous-specific opportunities at academic institutions and setting the stage for ongoing dialogue.

The two-day Forum is an Indigenous-only safe space that is urgently needed for Indigenous university campus members to gather for constructive and respectful dialogue.

In the era of truth and reconciliation and UNDRIP, hosting such a dialogue allows us to develop the frameworks, principles, guidelines, wise practices and procedures to determine citizenship or ancestry requirements for Indigenous Peoples status within the Canadian post-secondary context.

The Forum is limited to 500 attendees. By Invitation Only.

Inquiries can be directed to forum2022@firstnationsuniversity.ca