1. What makes an experience “extraordinary”?

An extraordinary experience stands out as uncommon when compared to educational experiences of the general UH student population. It is something that falls outside of normal university coursework yet is instructive, with a concentration on knowledge and skills acquisition in the Focus area for which the exemption is sought.

Here are some examples of “extraordinary” experiences that may serve as the basis for an exemption:

• Service as a student representative on a college campus’s academic grievance board (non-course experience; Contemporary Ethical Issues)
• Receipt of training and mentoring on giving public presentations and/or conducting interviews as part of professional work experience in the U.S.A. or abroad (non-course experience; Oral Communication)
• Participation in a project or projects of the Polynesian Voyaging Society (non-course experience; Hawaiian, Asian, & Pacific Issues)
• Production of marketing brochures or informational flyers for a community center (non-course experience; Writing Intensive)
• Successful completion of one or more college courses taught in a foreign country (most commonly taken through the Study Abroad Program). These courses must be taught by non-UHM faculty in order to be eligible. Courses taught by UHM faculty should go through the regular Focus designation process prior to the start of the Study Abroad Program in which they are being offered. Please consult with the General Education Office for clarification regarding these types of experiences, as restrictions apply (course-based experience; Focus area depends on course focus)
• Completion of company training sessions on ethical business practices (course-based experience; Contemporary Ethical Issues)

2. What is the difference between a “course-based” and a “non-course” experience?

• A “course-based experience” is an educational experience that involved professional training or one or more classes taken outside of the U.S.A., and for which a Focus designation was not possible. A course taken at another U.S. institution is not considered extraordinary, as over half of UHM students graduate with transfer credits.
• A “non-course experience” is an educational experience that did not involve a course, training session, or other formal instruction.

3. Which Hallmarks do I use?

• If the experience involved a course, workshop, training session, or similar educational experience, use the Focus Exemption: Hallmarks for Courses.
• For non-course experiences, use the Focus Exemption: Hallmarks for Non-course Experiences.

4. How do I demonstrate that my experience was both extraordinary and educational?

In your statement of no more than 750 words, give evidence for how your experience is not possible to obtain at UHM. Explain what you learned as a result of the experience. The knowledge you gained must be directly related to the Hallmarks of the Focus area(s) for which you are seeking an exemption.

5. How do I provide evidence that the experience met the Focus Hallmarks?

Consult the Focus Exemption: Hallmarks for Courses or Hallmarks for Non-course Experiences on the UHM General Education website: www.hawaii.edu/gened. In your statement, include detailed examples from your experience that illustrate how each Hallmark was met. Be sure to address each of the Hallmarks.

6. Are there samples that I can follow?

Each statement will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, not only in terms of the factors mentioned above, but also on the degree or intensity of the experience. Students must present compelling arguments to receive an exemption from the Focus area(s) requested.

7. Who can be a sponsor?

The Focus Exemption requires a sponsor who can verify that the student has completed the extraordinary educational experience.

• For course-based experiences, the sponsor should be the course instructor or trainer.
• For non-course experiences, the sponsor can be the director, employer, mentor, or equivalent person who supervised the experience.

8. What happens after I submit my form, statement, and sponsor verification form?

Faculty members on the UHM General Education Committee or the appropriate Focus Board(s) will review the documents. You should receive a response to your application approximately four to six weeks after submission during the Fall and Spring semesters, or in September/October if the application is submitted after the April 1 deadline. (Please see above for due dates.)

9. What if I’ve missed the deadline?

Applications that are submitted after the published deadline may be accepted, but it is likely that the request will not be reviewed until the following semester, after registration for that semester has closed. This poses a problem for students if their requests are not approved, as they will not be able to add the additional Focus course they need in order to graduate that semester.

Focus Exemption: Tips for Writing the Statement

Faculty members on the General Education Committee or relevant General Education Board will evaluate the statement you submit along with your application form and sponsor verification form. Below are tips to help you craft your statement.

• Write an argumentative, compelling essay. Start with an introduction that contains a clear thesis statement, include several body paragraphs with supporting evidence and examples, and end with a convincing conclusion.
• In your statement, clearly describe the experience or course and explain how it was an educational experience.
• In your statement, provide good reasons why the experience was extraordinary when compared to the average student at UHM.
• To help you write your first draft, turn each of the Hallmarks from the appropriate Focus area into questions and then answer the questions. Your answers can be integrated into the body paragraphs of your statement.

