The president of Haskell Indian Nations University will be dispatched to New Mexico until January to help with another institute of higher learning’s accreditation process.

The Bureau of Indian Education is sending President Linda Sue Warner to assist the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute beginning on Sept. 28. SIPI is a National Indian Community College and a land grant institution in Albuquerque, N.M.

Warner will retain her title as president during the time period, but at least two other people will serve as acting president of Haskell while Warner is in Albuquerque, said Stephanie Birdwell, deputy director for policy evaluation and postsecondary education at the Bureau of Indian Education in Washington.

The first acting president, Chris Redman, a Bureau of Indian Education education specialist based in Oklahoma City, will arrive on Sept. 28 and will serve for about 30 days, Birdwell said. A second person has not yet been named, she said.

The Bureau of Indian Education funds 25 tribal colleges and universities in addition to Haskell and SIPI.

Birdwell said any employee of the federal government may be detailed to help with a special project or other task for a period of time.

Warner will take a leadership role in the ongoing accreditation process at SIPI, which is on a 10-year cycle.