Department of Education Tribal Courts and Justice Administration
LAW 450A: Native American Law and Policy
LAW 469: Native American Family and Domestic Relations Law
Starting January 15, 2025
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.
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:
- LAW 450A/550A 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.
- LAW 467/567 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.
- LAW 468/568 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. They 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.
- LAW 469/469 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 500 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).