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Policy Language
The Ka’ie’ie Degree Pathway Program isan agreement between the University of Hawai’i at Manoa {UHM) and Kapi’olani Community College (KCC) to promote cooperative, successful undergraduate educational experiences for students who attend both UHM and KCC through curricular and advising agreements. Ka’ie’ie was chosen as the name for this program for historical as well as symbolic reasons.
Ka’ie’ie is the name of the channel between Kaua’i and O’ahu. Queen Kapi’olani’s genealogical roots are firmly embedded in Kaua’i. However, her lineage also extends to Manoa Valley. The Queen’s great great grandfather, Ka’eokulani was also the half-brother of Namanaha, who was Ka’ahumanu’s mother. Ka’ahumanu lived and ended her life in Manoa Valley.
The ‘ie’ie plant stands as a metaphor for the symbiotic relationship between UHM and KCC, in a number of different ways. The ‘ie’ie is a vine that grows along the ground, but when it finds a tree, it generates adventitious roots that make it possible for the vine to grow up the trunk and out onto the branches.
The roots of the ‘ie’ie are used to create the base for mahi’ole, the feathered helmets worn by chiefs. Finally, the ‘ie’ie plant is used in the process of preparing a koa tree in the making of a canoe. After the koa is cut down, the kahuna wraps the trunk of the koa with the ‘ie’ie vine at the place where the crown of the tree is to be severed from the trunk. After several prayers, the top of the koa is cut.
Through this agreement we are performing all the important protocols of growing and felling the tree and we are giving the students the log to fashion their canoe to sail on their pathway.
A. Purpose and Goals
Through the Ka’ie’ie program, and this Degree Pathway Partnership Agreement, UHM and KCC will cooperate to promote successful undergraduate educational experiences for students who wish to follow academic degrees begun at KCC and completed at UHM.
The goals of this partnership are to:
- Help students transfer smoothly and graduate with a Bachelor’s degree within a total of four years, or the equivalent in part-time attendance.
- Provide mandatory advising and academic planning to students and connect them earlier to their major department at UHM.
- Provide students the opportunity to take courses at one or both institutions while working closely with advisors to identify the most efficient path to graduation and the best time to transfer.
B. Recruitment and Admission
The Ka’ie’ie Program is a dual-enrollment, dual-admission program for students pursuing their first four-year undergraduate degree who are accepted to UHM but choose to begin their degree at KCC. Eligibility for UHM is determined by two sets of criteria:
- Students who are eligible for acceptance at UHM upon admission. Students who are accepted at UHM and pay the application fees can declare KCC their home institution and take their courses at KCC by completing the Ka’ie’ie Fast Application Form.
- Students eligible for acceptance at UHM upon transfer. These students may be accepted to UHM via the transfer process, but once accepted into the Ka’ie’ie Program, must participate in the program for at least one semester before transferring. Transfer requirements are unchanged from current policies, but once students complete a Ka’ie’ie application and are admitted through the Ka’ie’ie Program, no application fee is needed to declare UHM their home • institution on the condition that they maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA and are in good academic standing at both institutions. Students who have been placed on probation, suspension, or dismissal at either campus may be readmitted to the Ka’ie’ie Program after returning to good academic standing at both institutions, but will need to reapply.
- Students at KCC will be able to access academic advising initially through the KCC transfer advising office and in consultation with the UHM Transfer Specialist at KCC, and then through their academic degree program when they have declared a major and been accepted into the degree program. Students will use STAR, the UHM Program Sheets, and the UHM 4-Year Academic Plan Templates to plan future course taking. An Admissions counselor will also be identified to work specifically with KCC students on admission and transfer issues.
- Students will select their degree program at the time of application. Ka’ie’ie students are dual-enrolled and thus will not need to be prorated for focus requirements when transferring between institutions.
- International students. International students accepted in Ka’ie’ie are eligible for all program benefits not precluded by their visa status.
C. Program Articulation and Advising
- The management of the Ka’ie’ie Program and resulting articulation agreements between the two institutions will be coordinated through the Chief Academic Officers or the designated Ka’ie’ie Administrative Coordinators at each institution.
