Program Description
The Tribal Management Specialization for the Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Management degree builds on an existing two year degree, adding upper division coursework to complete a four-year degree. Applicants are accepted year-round. The program can be completed in a two or three-year track and online. Students can enter the program in the fall, winter, or spring.
This degree is designed to provide program graduates with the knowledge and skills needed to support Tribal governance and business management. The Bachelor’s curriculum includes a mix of required core management and general studies courses.
Program Code: BAMAMBAS
Career Opportunities and Earnings
Potential careers include:
- Cultural resource specialist
- FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) cultural specialist
- Natural resources manager
- Tribal and Indigenous engagement program manager
- Tribal cultural specialist
- Tribal manager
For current employment and wage estimates, please visit and search for the relevant occupational term: bls.gov/oes
Program Outcomes
- Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively and use the language, tools, concepts and models of management applicable to the professional/technical discipline
- Demonstrate ability to apply critical thinking and knowledge in a field specific context
- Demonstrate an understanding of management roles and the nature of leadership
- Apply the principles and philosophy of management systems
- Analyze systems for planning and decision-making
- Prepare and complete cost control processes including the ability to establish a budget, prepare cost reports, and forecast expenditures
- Employ new and developing information technologies
- Acquire, organize, analyze, and interpret information and data to make informed, reasoned, equitable decisions
- Identify and describe human behavior in an organizational setting
- Identify and analyze human resource systems for employment, compensation and training
- Institute and facilitate team-based problem-solving environments
- Develop and articulate a statement of values or code of ethics
- Demonstrate a knowledge of the community and an understanding of issues related to diversity
Special Features
- Students in the BAS program have the advantage of a low faculty to student ratio.
- The BAS program does not currently have a waiting list.
- The BAS program curriculum is designed to prepare students for completing a master’s degree.
Program Prerequisites
Students entering this program should have basic knowledge of a computer and touch-typing skills. It is recommended that online students complete HUMDV 101. Writing classes are embedded in the program. Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and the use of email are tools BAS students will use throughout the program. Those who are not familiar with or comfortable using those programs should locate online, self-study resources or consider enrolling in courses offered by the college. Students may need to complete prerequisite coursework prior to full admittance to the program.
- Completion of a two-year degree or 90 transferrable credits with a minimum cumulative GPA of a 2.0 or higher
- 5 credits of ENGL& 101 with a GPA of 2.0 or higher
Approximate Additional Costs
- Request official transcripts from outside colleges (estimated): $20
- Books, supplies and miscellaneous fees: $2400
- Laptop computer: $1000
- Personal health insurance (recommended): $39- $190 per quarter
- Travel/Transportation: varies
Current tuition and fee information is published on the College website at pencol.edu or by calling the Student Services Office at (360) 417-6340.
Financial aid is available to all students who qualify. To learn more about these opportunities, visit pencol.edu/financial.
Application Process
Applications for admission are accepted year‐round. Once accepted into the program, students may take courses fall, winter, or spring quarters. To learn more about the application process, visit pencol.edu/applying-program/bas-application-form.
Note: This schedule is based on full-time enrollment for two academic years. Students who enter the program mid-year will adjust their schedules accordingly.
