Southwestern Adventist University

SWAU Hozhooji Project Update

Steve Jones, chair of the social science department (posted 2/1/04)

A Southwestern Adventist University initiative to forge an educational partnership with the Navajo Nation in Arizona is now another step closer to reality.  “Hozhooji (pronounced Ho-zho-nee):  Walking Together in Beauty” will be the project plan allowing SWAU to work with the Navajo Nation’s Dine College to create educational partnerships.  SWAU professors plan to travel to the Navajo Nation to provide advanced education in criminal justice, social work, and social sceince areas of study. Hieger is scheduled to teach the first course in May 2004.

Initial contact was made with the Nation in March 2003. Hozhooji project coordinators Randy Butler, director of criminal justice, and Phil Hieger, chair of the social work department, traveled to the Navajo Nation in late October to continue making plans for the project.  “This most recent trip was to assess and refine the needs of the Navajo Nation,” says Butler.  “Really, the level of enthusiasm there for the project is more than we anticipated.  They are very eager to work with us.”

The Navajo government provides many public services such as a police force, educational and health-care facilities, domestic crisis centers, and social work offices.  Financial constraints force many employees to work with only rudimentary education.  Many social workers are doing masters-level work with only bachelors degrees. 

The Nation has an urgent need to provide educational opportunities for practitioners and government employees. SWAU and the Hozhooji plan will fill that need. “There are a lot of needs there,” says Butler, “and we want to craft something that benefits them.  We don’t want to force them into our mold, but rather build a program around their needs.”

As an introductory program, Hieger and Butler are proposing an 18-hour curriculum that would enable Navajos to receive a certificate in public service.  Participants would complete a core of three classes, then choose a concentration in either social work or criminal justice for their remaining classes. They could choose from courses in values and ethics, report writing, management skills, conflict resolution, and basic criminology.

“We tried to pinpoint the key elements they need in the way of professional development,” says Hieger.  “The courses we are contemplating represent a common thread in their needs.”

The public service certificate program, which has received a positive response from SWAU officials, is only the beginning.  Ultimately, the Hozhooji project will provide SWAU students with internships in the Navajo Nation.  Future plans call for a double-wide mobile home to be placed on Seventh-day Adventist Church property in Window Rock, Arizona, in the heart of the Nation.  This will provide housing for the local program director and interns, while providing classroom space.

The University is not the only institution in the Southwest to propose a project like this. “The Navajos have an understandable degree of skepticism towards other institutions that have wanted students to conform to a certain curriculum, rather than form a curriculum around the students,” says Hieger.  “We are motivated by the Christian-service model, and that’s to work with them from the point where they are right now.” SWAU officials are supportive,  however the success of the program will depend on outside funding.  Grant proposals have been written by SWAU and UTA faculty. 

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