Native Hawaiian Student Services (NHSS) is part of UH Mānoa’s Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. The mission of NHSS is to primarily serve Native Hawaiian students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa through a comprehensive, culturally respectful and academically competent program of student support and advising services.
Their efforts, resources, services and initiatives are specifically designed to increase recruitment, retention and matriculation of more Native Hawaiian students as they meet with success in achieving their educational goals and beyond.
NHSS is also driven by core values, which include:
- Create & promote a Hawaiian place for learning,
- Promote & advocate the learning of Hawaiian language, studies & education,
- Recognize our kuleana (responsibility) to honor the traditions of our indigenous people & to promote social justice for Native Hawaiians,
- Educate a highly knowledgeable, skilled, flexible, world-class Native Hawaiian work force
Our Team
We have an overall Director and individual school Academic Advisors for Kawaihuelani (Hawaiian Language), Kamakakūokalani (Hawaiian Studies) and a Graduate Assistant for our Kēkelē Laeoʻo (master’s degree program). We also have the services and expertise of an Outreach Counselor. We have several staff engaged in a wide-range of student services programs and activities with a focus on Native Hawaiian students.
Our NHSS staff specializes in assisting Native Hawaiian students in all programs at the UH Mānoa campus. Students do not need to be majors at Hawaiʻinuiākea in Hawaiian Language or Hawaiian Studies to request services from our NHSS staff. We also extend our services to community college students with their transfer needs to UH Mānoa.
Our NHSS staff is here to support your personal and professional journey at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and beyond. We offer a range of student support services to reflect the diverse needs of our students who are Hawaiʻinuiākea majors and all Native Hawaiian students (regardless of major). Some of our programs and services are federally-funded by the US Department of Education, Native Hawaiian Strengthening Institutions Program (Title III).
Our Services & Programs
Here are some of the services and programs we provide with a focus on meeting the needs of our Native Hawaiian students:
- Two student resource locations – Kamakakūokalani, Room 211 and Queen Lili‘uokalani Center for Student Services, Room 113
- Free computer and printer access
- Workshops on technology, graduate/professional school, and financial aid/scholarships
- Seminars on special topics like sovereignty, Native Hawaiian-owned businesses
- Internships
- Community Huaka‘i – Hui Kū Maoli Ola, Kahana Valley, Paepae ‘o He‘eia
- Academic counseling for all other majors
- Wellness counseling and referral services
- Academic Counseling & Referral Services
- Personal Wellness Counseling & Referral Services
- Student Lounge
- Career Advising
- Information on Graduate & Professional Schools
- Community College Summer Cohort Program
- Peer Tutoring in math, writing, and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi
- Internship Opportunities
- Community Service Opportunities
- Technology Capacity Building
- Student Workshops
- Summer Institute
We look forward to serving you during your time at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa!
Our Story
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) is part of the University of Hawai‘i System which is composed of nine campuses total. UH Mānoa is the only Research I institution in the System and the only public Research I institution in the State.
The bulk of Hawaiians participating in higher education does so in the University of Hawai‘i System and, as expected, the majority of those students are in the community colleges. In the State of Hawai‘i, Hawaiians composed about 23% of the State’s total population. At UH Mānoa, Hawaiians make up approximately 12% of the undergraduate population (about 2,000) and about 10% of the graduate and professional school population (about 633). And although the UH Mānoa student body is predominantly of color, Caucasian faculty constitute 65.5% of the tenure-track faculty. Hawaiians compose only 4% of the tenure-track faculty. Both Hawaiian faculty and students are concentrated in the following disciplines: Hawaiian Language, Hawaiian Studies, Education, and, just recently, Political Science. Although there is a significant number of Hawaiians on the Mānoa campus, our presence continues to pale in comparison to other populations (like Japanese Americans and Chinese Americans) and in relation to the larger Mānoa population – Hawaiians also persist at lower rates than other populations as well. As such, programs which help Hawaiian students make connections across campus plays a very important role in their successful higher education matriculation.
As illustrated above, Native Hawaiian students at UH-Mānoa are a rare find — rarer still are those Native Hawaiians who actually graduate. If we extend the idea of an educational pipeline to this discussion, even rarer are the professionals (including faculty members) at the end of the pipeline. Part of the answer to addressing the concerns of building and supporting the educational pipeline especially for under-represented populations, such as Native Hawaiians, is to provide student services programs which address the successes, challenges, and cultural norms of these populations.
Recognizing the continually growing need for institutional support to facilitate higher educational success among Native Hawaiian students, Kūali‘i Council[1] advocated for the creation of Native Hawaiian Student Services (NHSS) to provide another permanent support program for ‘ōiwi (native) students.
With the birth of Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge in June 2007, NHSS found a nurturing and supportive home to grow and develop its organizational identity. As part of the School, NHSS has two distinct but related broad kuleana (responsibility): to serve Hawai‘inuiākea majors and to serve all Native Hawaiian students. NHSS encourages the broad participation of Native Hawaiians at UH Mānoa.
[1] Kualii Council is Native Hawaiian advocacy and advisory group at UH Mānoa composed of faculty, staff, and students who are Native Hawaiian and/or are concerned with the status of Native Hawaiians in higher education.