Professional Development Certificate | Fully Online
| Tribal Courts and Justice Administration (TCJA) |
| 450A NALP - Native American Law and Policy 469 FDRL - Native American Family and Domestic Relations Law |
Starting Oct 27, 2025
Applications closed*
The Professional Development Certificate in Tribal Courts and Justice Administration is designed to provide a strong foundation in the workings of tribal courts and justice systems for working professionals wishing to expand their knowledge of tribal court systems. This program prepares you for a wide range of tribal-justice related careers and teaches you the foundations of Native American law and policy. The curriculum covers topics ranging from federal Indian law, tribal courts, tribal criminal law, and tribal family law, all taught by industry leading faculty.
Application Details
You can apply directly on our website to be enrolled in the Professional Development Certificate in Tribal Courts and Justice Administration. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Class Schedule
Offering Flexible Learning to Fit Your Schedule
The courses are available fully online, offered over 7.5 weeks with flexible, asynchronous content. This means lectures are pre-recorded and accessible at your convenience, allowing you to balance work and study effectively. There's no requirement to be online at specific times, ensuring minimal disruption to your work schedule and family time. Weekly tasks are part of the curriculum, but with the self-paced nature of the course, you can manage these alongside work commitments. You will have an instructor who will be facilitating online content and available if you have questions or concerns.
Course Instructor
Judge Michael Harralson
Chief Judge, Lower Sioux Indian Community
Michael Harralson is the owner of Lakes Legal PLLC, based in Minneapolis, MN, where he provides judicial services for Tribal Nations. Judge Harralson currently serves as Chief Judge for the Lower Sioux Indian Community. He also serves on the benches of the Prairie Island Indian Community, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Additionally, he is an Associate Justice on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Supreme Court. Judge Harralson also sits on the Board of Directors of the National American Indian Court Judges Association.
Feedback and changes to course
Following feedback from students enrolled in our first round of courses, we have stripped back the expected time to be spent on each course. Previously the expectation was 18 hours a week, but the courses commencing March 11 have been refined to require ~10 hour of work per week, by reducing unnecessary graduate level writing tasks and assessments.
The assessed work is now limited to participating in online discussion threads with your peers and taking multiple choice quizzes on the reading material. The grading system has been designed to support students to succeed, not to create barriers for students to complete the course. In this regard, discussion scores are based on participation and quizzes can be re-taken as many times as is required to meet the 80% passing score. Specific instructions are included in the directions for each discussion/quiz.
Curriculum and Cost
The Professional Development Certificate in Tribal Courts and Justice Administration is available both to University of Arizona students and to members of the community interested in administering justice in Indian country.
Students pursuing the 9-credit certificate must complete three of the following four courses:
- 450A NALP - Native American Law and Policy (3 credits): Explores the place and status of Tribal Governments in our federal system, focusing in particular on federal policy decisions underlying various laws and statutes. The course examines ways to interpret and apply the relevant laws and explores the impact that would be result from changing the policy behind those laws. Graduate students will be assigned differential graduate-level coursework outlined in the course syllabus.
- 467 CTPP - Tribal Courts Practice and Procedure (3 credits): This course provides students with an in overview of the applicable tribal, state and federal laws and procedures governing native nations, with an in-depth examination of Indian tribal courts, their history, procedures along with the roles of their participants. This course will also focus on the organization of the judicial structure within tribal nations.
- 468 CRLP - Tribal Criminal Law and Procedure (3 credits): This course will cover the basics of criminal law and procedure that apply in tribal courts in the United States. Students will gain an appreciation of the complexities of the maze of criminal jurisdiction in this area of law, and the unique problems that face native populations.
- 469 FDRL - Native American Family and Domestic Relations Law (3 credits): This course concentrates on the role tribal courts and tribal jurisprudence play in regulating family relations impacting indigenous cultural values. Students will learn how the law protects native children and regulates parental rights, guardians, custodians, and the rights of traditional extended families.
Each 3 credit course costs $500, which is a 65% discount on the usual price. The total tuition cost to complete the certificate is $1,500.
You can enroll in as many or as few as you like, you just need to complete 3 of the above 4 courses to complete the certificate. Each of the courses are run on a rolling basis, so you can complete the certificate at your own pace.
Scholarships
All PYT-UA Microcampus students are eligible for scholarships. Applicable scholarship awards are tiered, based on the below breakdown:
- PYT members and employees are eligible for up to 100% scholarships
- Non-PYT members and employees are eligible for up to 50% scholarships
If you would like to be considered for a scholarship as part of this application form for each course, this form will ask you to write a short statement (no more than 250 words) describing interest in the course, financial need, and circumstances that meet the selection criteria.
$25 Non-Refundable Application Fee
$25 non-refundable application fee is mandatory in order to complete the application. The application fee payment link will be available on the application confirmation page after you have successfully submitted this application. Please indicate in the additional information field, what course you are paying the application fee towards and if you are paying on behalf of the applicant.
