{"id":1309,"date":"2019-12-17T09:30:24","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T17:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=1309"},"modified":"2024-07-23T14:35:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T21:35:47","slug":"community-for-native-american-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/community-for-native-american-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a sense of community among online Native American students"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Portrait

As the primary point person for Native American online students, Marleigh Perez provides guidance for prospective and current students from more than 30 states nationwide.<\/p><\/div>\n

OSU Ecampus student success director Marleigh Perez helps lead effort to support learners from tribal communities<\/h2>\n

The higher education experience is difficult for many first-generation students to navigate. When you add distance learning to the equation, it can be so overwhelming that underrepresented students often drop out or are too apprehensive to even start.<\/p>\n

At Oregon State University Ecampus, Marleigh Perez is dedicated to changing that experience for students who learn online.<\/p>\n

How so? She is the primary point person, supporter and advocate for Native American learners from the time they inquire about Oregon State\u2019s online programs until they graduate.<\/p>\n

\n

Serving tribal communities<\/h2>\n

OSU is increasing its outreach to Native communities in Oregon and across the country, enabling tribal members to earn college degrees with the support from culturally competent faculty and staff, scholarships and native community engagement. Learn more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

With a career grounded in helping minority communities navigate the complexities of higher education, Perez \u2013 the OSU Ecampus director of student success \u2013 is determined to ensure that online students from Native tribal communities feel a strong sense of belonging despite their physical distance from the school.<\/p>\n

The students Perez works with are often working full time, many with family commitments, and can benefit from a robust support system. Building a strong relationship with students is something Perez has cherished in her current and previous roles in higher education.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll connect with me, count on me,\u201d she says. \u201cI still get messages from people that say, \u2018Hey, I just want to tell you, I never would have made it through college had I not had you.\u2019 I think that means a lot to me.\u201d Many students she has worked with have come to view her as a secondary parent, with some even referring to her as \u201cmom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perez is inspired in part by her own college experience, when she moved more than 2,000 miles away from her home in Hawaii to Oregon. She found herself being welcomed by others with open arms, allaying her worries of being so far away from her family.<\/p>\n

The work she now does pays forward that experience for others. It\u2019s a matter so close to her heart that she\u2019s also writing her dissertation about this feeling of inclusion among online students as she pursues a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy.<\/p>\n

Perez says her research for her dissertation, \u201cSense of Belonging from a Distance,\u201d will help better inform her work in keeping online students engaged and persistent in completing their degrees.<\/p>\n

A key player in student success<\/h3>\n

OSU Ecampus launched an initiative earlier this year with the Office of Institutional Diversity that gives people from tribal communities increased access to OSU\u2019s online degree programs<\/a>. The top-ranked programs are backed by culturally competent support and Native community engagement that aim to ensure student success.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>Having worked with students of color for so long in my previous roles, and to hear about their own experiences in higher education \u2026 that fueled [my] passion and curiosity and desire to keep doing this work.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The prospective and current Native online students Perez works with come from more than 30 states. Perez says learning online can be a particularly good option because they can remain with their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have obligations there, and they need to stick around. They\u2019re working and supporting families, and they want to pursue more education \u2013 their higher education \u2013 but they\u2019re not able to leave,\u201d Perez says.<\/p>\n

A career grounded in diversity<\/h3>\n

Before working at Ecampus, Perez worked for eight years with national grant foundations at Oregon State. She collaborated with other research universities to better support underrepresented students who want to enter STEM fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving worked with students of color for so long in my previous roles, and to hear about their own experiences in higher education, to hear about their challenges \u2026 that fueled [my] passion and curiosity and desire to keep doing this work,\u201d Perez says.<\/p>\n

One of the most common challenges she says Native American students face online is feeling a sense of community in their classes. She wants students from these communities to know there are opportunities for them to connect with OSU students from similar backgrounds, even from a distance.<\/p>\n

And outside of courses, Ecampus students can connect with the university\u2019s Native American Eena Haws through live-streamed events thanks to funding support from Ecampus. And there are several student-run clubs and organizations<\/a> that they can join.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s instances like these \u2013 when students feel connected to the school \u2013 that Perez knows she\u2019s done her job. It allows her to see her dissertation topic in action, as students gain a sense of belonging no matter where they live.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where that passion comes from \u2013 I want to be that person for some of these students,\u201d Perez says.<\/p>\n

Ready to take your next step?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Request information today!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 4<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>The college experience is difficult for many first-generation students to navigate. When you add distance learning to the equation, it can be so overwhelming that underrepresented students often drop out or are too apprehensive to even start. At Oregon State University Ecampus, Marleigh Perez is dedicated to changing that experience for students who learn online. She supports and advocates for Native American students who learn online with OSU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6,15,672,676],"tags":[169,25,24,470],"class_list":["post-1309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-ecampus","category-staff","category-learning-experience","category-why-osu","tag-online-degrees","tag-online-education","tag-online-learning","tag-tribal-communities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/marleigh-perez-student-success.jpg?fit=744%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-l7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2431,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oregon-state-ecampus-online-tribal-communities-initiative-featured-in-a-newly-published-book-titled-race-and-rurality\/","url_meta":{"origin":1309,"position":0},"title":"Oregon State Ecampus’ online Tribal Communities Initiative featured in a newly published book titled ‘Race and Rurality’","author":"Elena Moffet","date":"December 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Marleigh Perez and Eddie Rodriguez of Ecampus documented some of the initiative\u2019s key successes for a chapter in a newly published book titled \u201cRace and Rurality: Considerations for Advancing Equity in Higher Education.\u201d The book offers insights into how higher education can better support rural communities of all different backgrounds.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Joe Peters","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Joe-Peters-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Joe-Peters-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Joe-Peters-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Joe-Peters-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1563,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/ecampus-director-wins-national-award\/","url_meta":{"origin":1309,"position":1},"title":"Oregon State Ecampus director of student success wins national award","author":"Carly Fredericks","date":"October 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Marleigh Perez, like many at Oregon State Ecampus, is committed to student success in a plethora of facets. 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At Oregon State University Ecampus, we\u2019re starting to see more traditionally diverse students choose online education. 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