Examples:

• • Hallmark: The experience involved a contemporary ethical issue. Question: What contemporary ethical issue did I learn about?
  • Hallmark: Through the experience, the student learned about one of the following: an intersection of Hawaiian culture with Asian culture. Question: What cultures did I learn about? What was the specific intersection(s) that I learned about?
  • Hallmark: Individual feedback and critique of performance was given by a mentor, supervisor, director, employer, and/or audience members. Who gave me feedback? What feedback did I receive? What did I do with that feedback?
  • Hallmark: Writing contributed to learning in the experience. What did I learn through the writing?
• In your statement, provide detailed examples from your experience that show how your experience meets each of the Hallmarks.
• Revise your draft. Ask a friend to read it and point out areas that are unclear.
• Proofread and edit. Ask a friend to read it and point out errors. Careful attention to language use, clarity, grammar, punctuation, and spelling is important.
• Verify that the statement is 750 words or less (Microsoft Word users: under the File menu option, choose Properties, and then select Statistics).

Focus Exemption Hallmarks

Students who are applying for a Focus exemption based on a non-course experience should use the Hallmarks for Non-Course Experiences below.

Students with an extraordinary experience tied to a course (for example: a college course, business workshop, training course, military course) should use the Hallmarks for Course-Based Experiences. Please note that activities associated with a course such as a course’s service learning project fit under the course-based category.

Contemporary Ethical Issues: Hallmarks for Non-Course Experiences

1. The experience involved a contemporary ethical issue.
Examples of contemporary ethical issues include (but are not limited to): medical research;
bioethics; ethical business practices; the withholding of information from employees by
employers; the sale of personal information; product safety; stem cell research; immigration laws
and policies; political campaign contributions; child labor; use of non-lethal weapons; access to
technology; plagiarism, copyright, and open source issues.

2. The student learned a way of responsibly analyzing and dealing with ethical issues. Ideally, the
student learned a framework for deliberating on ethical issues.

3. The experience provided practice in how to identify ethical issues.

4. The duration of the experience was at least 32 hours.

Hawaiian, Asian, & Pacific Issues: Hallmarks for Non-Course Experiences

1. Through the experience, the student learned about one of the following:
   a. an intersection of Hawaiian culture with Asian culture
   b. an intersection of Hawaiian culture with Pacific Island culture
   c. an intersection of Hawaiian culture with Asian and Pacific Island cultures.
   An intersection occurs when aspects of the cultures combine or influence each other.
2. The student learned about the cultures from the perspectives and voices of Native Hawaiians and
   the indigenous people(s) of Asia and/or Pacific Islands.
   To demonstrate that the student learned from the native perspectives, the student should include
   in their statement (a) the names of the Native Hawaiians and (b) the names of the indigenous
   Asians or Pacific Islanders studied or involved in the experience. Please note that a nonindigenous
   person’s interpretation of native perspectives is insufficient.
3. The experience dealt with at least one topic that is crucial to an understanding of the histories,
   cultures, beliefs, arts, or the society, political, economic, or technological processes of the regions
   involved in the intersection. For example, the relationships of societal structures to the natural
   environment.
4. The experience resulted in greater cross-cultural understanding.
5. The duration of the experience was at least 32 hours.

Oral Communication: Hallmarks for Non-Course Experiences

1. At least three oral presentations were given.
   Oral presentations include (but are not limited to) speeches, panel discussions, debates,
   interviews, facilitation and participation in community gatherings, participation in service
   learning and outreach activities (tutoring, teaching, coaching), press conferences, creative or
   aesthetic performances (storytelling, performance of literature, dramatic performance, readings).
2. Instruction and guidance on how to give an oral presentation was provided by a mentor,
   supervisor, director, employer, or similar person.
3. Individual feedback and critique of performance was given by a mentor, supervisor, director,
   employer, and/or audience members.

