UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College awarded $3.9 million for cooperative Native Hawaiian program
The purpose of the project is to promote and sustain a Hawaiian worldview on the UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College campuses.
Campuses across the University of Hawaiʻi System will receive grants for the Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Program totaling about $6 million a year from the U.S. Department of Education for an anticipated five years. The five year total for the eight grants is more than $31 million.
These funds will be used for priority projects that fit within the University of Hawaiʻi’s Strategic Directions and individual campus mission goals. Federal legislation mandates that these federal grants must be specific to campuses.

“These awards are a credit to our hard working, dedicated faculty and staff across the UH system who are working collaboratively to advance the University of Hawaiʻi’s goal of becoming a model indigenous serving institution. We also thank our congressional delegation for their critical support of Native Hawaiian education,” says UH President David Lassner.
UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi CC cooperative award

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, in a cooperative award with Hawaiʻi Community College, will receive $3,984,894 over five years for UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi CC Cooperative Arrangement Development Grant.
Donald Straney, chancellor at UH Hilo, is principal investigator. Co-investigator is Kekuhi Kealiikanakaoleohaililani, an assistant professor and coordinator at Hawaiʻi CC.
The purpose of the project is to promote and sustain a Hawaiian worldview in the UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi CC campuses’ environments, programs, services and leadership to increase the success of Native Hawaiian students. Faculty will be the focus of this cooperative arrangement development grant.

The three grant activities proposed are building capacity through leadership development, strengthening campus and community engagement, and facilitating Hawaiian language, culture and knowledge learning pathways.
To learn about other grants awarded throughout the UH System, see story at UH System News.