UW-Green Bay Offers First Nations Studies for Professionals Certificate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 14, 2025

Registration is open for classes, beginning in March of 2025

Green Bay, WI—UW-Green Bay is offering a new certificate program for First Nations Professionals, designed to expand awareness and understanding of the history, culture and tribal sovereignty of Native American Nations in Wisconsin. The certificate was designed in partnership with the UW-Green Bay Social Work Professional Programs.

Sessions start in March 2025 and take place in-person at UW-Green Bay’s main campus in Green Bay. Participants learn in a context of culture and practice consistent with First Nations’ values. Experiential teaching methods will reflect tribal oral tradition, Elder epistemology and participatory learning.

“This certificate is reoffered after hiatus because participants continue to report its value to personal and professional growth,” said Joan Groessl, UW-Green Bay director of Social Work Professional Programs. “The social work program at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay aims to develop professional growth opportunities with an emphasis on social change, challenging oppression and vital social action consistent with the University’s emphasis on inclusivity.”

Registering for certificate sessions may also satisfy Act 31 requirements for educators, education professionals and social workers working in the school system. Act 31 legislation was passed in 1989 in response to significant tensions surrounding Ojibwe spearfishing rights, which had led to violent protests known as the “Walleye Wars.” These conflicts highlighted a widespread lack of understanding about Native American treaty rights and sovereignty among the general public. Act 31 represents a crucial step toward acknowledging and integrating Native American perspectives into the educational curriculum.

Learners will gain a greater appreciation of Native American heritage and issues through their choice of five sessions. Or they can take all five to earn the certificate.

• Understanding First Nations, Friday, March 28, 2025 – Become grounded in the multiple facets of Indigenous identities and their relationship to original practices and belief systems.
• Resistance, Change and Colonization, Wednesday, June 4, 2025 – Examine the multiple factors that brought about the destruction and loss of traditional ways for First Nations due to Euro-American contact and colonization.
• Indigenous Education, Euro-American Policy and Historical Trauma, Friday, August 15, 2025 – Examine in-depth specific Euro-American education policies including the U.S. Federal Indian boarding schools.
• Professions in First Nations Communities, Friday November 21, 2025 – Focus on ethics and boundaries as they apply to professionals working with First Nations communities.
• First Nations Generational Healing for Professionals, Friday, January 16, 2026 – In the final session, participants will focus on the idea and practice of generational healing.

To learn more about the certificate and register, visit the program website or contact Melissa Betke, Program Specialist, at betkem@uwgb.edu or (920) 663-7337.

Research aided by Microsoft Co-Pilot and Oneida.

About UW-Green Bay

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is a school of resilient problem solvers who dare to reach higher with the power of education that ignites growth and answers the biggest challenges. Serving 11,188 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students as well as 85,883 continuing education learners annually, UW-Green Bay offers 200 academic degrees, programs, and certificates. With four campus locations in Northeast Wisconsin, the University’s access mission welcomes all students who want to learn, from every corner of the world. Championing bold thinking since opening its doors in 1965, it is a university on the rise – Wisconsin’s fastest-growing UW. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.

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