Writing Intensive: Hallmarks for Non-Course Experiences

1. Writing contributed to learning in the experience. For example, the writing enhanced the
   understanding of the experience or encouraged self-reflection during the experience.
2. Individual feedback was given during the writing process. For example, before completing a
   piece of writing, a mentor, employer, or supervisor, commented on the writing and then the
   student revised the writing.
3. At least 16 pages (4,000 words) of finished writing were completed.
4. Writing was a significant part of the experience. For example, the writing was published for an
   audience or the writing was “high-stakes” in that poor writing resulted in an unsuccessful
   experience in the eyes of a mentor, employer, supervisor.

Focus Exemption Hallmarks

Students who are applying for a Focus exemption based on a non-course experience should use the Hallmarks for Non-Course Experiences.
Students with an extraordinary experience tied to a course (for example: a college course, business workshop, training course, military course) should use the Hallmarks for Course-Based Experiences below. Please note that activities associated with a course such as a course’s service learning project fit under the course-based category.

Contemporary Ethical Issues: Hallmarks for Course-Based Experiences

• E1. Contemporary ethical issues were presented and studied in a manner that was fully integrated
  into the main course content.
• E2. The disciplinary approach(es) used in the class gave students tools for the development of
  responsible deliberation and ethical judgment.
• E3. Students achieved basic competency in analyzing and deliberating upon contemporary ethical
  issues to help them make ethically determined judgments.
• E4. The contemporary ethical issues experience was equal to one semester credit-hour or 30% of a
  three-credit course.
• E5. A minimum of 8 hours of class time was spent in discussing contemporary ethical issues.
• E6. The course/workshop/training level was the equivalent of a 300- or 400-level college course.

Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Issues: Hallmarks for Course-Based Experiences

To fulfill the Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Issues Focus requirement, at least two-thirds of a course-based
experience must satisfy the following Hallmarks:

• H1. Content reflected the intersection of Asian and/or Pacific Island cultures with Native Hawaiian
  culture.
• H2. Used any disciplinary or multi-disciplinary approach provided that a component of the course
  used assignments or practica that encouraged learning that from the cultural perspectives,
  values, and world views rooted in the experience of peoples indigenous to Hawai‘i, the
  Pacific, and Asia.
  Note: Identify in the syllabus or explain in the statement where exposure to or engagement with the
  native voices that represent the cultural perspectives, values, and world views rooted in the
  experience of peoples indigenous to Hawai‘i occurred. Include the names of the native voices.
  The native voices can be readings, videos, guest speakers or field trips. Both the native
  Hawaiian voice and the native voice from the indigenous people of the area of intersection
  must be included.
• H3. Included at least one topic that is crucial to an understanding of the histories, or cultures, or
  beliefs, or the arts, or the societal, or political, or economic, or technological processes of
  these regions; for example, the relationships of societal structures to the natural environment.
• H4. Involved an in-depth analysis or understanding of the issues being studied in the hope of
  fostering multi-cultural respect and understanding.

Oral Communication: Hallmarks for Course-Based Experiences

• O1. Each student conducted or participated in a minimum of three oral communication
  assignments or a comparable amount of oral communication activity during the class. In
  addition, at least 40% of the final grade or evaluation for a 3-credit course was a function of
  the student’s oral communication activities (30% for a 4-credit course; 60% for a 2-credit
  course; 100% for a 1-credit course).
• O2. Each student received explicit training, in the context of the class, in oral communication
  concerns relevant to the assignment or activity.
• O3. Each student received specific feedback, critiquing, and grading of the oral communication
  assignments or activities from the instructor.
• O4. If instructor feedback primarily involves individual or paired students, enrollment was limited
  to 20 students. If instructor feedback primarily involves groups of students, enrollment was
  limited to 30.
• O5. The course/workshop/training level was the equivalent of a 300- or 400-level college course.

Writing Intensive: Hallmarks for Course-Based Experiences

• W1. The class used writing to promote the learning of course materials.
• W2. The class provided interaction between the instructor and students while students did assigned
  writing.
• W3. Written assignments contributed significantly to each student’s course grade or evaluation.
• W4. The class required students to do a substantial amount of writing—a minimum of 4,000 words,
  or about 16 pages.
• W5. To allow for meaningful professor-student interaction on each student’s writing, the class was
  restricted to 20 students.