Welcome!
The Indigenous Student Affairs Network (ISAN) was created by ACPA Native, Aboriginal, and Indigenous Coalition (NAIC) member Dr. Cori Bazemore-James, in fall 2017. ISAN's purpose is to create a professional home for those who work in Indigenous Student Affairs (ISA) offices, departments, and programs in higher education. The ISA offices go by many names, such as Native American Student Affairs, American Indian Student Services, etc., and typically focus on the retention of Indigenous college students. Based on Dr. Bazemore-James’ research, we have found that there is a great need for creating a home base and means of connection for student affairs educators who work in this functional area.
ISAN aims to support both practitioners and scholars in the field. It is our goal to create this space within ACPA to ensure ISA educators can communicate, collaborate, provide personal and professional support, create research and resources, and work towards the professionalization of the field in the ways that they see fit.
A major project that has come from Dr. Bazemore-James’ and ISAN’s work has been the development of the first Indigenous Student Affairs CAS Standards (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education). The new ISA CAS Standards will be voted in by the CAS Board in November, 2020.
What is the difference between ISAN and NAIC? The Native, Aboriginal and Indigenous Coalition (NAIC) is an identity-based community in ACPA. NAIC welcomes ACPA members who personally identify as Indigenous. The Indigenous Student Affairs Network (ISAN) is a profession-based network of NAIC. ISAN welcomes members who work specifically with Indigenous college and graduate students (whether they personally identify as Indigenous or not). There is often overlap between NAIC and ISAN, so you are welcome to join both!
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