Centers

American Indian Learning Resource Center

The American Indian Learning Resource Center exists to enrich the cultural, academic, supportive, and social environment of the UMD campus. Our mission is to increase the recruitment and retention of American Indian and Alaskan Native students, while promoting a more culturally diverse campus environment. Working in conjunction with UMD staff, the AILRC provides supportive services to empower and aid in the success of our students and to enhance their educational experience.

Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center

Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center provides comprehensive educational programs that contribute to increased understanding and appreciation of natural resources management practices through the Boulder Lake Management Area which provides an interpretive window to showcase resources management including hydroelectric power generation and a working forest environment, and illustrates the many social, biological, and economic benefits of that forest.

Center for Environmental Education

The Center for Environmental Education is dedicated to facilitating leadership and educational experiences that foster environmental sustainability through outdoor and environmental education. We value an integrated approach to environmental sustainability, as well as an experiential-based approach to engaging students in the environmental challenges of our local, regional, and international communities. We aim for excellence in outdoor and environmental education, leadership, and scholarship. Our vision is to be a leader in education for sustainability by serving as a catalyst for collaboration among campus departments and community organizations, sponsoring educational opportunities, facilitating outreach and civic engagement opportunities with off-campus organizations and agencies, and encouraging research activities that support the goals of environmental sustainability.

Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies

Our programs and projects prepare students to become effective child welfare practitioners, particularly in working with American Indian families through offering stipends, coursework and other cultural and experiential learning opportunities.  The Center also partners with tribes, county agencies, and non-profits in Minnesota to help improve American Indian child welfare practice and reduce the disparities experienced by families in the child welfare system.

Early Childhood Education

Children's Place

UMD Children’s Place is founded in the belief of the critical importance of the first years of life and the need to embrace the diversity of our world today. The mission of UMD Children’s Place is two fold:

  • To provide quality, nurturing care of children while their families are at work or study.
  • To provide interdisciplinary educational opportunities for UMD students in order to enhance their classroom learning with practical experiences.

Preschool at the Park

The UMD Preschool at the Park, located at our beautiful Chester Park site on the UMD campus, is committed to providing a culturally responsive pedagogy for our diverse, young children. Preschool at the Park is a preschool program serving children from three years old through kindergarten. 

Ruth A. Myers Center for Indigenous Education

The Ruth A. Meyers Center for Indigenous Education develops and facilitates quality educational experiences and services for those working in public service in schools, education, and other agencies serving American Indian people. The Center works in partnership with the American Indian community to:

  • Address the educational needs of Indigenous people
  • Increase the knowledge and understanding of educators from all levels about Indigenous people, languages, and cultures
  • Improve opportunities for Indigenous educators and students to succeed
  • Research, preserve, and share Indigenous languages and cultures

Aabinoojiiyag-Wakhanheza Un Thantanhanpi - “For All the Children”  Sacred Being: Tribal Training and Certification Partnership (TTCP) 

The TTCP is a training and technical assistance center that works in partnership with the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth. The TTCP provides education and training for child welfare professionals throughout Minnesota with the goal of improving outcomes for American Indian families in the child welfare system.