First Quarter (Fall)
This course is intended for students in the Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Applied Management program where understanding the basic principles of financial and managerial accounting is essential in the successful execution of management responsibilities. The course defines financial statement interrelationships, financial analysis, product cost, budgetary control systems, and information reporting for the planning, coordinating, and monitoring of the performance of a business. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
People no longer work for a single organization for the duration of their career. With access to social media and the increased transparency into the quality of management and leadership in organizations, people can be more selective in the organizations they choose to work for. Additionally, society is placing an increasing value on work/life balance, diversity, and organizational justice. Entrepreneurs are experimenting with a variety of organizational structures that differ from the dominant pyramid structure with a single focus on shareholder value. In this course, students will learn management, leadership, and problem-solving techniques and be exposed to a variety of organizational cultures and structures. Learning about the variety of management and leadership styles and organizations allows students to determine what type of manager or leader they want to be or work for and what type of organization they want to work in. This class may include students from multiple sections. (Formerly BAS 310)
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
Business writing course required for students seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree. Production of business documents, including reports, proposals, letters, memos, essays, emails, and performance evaluations. Group projects and oral presentations. Review of business writing style, paragraphing, grammar, and document formatting. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
Second Quarter (Winter)
The discipline of Management Information Systems (MIS) bridges the gap between computer science disciplines and business disciplines such as marketing, strategic management, and finance among others. The term Management Information Systems encompasses a multitude of definitions depending on the source. The definition applied in this course is that MIS consists of technologies and processes that are used to collect and analyze data, convert it into information, on which a decision can be made, and then disseminate the information to the appropriate people an organization. This course will focus on such topics as information technology (IT) infrastructure, Enterprise Applications, databases as decision support systems, and others. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
Managers will face many important and far-reaching decision making, ethical, and leadership situations in their professional lives. This course provides a systematic way to approach decisions, ethics, and leadership. It analyzes complex decision, ethical, and leadership problems by breaking them into manageable pieces and by providing important insights that will lead to clarity of thought and commitment to action. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
Introduction to methods and applications of elementary descriptive and inferential statistics; summarizing data graphically and numerically, probability, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, correlation and linear regression. This class may include students from multiple sections. (Quantitative Skills, Natural Sciences, Elective)
Credits: 5
If MATH& 146 is used towards your AA/AS/AAS/AAS-T degree, you will need to consult with the Program Director to find an acceptable elective to use as a course substitution.
Third Quarter (Spring)
In management, projects are major undertakings that have a limited duration (i.e., finite completion point) and, as such, require a unique approach for administration. Course covers the theory and practice of project management in the context of technical and human resource constraints. Students learn to apply the knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques for project activities necessary to meet project requirements through the use of software and the approaches prescribed by the PMBOK. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
This course will identify the relationship between tribal leadership and indigenous cultures. Students will focus upon indigenous leadership through the lens of multiple cultures; why it is important that leaders honor their ancestors, land, stories, languages, elders and children in the decision-making processes. Indigenous cultures may include Native Americans, First Nations, Australian Aborigine, New Zealand Māori, and any other indigenous culture that highlights indigenous leadership. This class may include students from multiple sections. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
Fourth Quarter (Fall)
This course is for someone that wants to learn the complexities of land and planning within Indian country, focusing on planning and management. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
This course will outline the unique context of tribal governments as sovereign nations and relationship with the federal government, examine the history and evolution of tribal government institutions within the unique tribal systems and describe the unique role and relationship between the federal government and Native Americans/Alaskan Natives. This class may include students from multiple sections. (Social Sciences)
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
This course will explore and analyze lands of tribal government and jurisdiction laws as they overlap with federal, state/provincial and local levels of government in the region of North America. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
Fifth Quarter (Winter)
Strategic grant writing aligns the needs of a nonprofit with funding sources, whether foundations, government agencies, corporations, or individuals. This introductory-level course offers a guide to the basics of grant writing. The course explores the relationship between grant writing and an organization's strategy for fundraising. It also outlines the stages of grant writing and highlights grant writing best practices. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
This class will expose students to the processes and key economic principles and understand how these principles work in action with US and Tribal markets. Students will learn strategies and policies that pertain to economic performance. Using a capitalist lens, the class will deconstruct and decolonize this economic paradigm to see how different market models fit with Tribes. This class may include students from multiple sections. (Social Sciences)
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
This course will identify the interrelationships between federal and tribal governments and the methods used by Native Nations to administer programs. Students will learn the history of federal-tribal-state relations; the roles of tribal leaders and administrators; and the laws, policies, and issues that impact tribal governments. This class may include students from multiple sections. (Social Sciences)
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
Sixth Quarter (Spring)
This course will provide students fundamental knowledge in areas of economic development, entrepreneurship and management applied in the context of administration in Tribal communities and commerce. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5
Allow students to integrate the knowledge and skills learned in the TM-BAS specialization program, culminating in a project that synthesizes their learning and experiences. This course will help students address a real-world problem or explore a topic of interest in depth. This course encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. This class may include students from multiple sections.
Must be seeking a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management degree to enroll. If interested, visit pencol.edu/bas
Credits: 5