College Horizons Inc

“Board committees do not have authority to act on behalf of the governing body.”

“A draft of the form 990 is provided to at least two officers for review prior to filing. The form 990 is provided to the full board at their next meeting.”

“Annually officers, directors and key employees sign a statement which affirms such person a) has received a copy of the conflict of interest policy; b) has read and understands the policy; c) has agreed to comply with the policy; and d) understands the organization is charitable and in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities that accomplish one or more of its tax exempt purpose.”

“Independent members of the board of directors periodically reviews the executive director's compensation by reviewing compensation of similar organizations for equivalent position in the same community, geographic area and operational budget. The uniqueness of the executive director's background, education and experience is also considered. The executive director's job performance and prior compensation arrangements are also reviewed along with the overall budget and financial health of the organization. This process is documented.”

“Governing documents, policies, financial statements and the irs form 990 are made available to the public upon request within three working days of the date the request was made.”

“Line 1 the mission of college horizons (ch) is to support the higher education of native american youth. College horizons is a college-access, college- success and pre-graduate organization that services american indian, alaska native, and native high school and college students. The goals of ch are to: 1) increase the higher education rate of native american and native hawaiian high school and college students by providing pre-college (college horizons) and pre-graduate (graduate horizons) admission/financial aid counseling programs to native american students and, 2) to increase their college completion by providing academic, social, emotional and culturally relevant college support services (scholars program) to students. Line 4a who we are: college horizons is a national non-profit organization based in new mexico with an office located on the santa ana pueblo reservation. We are comprised of 6 full time staff members, an 8 member board of directors, and an advisory council consisting of alumni, parents, faculty, and native/tribal educators. Ch was founded in 1998 by dr. Whitney laughlin at the native american preparatory school located in rowe, nm and initially served native students in the southwest region. By 2001 ch expanded service nation-wide and was hosted on college campuses. In 2005 ch received federal designation as a 501c(3) non-profit organization. Statement of need: in this millennial time of nation building, investing in the capacity of native youth remains as critical as ever as over one-third of the native population is under the age of 18. Tribal leaders prioritize educational endeavors in order to equip their youth with the resources and tools to meet their full potential as individuals and to become self- sufficient as contributing members of the community and nation. And yet in this new millennia, according to national achievement results, the overall state of education for native students has remained flat or widened in comparison to their white peers: high school graduation rate at 69%, direct enrollment in college at 52%, and college completion in 6 years at 39%. College access & readiness: college horizons is a pre-college program for native american high school students open to current sophomores and juniors from across the nation. The ch programs are delivered in person and are held on a college/university campus for one week over the summer. The intensive "boot-camp" on the college admission process allows students to work one-on-one with college admissions officers, expert guidance counselors, or university professors and administrators on the admissions and financial aid process. The individualized program helps students select colleges suitable for them to apply to, get admitted to, and receive adequate financial aid. Students research their top 10 schools; complete college essays, resumes, the common application and a preliminary fafsa; receive interviewing skills and test-taking strategies (on the act and sat); receive financial aid/scholarship information and resources; and learn unique strategies on how to be resilient and successful native students in college. Pre-graduate advising: graduate horizons is a four-day workshop assisting native american college students, college graduates, and master's students in preparing for competitive graduate and professional school admissions (master's, doctoral, professional degrees). Gh partners with 45 universities where admission officers, professors, and deans mentor and advise potential applicants on the admission process professional/career development, and the various fields of study, research, and graduate programs available. Participants of the program complete graduate ready personal statements/statements of purpose, resume/cv's, and applications; receive test-taking strategies from the princeton review foundation on the gre, gmat, lsat, mcat; understand the financial aid process for graduate school and learn about graduate scholarships/fello”