The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of Lower Brule, South Dakota and the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewas of Bayfield, Wisconsin will be the first tribes to receive management assistance from the Tribal Managers Corps (TMC) Commissioner of Indian Affairs William E. Hallett announced today
The tribes are now selecting managers who will work for the tribal governments on 18- to 24-month general management assignments similar to that of a city manager. They are choosing from a pool of nine managers selected by TMC, according to TMC Program Manager Bill Robinson.
"These placements provide the professional assistance tribes need to upgrade and reinforce their management capabilities," Hallett said.
Last spring Hallett introduced TMC and won the President's Management Improvement Council's sponsorship for it as a way of improving tribal governments and thus tribal self-determination capabilities. Tribes are invited to define their management needs and then to work with TMC to determine how the program can help meet those needs.
During its first year, TMC will rely on the mobility provisions of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act and on limited BIA funds in assigning managers from the public and private sectors to work with tribal governments, according to Robinson. He added, however, that TMC is working with industries to place managers with tribes at the industries' expense, to obtain industry technical assistance for tribes, and to encourage industry training programs for tribal managers.
In addition to manager placements and technical assistance, TMC can arrange internships, coordinate training programs, and is developing curriculum materials on tribal management through colleges and universities.
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