First Americans' Educational Leadership Program (FAEL)

UNC Pembroke School of Education has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to address the shortage of American Indian administrators in the state’s public school districts with a large American Indian student population. The First Americans’ Educational Leadership (FAEL) project will provide financial assistance and professional development support to American Indian students seeking a Master of School Administration degree at UNCP. Additionally, the project provides on-going professional development, mentoring support and induction services to participants that allows them to work in high needs schools to improve educational outcomes for AI students. The program will also institutionalize a culturally relevant program in the School of Education Educational Leadership Program.

The project, which will be funded for five years, is designed to improve the quality of preparation services and culturally responsive leadership offered to American Indian graduates. The project will serve 20 students. The initial group of 10 program participants will be enrolled in January 2019 and 10 additional students will be enrolled by January 2020.

FAEL Program Staff

Dr. Camille Locklear Goins, FAEL Project Director

Phone: 910.521.6528

E-mail: camille.goins@uncp.edu

To learn more about our staff, please click here.

Partners

Hoke County Schools
Public Schools of Robeson County
Scotland County Schools
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

Vision: To increase the number of highly effective American Indian administrators who will improve educational outcomes for American Indian students in North Carolina

Mission: To improve the quality of preparation services and culturally responsive leadership offered to aspiring American Indian administrators enrolled in the MSA Program at UNCP.

Goals

GOAL 1: Increase the number of highly qualified American Indian administrators in Robeson County and surrounding counties through enrollment in the FAEL Program, graduation of the Master of School Administration or completion of School Administration Add-on program, and completion of state (NC) licensure requirements.
GOAL 2: Provide mentoring support for pre-service administrators engaged in Transformative School Leadership Academy and provide job placement assistance to ensure high-quality school leadership from the very first day as an administrator.
GOAL 3: Improve the first two years of administrative experience of newly licensed American Indian administrators through a comprehensive mentoring and induction plan.

Eligibility Criteria

American Indian UNCP MSA students
State or federally-recognized tribal members
Degree, licensure, and employment as an administrator must be attained by August 2021
Not financial need-based
Service payback required (service payback equivalent to the length of time trained)
Service payback must be in an area related to the degree and licensure
Cash payback required in the absence of service payback (cash payback for the cost of training)

Program Benefits

Pays

Tuition and fees (MSA Graduate Program)
Books
Partial childcare costs
Partial education supplies
Membership in a Professional Organization

Provides

Professional development seminars
Select leadership conference registration and support
Laptop computer
Professional networking opportunities
Induction/mentoring/consultation support