Phenocia Bauerle (she/they) is the Director of Native American Student Development (NASD) and the Native Community Center (NCC). A member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) tribe, she is a sixth generation descendant of Sits in the Middle of the Land, and a fifth generation descendant of Mountain Chief (Piegan). She had the privilege of working with her grandfather on editing a collection of Crow stories, The Way of the Warrior: Stories of the Crow People (2002). She has had the good fortune of being part of a rich cultural heritage and strong family grounded in the belief systems and worldview of the Apsáalooke people, one of which is being a good relative. Previously, she worked as director of the Diversity Awareness Office at Montana State University, and came to UC Berkeley a decade ago as the first professional staff hired in Native American Student Development. In her time at the helm of NASD, she has been part of many efforts to further Native issues, including leading the organization of the first UC Berkeley Tribal Forum (2017), bringing over 100 tribal members and representatives to UC Berkeley campus to discuss Berkeley’s history and possibilities and partnerships moving forward. Phenocia was part of a faculty and staff group that worked with the Graduate Assembly to secure an MOU for temporary space in Anthony Hall to create the Native Community Center, a first of its kind community space on campus, which opened under her leadership in the fall of 2021. She takes great care in working to support Native students in their personal and educational pursuits, and sees each student as a seed for future justice.
Professionally, she has a commitment to institutional transformation in whatever shape the work takes. In 2019, She was an inaugural member of the UC President's Native American Advisory Council and currently serves as Chair, and also chairs the Undergraduate Recruitment and Retention Working Group which was responsible for offering the recommendation and rationale for UCOP adding Native American/Alaska Native citizenship information to the undergraduate application, the first public university system in the nation to do so. She has served in many advisory positions around Native American issues across campus, including serving as a member of the Native American Initiative Steering Committee. Currently, Phenocia serves on the Chancellor's Native American Advisory Council and has served on the UC Berkeley NAGPRA committee since 2018.
