Native Hawaiian students and STEM programs are the beneficiaries of more than $13.6 million in grants awarded to Leeward Community College by the U.S. Department of Education.<\/p>\n
The Title III funds have a two-pronged focus, with $3,647,951 going toward program improvements and $9,996,551 toward building renovations.<\/p>\n
Leeward CC’s “E ‘Auamo Kakou: A Shared Commitment to Improving Student Outcomes” program will focus on helping Native Hawaiian students — who constitute 26 percent of Leeward CC’s student body — graduate on time.<\/p>\n
“(The program) is aimed at developing ‘tracks’ for students so they can graduate in two years, as opposed to the average five years it often takes to get the two-year degree,” said vice chancellor Mike Pecsok.<\/p>\n
The funds will help set up block scheduling for classes, provide $90,000 in scholarships and push $200,000 toward course redesign and promoting the use of Open Educational Resources, which are free online textbooks available for student use.<\/p>\n
Training faculty to use these free resources will be invaluable to students, according to Pecsok.<\/p>\n
“Textbooks are the second-largest expense people have going to college, other than tuition. A typical student may spend up to $1,000 a semester on textbooks.<\/p>\n
“We can essentially get those same-quality textbooks to students for free,” he said.<\/p>\n
On the renovation side, the community college has plans for three target areas: finishing Halau ‘Ike O Pu’uloa, the Native Hawaiian Student Success Center; building a science laboratory and student success center on its Waianae campus; and renovating six labs at its main campus in Pearl City.<\/p>\n
While the envisioned Native Hawaiian center includes an expanded indigenous plants garden, amphitheater, imu pit, star compass and workshop area, the many science improvements also will have a big impact on Leeward CC students.<\/p>\n
After all, Pecsok pointed out, STEM is a statewide initiative.<\/p>\n
“(The goal is) to provide education for people who are going to go out and get living-wage jobs. Instead of having to work at lower-wage jobs or work at two or three jobs, they can get a better-paying job in a STEM field and earn a living wage,” he explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Native Hawaiian students and STEM programs are the beneficiaries of more than $13.6 million in grants awarded to Leeward Community..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-west-oahu-news"],"yoast_head":"\n