American Indian Resource Center At BSU Hires New Outreach Specialist

The American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University has just created a new internal recruitment position that’s made to attract potential new students from surrounding tribal colleges.

The new role will work closely with students at the colleges by helping them finish their two-year degrees, then eventually help them make a transition to BSU. Chrissy Koch started the job on Monday. She’s a BSU alum with 10 years of teaching experience and has already been working with colleges such as Red Lake Nation College, Leech Lake Tribal College, and White Earth Tribal and Community College.

Koch says, “I started at BSU on my own. When I was here, I was a student that actually sat on the committee for this building, so returning here is coming full circle for myself. When I started as a student, I didn’t have the support and resources in place that there is now, and so coming into this position is – that is something that I want to emphasize is that the students that are coming have that support and have those ties.”

Koch says one of her biggest goals with the position is to reach tribal colleges throughout the United States and in Canada.