Overall Rating Bronze
Overall Score 35.03
Liaison Laurel Pikcunas
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2023

STARS v2.2

University of Hawaii Honolulu Community College
PRE-2: Points of Distinction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete N/A Michelle Nathan
Assistant Professor
Math and Natural Science
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s featured sustainability program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Academic Subject Certificate in Sustainability

A brief description of the institution’s featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
This certificate provides students with an interdisciplinary understanding of core concepts in environmental and sustainability studies. Achieving this certificate connects students with an interest in sustainability to relevant courses, research, community-based applications, transfer opportunities and emerging career fields. This certificate will prepare students to pursue UH system certificate and 4-year degree programs related to sustainability.

To receive this credential, the student must complete a minimum of 13 credits and a maximum of 15 credits, depending if students take lab classes. All courses must be Sustainability Focused (SF) to apply to certificate. A capstone project under a faculty mentor is also required. Honolulu Community College currently offers a sufficient number and range of Sustainability Focused courses to provide an academically rigorous certificate. New courses are certified each academic year.

Which of the following impact areas does the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Curriculum
Campus Engagement

Optional Fields

Website URL where more information about the accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
AC-3 Undergraduate Program

A photograph or document associated with the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:

Second Point of Distinction

Name of a second highlighted sustainability program/initiative/accomplishment:
Ho'olaule'a

A brief description of the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
Ho’olaule'a festival is a community-wide annual event for all students, faculty, staff, and community members. It takes place within the māla (dry taro patch), Hale hālāwai (traditional Hawaiian meeting house), along with other parts of campus. An imu (Hawaiian underground oven ) is prepared before the event. The event takes place in the week prior to Earth day and culminates on Earth day with the biggest celebration of the week. Each day the celebration includes food, dance, music, and cultural booths and demonstrations. The theme for the 2022 Ho’olaule'a was “Kanu ʻia Ka Huli, Ulu ka ʻĀina: Planting Seeds and Cultivating the Environment. This event is directed at both the employees and the students.

Part of the Ho'olaule'a celebration is the Sustainability Showcase (which has taken place since 2015). The Showcase includes booths where community organizations supporting environmental awareness and engagement share information with students, faculty, and staff. There is also usually a seedling giveaway and a 'trash to treasures' repurposing art contest. Prior to COVID, the Ho'olaule'a celebration, which included the Sustainability Showcase, had over 400 attendees.
See the link to events from last year's virtual showcase:

Which impact areas does the second program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Campus Engagement
Public Engagement
Food & Dining
Grounds

Website URL where more information about the second program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the second program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
EN-3 Student Life

A photograph or document associated with the second program/initiative/accomplishment:

Third Point of Distinction

Name of a third highlighted program/initiative/accomplishment:
The Hawaiian Center ( Hulili Ke Kukui )

A brief description of the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
Hulili Ke Kukui fosters a Hawaiian place of learning through the integration of language, culture, values, and history into curriculum, campus services, and community engagement.
Hulili Ke Kukui serves as a pu‘uhonua (safe space) for all Native Hawaiian students to increase their recruitment, retention, graduation, university transfer, and employment.
Hulili Ke Kukui serves as the piko (core) for the institutionalization of Native Hawaiian cultural values across faculty and staff development, leadership, and campus programs.
The Hawaiian center is inherently sustainability-focused due to the Hawaiian culture's focus on Mālama 'Āina (to care for the land), which is engrained or underlying in almost everything in Hawaiian culture. The various campus programs offered by the Hawaiian center promote sustainability as well. This include Mālama ‘Āina Days (See AC-8), Ka Māla o Niuhelewai (See AC-8), Kūkalahale Project (See EN-7), and Kūkala‘ula Native Hawaiian STEM Pathways Program (PA-7).

Which impact areas does the third program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Campus Engagement
Diversity & Affordability
Wellbeing & Work

Website URL where more information about the third program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the third program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
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A photograph or document associated with the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.