Campus Spotlight

Kauaʻi CC and Hale Mālama

Kauaʻi Community College saw a need for a place on campus to service all students who are in need of support regarding basic needs, mental health, finances, case management, access to community resources, and any other barriers they face which may impact their academic journey. In 2020, Hale Mālama began with the hiring of a coordinator. Mental health was an initial priority, and these services were brought into the Hale Mālama Care Center.

As part of the first-year program development and planning, the center created a strengths-based pilot program grounded in cultural values that was launched with the campus nursing students. National data shows about 35% of students are dealing with some sort of mental health issue while only 9-11% actually seek out services. Based on campus-wide survey results showing the demand and need for services, the center is creating more support groups for students and increasing their campus presence.

The center provides students access to human needs such as the Hoʻai Food and Goods pantry, with the support of the Hawaiʻi Food Bank-Kauaʻi Branch and local donations. The food and goods pantry provides a variety of canned, refrigerated, and frozen foods as well as clothing, household and hygiene items, and diapers. Some students may also be eligible for financial support with on-campus meal vouchers, partial child care assistance, and student emergency aid.

Students who are able to uncover their voice, discover their purpose, and recover their individual truth will not only take their place in society as strong and resilient individuals but will also have the academic passion to create positive change. Hale Mālama offices are located in the library (LRC 120/121/105).

System Initiatives: What you need to know

New Campus Videos Featuring our Non-trad CTE Students

Check out the new campus videos focusing on our non-traditional students in Career and Technical Education programs. We have the most inspiring students!.

• Automotive Tech (Leeward)
• Carpentry (Hawai‘i)
• Construction/Trades (Maui)
• IT (Kapi‘olani)
• Nursing (Kaua‘i)
• Vet Tech (Windward)
• Welding (Honolulu)

UHCC Systemwide Team Spotlight

System and Campus Financial Aid

Working together to provide financial support for students

Financial aid is a key element to ensuring our students are successful. The cost of attending college is often a barrier, so our financial aid specialists can make the difference for whether a student attends or not. In Fall 2020, UHCC created a Central Financial Aid Office (CFAO) to help streamline financial aid policies and practices for consistency, equity, and improved student experience. CFAO aims to help campuses to strategically utilize financial aid for targeted recruitment, retention, and completion. CFAO also supports campuses with processing and awarding financial aid to students, which allows the campus teams to focus on their home-based students that need hands-on attention.

Our CFAO team, led by Cathy Bio, is made up of Jannine Oyama, Coleen Oshiro, and Heather Florendo. We also want to acknowledge Tawny Antonio who helped implement the System office and has now moved to another position at Leeward Community College. The CFAO team works closely with the campus financial aid offices to develop consistent procedures and alignment of policies. In close collaboration with campus Financial Aid Directors/Managers, the team completed a common UHCC policies and procedures manual and has begun to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for a consistent student experience across campuses. Together, they are guided by the philosophy that consistent practices + consistent student experience = equitable financial aid.

Repositioning of workload among the centralized team and campus staff showed significant gains and positive impacts for students:

• Expanded awards to lowest income students, regardless of when they applied
• Leveraged institutional aid programs to spread out limited funds to more students
• Disbursed Hawaiʻi Promise awards earlier to more students
• Re-evaluated policy and practice for Hawaiʻi Promise and Hawaiʻi B+ to increase awards for UHCC students

In the coming months, the CFAO team is looking forward to further refining workflows and hiring one more team member to better meet the needs of the campuses and our students.

UHCC System Updates

2024 HISSI Request for Proposals

The 2024 Hawai‘i Student Success Institute (HISSI) is scheduled for Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Hawai‘i Convention Center and is open to administrators, faculty and staff from all areas of the University of Hawai'i Community Colleges.

This year’s theme, Building Dreams, Strengthening Communities: 60 Years of Hawai‘i Community Colleges, celebrates our 60th anniversary and recognizes the positive impact we have had in our local communities and the state. With this focus in mind, 2024 HISSI is open to a variety of presentations that will appeal to the broad sectors of the University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges. Target audiences include: executives/managers, faculty/lecturers, APT (Administrative, Professional and Technical), Civil Service (white and blue collar), and others.

Submit a presentation proposal. DEADLINE TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15 BY 4:30PM

If you are interested in leading a cross-campus discipline, program, employee group or special topic discussion (e.g., OER, English, Financial Aid), please complete the proposal form with your contact information so we can reserve you a room.

Innovative Practice: CNA/LPN Bridge Program

With the need for more nurses increasing in the community and across the state, more healthcare facilities desperately turn to agency nurses from out of state to help fill the gaps. The solution is not only costly, but merely a temporary fix as agency workers rarely seek permanent employment and often return to their home state after their contracts end.

Hale Makua has partnered with the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College (UHMC) Practical Nursing program for the past five years to help train and develop Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). Starting in January 2023, UH Maui College launched a new program called the CNA to LPN Bridge Program, which aims at developing working Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) at Ohana Pacific Health (OPH) and Kaiser facilities on Maui, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi into Practical Nurses in 12 months. This program will double the number of LPN graduates annually throughout the state.

The program offers online lectures, and in-person labs and clinicals are provided at the employer’s site. Those in the program will be scheduled to work to maintain part-time CNA hours. With the ability to continue working a schedule that accommodates their schooling as well as having access to financial aid, workforce grants, and an employer tuition assistance program, candidates face fewer barriers preventing them from reaching their career goals.

Ohana Pacific Health will launch the next cohort in January 2024.

Helpful Resources and Articles

• National Higher Education Teaching Conference (June 13-14, 2024)
  • Accelerating Student Success and Belonging: Hilton Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN
• Innovative Educators’ Go2Knowledge
  • We have purchased a CC systemwide Go2Knowledge membership for all CC campuses to use. Contact: uhccids@hawaii.edu
  • Innovative Educators’ Go2Knowledge offers training on a wide range of topics that are timely, practical, and relevant for higher education. The format includes both live webinars and a digital library for on-demand access. Sign up for a UHCC Go2Knowledge account (or log in if you had an account with a CC campus before), and take advantage of quality professional development from anywhere. Here are a few samples of upcoming live webinars. Recordings can be viewed on demand later:
    • Assessing Social Media’s Impact On Mental Health: How To Intervene & Support Struggling Students Live: Thursday, November 30: 8:00-9:00 am HST
    • Detecting At-Risk Online Students: Using An Early Warning System To Increase Success Live: Tuesday, December 5: 10:00-11:00 am HST
    • Holistic Leadership: Prioritizing Well-Being For Impactful Educational Outcomes Live: Wednesday, December 6: 10:00-11:00 am HST
• How ChatGPT killed my discussion boards and prompted new prompts
  How ChatGPT killed my discussion boards and prompted new prompts
• Humanizing Data for Student Success
  As student needs grow more complex, how can universities preemptively support students at risk to fall off course? During one university's decade-long Student Success transformation, it discovered that while predictive analytics provide critical insights into student behavior, data alone isn't enough to drive change. Professionals dedicated to translating these insights into genuine one-on-one support make all the difference. In this case study, read about the model that transformed student outcomes at the University of South Florida–including a 20% increase in four-year graduation rate.