Sponsored Content by University of Phoenix
How an organization strategically handles its employee recruitment, retention, promotion and succession planning – along with benefits and other incentives offered to employees – can either provide substantial competitive advantages and employee satisfaction, or be a hindrance to the growth of both the individual employees as well as the organization itself.
Tribal enterprises often have opportunities for employee advancement and an interest in members of their Tribal community being able to either enter the workforce or grow into promoted roles, with the catalyst – and in many cases, the primary obstacle – coming in the form of finding an academic institution capable of serving the unique needs of adult students so that the requisite level of academic development can be attained.
Many Tribal entities incentivize employee development and growth through tuition assistance programs that typically defray a substantial portion – if not all – of the financial investment usually required of the Tribal citizen/employee.
However, the combination of promotion opportunities and employee tuition assistance does not always automatically equate to long-term academic success and the ability for Tribal employers and employees to mutually benefit from the investments that are put into these pursuits.
In order for Tribes and Tribal enterprises to gain satisfactory returns on the investments made through tuition assistance programs offered to Tribal citizens and employees, academic institutions must be prepared to meet the unique needs of each student and offer customized support that benefits each individual student and ultimately the Tribe and/or Tribal enterprise as well as the Tribal community.
Creating the blueprint that formulates an actionable plan to materialize these opportunities for Native students is the main objective of the Tribal Operations department at University of Phoenix.
The targeted efforts made by the University of Phoenix Tribal Operations department are strategically done in a comprehensive fashion to identify the organizational needs of Tribal enterprises while also assessing the individual needs of students employed by those Native organizations.
Students of these Tribes and Native entities are provided with one-on-one, hands-on assistance from the university’s Tribal Operations department from initial enrollment through graduation. The assistance offered includes in-depth guidance with the identification and activation of any and all tuition benefits and/or scholarship options as well as proactive academic support throughout each student’s tenure with the University of Phoenix.
Also, to complement tuition assistance opportunities that are provided by Tribal employers, University of Phoenix has established a variety of academic alliance tuition benefit programs with a multitude of Native American Tribes and Tribal enterprises as well as with Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native entities. In some cases, these academic alliance programs can enable students employed by certain Tribal enterprises to complete a full academic year of coursework for a total cost that matches the amount provided in annual employer tuition assistance.