- Students admitted under the Ka’ie’ie Program will attend mandatory advising and academic planning advising sessions at the KCC transfer advising office and in consultation with the UHM Transfer Specialist at KCC, design a course of study to complete the agreed upon prerequisite courses prior to transfer to UHM.
- Issues relating to articulation, class content, or other curricular matters will be resolved by the Chief Academic Officers or their designees at each institution in consultation with departments and faculty and in keeping with existing university policies and procedures.
- Students admitted under the Ka’ie’ie Program will be afforded email access to both campus Ka’ie’ie Coordinators and Transfer Specialists. Major departments at both campuses will receive lists of their majors by the end of the second week of the semester; lists of majors will include and identify Ka’ie’ie students. Major departments will include Ka’ie’ie students in all departmental communication and events.
- Students under the Ka’ie’ie Program will be able to register for UHM courses during UHM’s continuing student registration period in the semester in which they transfer to UHM.
- Students admitted under the Ka’ie’ie Program will be identified in Banner by the Admissions Officers at both campuses to facilitate the tracking and monitoring of these students as they progress through their program.
- Students admitted under the Ka’ie’ie Program will be subject to all UHM’s General Education, graduation, college and program-specific degree and major requirements.
- Ka’ie’ie students will be encouraged to engage fully in the educational experience offered at each institution and will have the benefit of UHM’s advising initiatives, including mandatory advising and timely declaration of the major.
- Academic and student services will be provided by students’ primary institution.
D. Program Benefits
- Students admitted under the Ka’ie’ie Program will be eligible upon transfer to UHM to apply for scholarships and grants available to all UHM students.
- Students admitted to Ka’ie’ie will be afforded the same privileges afforded all first year transfer students.
- Students admitted under the Ka’ie’ie Program will receive academic advising at their home campus, in consultation with the UHM Transfer Specialist, who will work collaboratively with advisors and students at both campuses. Once students are at UHM and in designated majors, students will receive advising from their declared major departments in their colleges or schools. The UHM Transfer Specialist will coordinate with all departments and units at UHM regarding Ka’ie’ie students.
- Ka’ie’ie students will have met all entry criteria and will be pre-approved to take UHM courses in the degree programs they identified. Upon transfer to UHM, Ka’ie’ie students will be eligible for financial aid from UHM.
- For purposes of access to library materials at both institutions, students admitted under the Ka’ie’ie Program will be coded in the library users database as being enrolled in both institutions. Students will receive financial aid, housing, health services, and student employment from their home institution.
- Upon transfer to UHM, Ka’ie’ie students will formally change their home institution.
E. Marketing and Recruitment
- Promotional plans and materials will be subject to approval by each institution.
- Recruitment of students will be the responsibility of both institutions; however, UHM will have access to all KCC student email addresses to share information regarding curriculum development and transfer policy requirements. Interested KCC students’ email accounts will also be forwarded to future potential academic majors so students can receive the latest newsletters and updated course information.
F. Implementation
The Chief Academic Officers, or Ka’ie’ie Administrative Coordinators at each institution, will form and oversee a representative committee to meet regularly and work out the details and implementation of this agreement. The committee will include Transfer Specialist(s), faculty, academic advisors/counselors, admissions officers, student affairs and any others the CAOs deem appropriate.
G. Program Evaluation
The Chief Academic Officers, or Ka’ie’ie Administrative Coordinators at each institution, and the implementation committee will be responsible for monitoring the curricular alignment of courses in the majors, defining and implementing measures for assessing the effectiveness of the Ka’ie’ie Program and its impact on student success, reporting to the respective Senates and adjusting the Ka’ie’ie Program informed by the data on program effectiveness.
H. Terms and Terminhation
- This agreement shall not create any rights in any third parties, specifically any students participating in the program. The only parties to this agreement are UHM and KCC.
- The terms of the agreement are subject to prevailing University policies.
- Amendments to this agreement must in writing and approved by the designated representative of each institution.
- Either party may terminate this agreement for cause by giving written notice to the designated representative at least 90 days prior to the commencement of a new academic term.
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