UH Hilo receives Department of Education grants for Native Hawaiian student success programs

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Contact:
Alyson Y Kakugawa-Leong, (808) 932-7669
Int Dir, Univ Rel; Dir, Media Rel, University Relations, Office of
Posted: Oct 12, 2021

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center was recently awarded three new five-year grants totaling over $8 million through the Title III, Part F Alaska Native Native Hawaiian (ANNH) Serving Institutions program to help support the success of Native Hawaiian students.

The programs and their grant award include:

Paʻieʻe: Indigenizing the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community Campuses ($2,998,734)

This cooperative grant is between UH Hilo (lead) and Hawaiʻi Community College with the following main objectives:

* Increase Native Hawaiian student enrollment and retention through Hawaiʻi Island place-based service-learning pathways
* Increase Native Hawaiian students, faculty, and staff engagement through the creation of Indigenous resources and spaces at UH Hilo-Hawaiʻi Community College Manono and Kō Education Center Honokaʻa
* Increase Native Hawaiian student graduation and transfer through faculty professional development activities

E Halakau ai na Manu: Native Hawaiian Student Engagement and Support ($2,729,837)

This project aims to increase Native Hawaiian student persistence and retention in their first and second year at UH Hilo through three activities:

* Enhance student engagement through learning environments by renovating the Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center to better engage and support Native Hawaiian students
* Foster campus and community engagement to strengthen access for Native Hawaiian first-year students through peer mentoring
* Strengthen leadership development for second-year students through participation in leadership development opportunities

Hoʻolana: Access and Enrollment, Retention, and Graduation Success for Native Hawaiian Students ($2,675,468)

This project’s goal is to support Native Hawaiian student success from their freshmen to senior year at UH Hilo through the following:

* Facilitate student success for freshmen students, including summer bridge programs and a first-year experience course, that incorporates place-based, service-learning activities that increases understanding of the cultural significance of Hawaiʻi Island
* Enhance campus and community engagement for Native Hawaiian sophomores
* Strengthen leadership development for Native Hawaiian students that contribute to their persistence to graduation

“All of our project goals include increasing Native Hawaiian student enrollment through retention efforts, increasing Native Hawaiian student graduation rates, and increasing Native Hawaiian student engagement in Hawaiian language and culture learning pathways,” explained Principal Investigator Gail Makuakane-Lundin.

“I am especially gratefully to the Kīpuka staff, especially Associate Director Hualani Loo and Student Development Coordinator Hoʻoleina Ioane, who authored two of the grant proposals. The grants provide us the opportunity to work with our colleagues on campus and across other UH campuses to create new pathways for Native Hawaiian students to achieve success.”

Kīpuka also received a one-year supplemental ANNH grant of $551,298 to expand and enhance the Kūkulu: Strengthening Native Hawaiian Leadership by Building Retention and Graduate Efforts program.