- Students who receive a 100% scholarship will only be required to pay the $25 application fee; they will not have to pay any tuition fees ($0).
- Students who receive a 50% scholarship will be required to pay the $25 application fee and 50% of the tuition fee ($250).
- Students who receive a 25% scholarship will be required to pay the $25 application fee and 75% of the tuition fee ($350).
Course Website Login Instructions
ARIZONA LAW ONLINE
Community D2L Website
Upon your admission confirmation, you will receive an email from Community D2L platform containing the login link. Follow the link provided in the email.and proceed with the following steps to login to your course dashboard.
Instructions to Set Up Password
Go to Community D2L: https://community.d2l.arizona.edu/d2l/loginh/
Click the Public Participants option
Click Set your password (as shown below)
Enter email address you shared with us to enroll in this class (this is also your username)
Enter your new password and confirm it, then click Submit
If you are having technical issues logging into your account, please contact law-disted@arizona.edu
If you already have a Community D2L account from prior workshops at the Microcampus or online – please go to the log-in page, click the Public Participants option, and enter your existing log-in credentials to access your account. If you have UA NetID, you can use it to log in only if you were enrolled in the course using your UArizona NetID. If you can’t remember your password, select "Reset a Forgotten Password".
Certificate Issuance Timeline
| Stage | Milestone | What You Receive |
|---|---|---|
| During Each Course | Successfully complete all required modules and assessments | No automatic certificate is generated. If you need proof of completion before finishing the full series, email us at [law-pascuayaqui@arizona.edu] and we will issue an Individual Course-Completion Certificate (PDF). |
| After Completing All 3 Courses | Finish all three courses. | You will receive the Official Certificate of Completion: Tribal Courts & Justice Administration by email after your final grade posting. |
Key Points
- The official program certificate is awarded only after all three courses are successfully completed.
- Individual course certificates are available on request and manually generated—simply email your name, course title, and the organization that needs verification.
- All certificates are delivered digitally (signed PDF).
Frequently Asked Questions
The program is offered through the Microcampus and accommodates both tribal-community members and other applicants.
The $25 non-refundable application fee is in place to discourage no-show applicants and ensure that committed participants reserve their seats. The fee is required of all applicants, including those from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. It applies to each course (totaling $75 for all three courses) and must be paid at the time of enrollment.
We do not enrol students automatically. Continuing students are required to submit a fresh application each time the courses open. Please select the option “Continuing Student” when you apply. Please indicate which course(s) you have already finished and which course(s) you would like to enrol in the current.
Students are encouraged to keep an eye out for when the next application batch opens. The best way to stay informed is to sign up for our newsletter. Click here to sign up.
Yes. You may re-enroll. Please submit a new application for the course you would like to take. The non-refundable $25 application fee is required again. Please also let us know via email at law-pascuayaqui@arizona.edu when you wish to re-enroll by applying the previous fees paid.
The $25 application fee is non-refundable. We cannot process refunds for application fee payments. However, your payment will be retained as a credit available for any future courses at the microcampus. Alternatively, we can apply the fee toward your friend’s or family member’s application at the microcampus.
Yes — you can! If you’d like to take two courses concurrently, we can enroll you in both at your discretion.
The Professional Development Certificate in Tribal Courts & Justice Administration is offered through the Pascua Yaqui Tribe‑University of Arizona Microcampus as a professional development certificate. These credits are separate from UArizona degree programs. The credits earned through this certificate do not count toward UArizona degrees or programs.
Yes, please submit a fresh application if the email address you entered was incorrect. Alternatively, you can email us at law-pascuayaqui@arizona.edu with the correct email address and we’ll update it in our database for you.
The courses are offered fully online over 7.5 weeks with flexible asynchronous content. Lectures are pre-recorded and accessible at your convenience, so you don’t need to be online at specific times—making it easier to balance work and family commitments. Weekly tasks are part of the curriculum, but you can manage these alongside your work schedule. An instructor facilitates the online course content and is available for any questions or concerns.
If your tribe is sponsoring your tuition, please email us with a request for an invoice and include the contact details of the person at your tribe who will handle payment. We will send the invoice directly to your tribe (or their designated representative) so the sponsorship can be processed.
If you’re paying on behalf of an applicant, please email us with the applicant’s name and your name as the payee. This helps us link the payment to the correct application. You can send this information to law-pascuayaqui@arizona.edu
The certificate does not include your final grades or list the names of the courses you enrolled in. It only includes your full name, the issue date, and a unique verification code.
Definitely! You are welcome to enrol and complete all four courses.
We save your course choices in our database when you first apply to our program and continue to update your choices each time you submit a new application for an upcoming batch. Please feel free to reach out via email at law-pascuayaqui@arizona.edu anytime you’d like to change your course selections and we’ll update our internal database accordingly.
You will have an instructor who facilitates the online content and is available to answer your questions and support you throughout the course. Email is the preferred method of communication. If you’d like to speak via Zoom or phone, please send an email to arrange a meeting. If you’d prefer a live meeting (Zoom or phone), email your instructor to schedule it.