Vision

Perpetuate pono¹ living, locally and globally, to prepare advocates and stewards for social justice and health equity.

Mission

The mission of the Office of Public Health Studies is to advance and protect the health and wellbeing of the peoples of Hawai‘i, the Pacific, Asia, and Indigenous peoples, through teaching, discovery, innovation, community engagement, inclusion, and leadership.

Goals

1. To support students’ mastery of their degree competencies through quality courses, research opportunities, and relevant practicum experiences.
2. To conduct and disseminate public health research with a focus on Hawai`i, the Pacific, Asia and Indigenous peoples.
3. To serve the public health workforce, state, federal or international organizations through education, consultation and research.
4. To support program excellence through evaluation, funding, training, and diversity, equity and inclusion towards becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning².

Values

We value:

• Scholarly excellence and integrity
• Respect for people, land, and perspectives
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Collaboration and Community Engagement
• Ho’olohe³ (listening and responding) to the needs of our community
• Mālama ‘Āina⁴ and Environmental Justice

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¹ In our unit and in alignment with wehewehe.org, pono is loosely defined as goodness, uprightness, righteous, just, moral qualities, correct or proper procedure, excellence, wellbeing, and “doing what is right”.

² In alignment with University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa strategic plans – https://manoa.hawaii.edu/nhpol/

³ In our unit and in alignment with wehewehe.org, ho‘olohe is loosely defined as listening and responding.

⁴ In our unit and in alignment with wehewehe.org, mālama is loosely defined as to take care of, tend, care for, preserve, protect, save, and maintain; ‘Āina is loosely defined as nature, environment, land extending from mountain to sea, that which feeds, and that which nourishes.