Heavy snowfall made for some tough traveling at times, especially for Phoenix resident Kia Ratliff, but she said the Montana Post Secondary Educational Opportunities Council and Montana Tribal College’s sponsored six college/career fairs event was well coordinated and made even more worthwhile by the local hospitality.

Ratliff, who represented Grand Canyon University, said this is the first tribal college career fair circuit that she had heard of.

“To me, they’re very forward thinking. It was a pleasure and I will definitely do it again.”

Montana’s two and four year colleges and universities, Job Corp, military branches, and a variety of other businesses including the Department of Corrections attended.

“The Montana tribal college facilities were very modern and the people were welcoming, which sometimes isn’t always the case since some tribal colleges think that you’re going to ‘poach’ their students,” Ratliff said. “That was definitely not the case in Montana. It’s wonderful.”

Sgt. Damien McGee, spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Salt Lake City agreed, and was appreciative that the tribal colleges were so accommodating.

“They made us lunch everyday, and everything was home cooked. I haven’t personally been in some of those reservation areas – some of my recruiters had – and I was completely in the dark as to what to expect. But it was easily some of the most welcoming environments I have been in, and I‘ve been doing this job for the last 5-and-a-half years. The hosts at each location were just fantastic people.”

Ratliff hopes the idea of job fair circuits spreads to other areas with a number of tribal colleges. GCU offers most of its curriculum online, and Ratliff thought it would offer convenient opportunities for potential students hesitant to leave their area.

Amy Leary, MPSEOC executive director, thought it would be a good idea to sponsor a career/job fair circuit similar to the ones at local high schools every fall. “Through the grapevine,” word spread quickly last October and hasty arrangements before the next student transfer deadline to receive financial aid were made for a February job fair.

“It was something that we put together fairly quickly, but we had the right people at the table and everyone was on board to try and make it happen. It worked out great and it was a lot of fun to see the tribal colleges work together and put out an opportunity for students in the area. I think everybody was really receptive,” Leary said.

That the event went well and positive feedback has encouraged Leary to make the MPSEOC MTC career fair an annual autumn happening – when travel throughout Montana is easier. She admitted that the travel was extensive for the six locations that spanned just over a week and covered more than 2,000 miles, but said, “It’s probably much better to block off a week-and-a-half of your time versus having six different fairs and going back and forth.”

She said it would be easier for other colleges to commit if everyone was doing it at the same time.

Emily Ferguson-Steger, the Minority Admissions Counselor from the University of Montana, had admittedly began to take for granted the reservation hospitality that others raved about since she’d already traveled extensively recruiting students from reservations.

“But I think a lot of people got to view a different side of Montana reservations than one that is portrayed in the media or movies. It’s such a nice thing, because then with word of mouth among these institutions and organizations, they’ll let their colleagues know, and it will become the hot thing to do.”

Ferguson-Steger has high hopes for future career fairs, and said that it takes a couple of years for a program to gain traction.

“There are so many wonderful programs that hit the rez, but they only do them once or twice. I think the true testament to this is will it continue to happen for a number of years? And if it continues to happen, more trust will be built and more understanding both ways will happen.”