Goal 1: Actions, and Measures

Goal 1: Demonstrate that UH Hilo is a Native Hawaiian place of learning, deeply connected to the history of Hawaiʻi Island’s diverse communities

This goal seeks to solidify UH Hilo as a Native Hawaiian-centered institution deeply rooted in the history and cultural fabric of Hawaiʻi Island. UH Hilo integrates these elements into its academic, administrative, and community practices by honoring the Hawaiian language, culture, and values, fostering a sense of belonging and purpose. Central to this effort is collaboration with local Native Hawaiian communities and the broader Indigenous world, ensuring the preservation, revitalization, and growth of Hawaiian knowledge and cultural heritage. These actions reflect the strategic importance of the Hawaiʻi Island community, UH Hilo, and specifically Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani (KHʻUOK), in the revitalization and preservation of Hawaiian language and culture.

Actions

1. Institutionalize Hawaiian Practices and Values:
   1. Formalize practices, processes, and protocols that reflect the spirit of Hawaiʻi, using Native Hawaiian language and culture to honor kānaka maoli, promote Hawaiian values, and foster well-being.
   2. Institutionalize the Hanakahi Council Protocols Committee and the joint UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College Kīpaepae Committee to integrate Hawaiian practices campus-wide (e.g., hoʻokamaʻāina, kaʻao, Uluākea, kīpaepae, kīhei).
2. Promote Hawaiian Language and Culture:
   1. Define and integrate Native Hawaiian values practiced at all institutional decision-making levels.
   2. Provide dedicated spaces that serve as symbolic places of practice and connection.
   3. Prioritize using the Hawaiian language in naming buildings and facilities, etc., in circumstances where an individual’s name is not considered.
   4. Develop and implement a policy that enables access to core university requirements and services conducted in the Hawaiian language and outlines an increase in the presence, usage, and operationalization of the Hawaiian language on all common forms, documents, and general communication.
   5. Identify areas in academic curriculum and student support services where remediation in the Hawaiian language can increase student success to be located within and administered through KHʻUOK.
3. Hawaiian Language Integration:
   1. Establish Hawaiian language parity with English usage in academic delivery and campus services under the guidance of KHʻUOK.
   2. The UH Hilo Faculty Congress's current General Education standing committee is to create a policy/process to determine which GE courses address language and cultural vibrancy.
   3. Convene a Hanakahi Council committee comprised of KHʻUOK Academic Division Chair, KHʻUOK junior faculty member(s), General Education Committee member, Advising Center, Registrar’s Office, and Academic Curriculum Office to review and recommend a standing low-level Hawaiian Studies course to satisfy a GE Integrative requirement (a course designed to provide a base level Hawaiian cultural competency and acculturate students to our Hawaiʻi Island community).
   4. Implement a campus-wide color palette and ʻōlelo signage to enhance the presence of the Hawaiian language on campus.
4. Cultural Engagement and Community Building:
   1. Establish a permanent Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao Cultural Engagement Specialist position to develop and implement cultural engagement programming for the campus.
   2. Reconstitute a campus-wide building/facilities committee with representation from the Hanakahi Council, ʻImiloa, KHʻUOK, Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center, and others to ensure campus buildings and landscape reflect the natural and cultural environment of Hawaiʻi.
   3. Sustain and establish centers, programs, and other supports to welcome, celebrate, honor, preserve, and advance knowledge of Hawaiʻi Island’s diverse communities and history, including those whose ancestors immigrated here to work on sugar plantations and those from the freely associated sovereign nations of Micronesia, Palau, and The Marshall Islands.
5. Expansion and Collaboration with Indigenous Communities:
   1. Ensure sustainability and support for the growth of current Indigenous knowledge degree programs.
   2. Support and expand campus engagement with Native Hawaiian communities, organizations, and agencies.
   3. Engage in partnerships with other Indigenous-serving institutions to expand the networking and collaboration of faculty and students through Indigenous knowledge coursework, projects, leadership, and community development.
   4. Develop a minimum of one (1) in 3 years [and four (4) in 5 years] articulation agreement with Indigenous universities locally, nationally, and internationally and/or a memorandum of understanding with Indigenous programs and organizations annually.
6. Shared Governance and Transparency:
   1. Define and implement decision-making and communication processes that reflect genuine respect and appreciation for shared governance, the value of local knowledge and expertise, transparency, and the work, successes, and lessons learned by teams across campus.

Measures

1. Enrollment and program completion by community members, including Native Hawaiians, other Indigenous communities, and other diverse communities connected to the history of Hawaiʻi Island.
2. Stakeholder perceptions of UH Hilo (e.g., via surveys and/or focus groups).