Ka Pe‘ahi Lono: Monthly Message for November
Date/Time sent: 11/01/2021 9:30 amAloha mai kākou e UH West Oʻahu ʻOhana!
My dear friends in McAllen, Texas, have begun to celebrate Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead observed this year on Nov. 2). While this important celebration is held this time of year every year — this year, 2021, is different. Miguel and Francisco shared photos of their preparations, which honors and celebrates the lives of close family and friends who have passed this year from COVID-19 complications. On Sunday, Oct. 31, they FaceTimed me to share an impromptu neighborhood celebration. The street was lined with candles, flowers—bright marigolds, and there was music, dancing and food. Francisco shared how grateful everyone was for sharing in the lives of those beloveds who had passed. And, it reminded him that he needed to reach out and embrace his friends who are still walking this earth.
Indeed, November is the month of thanksgiving – a special time when we reach out to thank those who have meant so much to us, who have made a difference in our lives. I want to take this opportunity to “MAHALO!” our faculty and staff who have worked, relentlessly, with our students, both in person and remotely, to make it possible for them to continue their learning journey. And, “MAHALO!” to our students for your persistence, your encouragement, and your desire to kūlia i ka nuʻu/strive for the summit! To everyone, please know that I fully recognize the tremendous strain caused by the virus, at home and at work, and I very much appreciate all your efforts to ensure UH West Oʻahu continues to live into our mission!
E mālama pono!
Maenette K.P. Ah Nee – Benham, Chancellor
Returning and Revitalizing the Life of Our Campus
As we prepare to revitalize our campus in 2022, we continue to learn from our colleague universities on the U.S. Continent. Recently, Dr. Anthony Santella, infectious disease expert, who leads University of New Haven’s COVID response team wrote:
“All of the public health indicators are moving in the right direction—so let’s ease up a little bit or a lot?—that’s what everyone’s kind of figuring out. But the reason why our case, hospitalization and death rates are so low is that we have all these public health mitigation strategies. If we start easing them, are we opening ourselves up to potential mini-outbreaks and deaths? Our approach will be to monitor and evaluate. It’s not going to be all or nothing. I’m not confident that we are in a position right now to just ease up. We certainly will be revising our COVID policies for the spring semester, but there are three months between now and the spring semester. A lot can happen.
“We think our public health approach and policies that are really grounded in the emerging science have done us a lot of good, continuing to have physical distancing in the classroom, indoor mask mandates, required weekly surveillance testing for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated students. We’re very careful in thinking through our policies and being very transparent with our stakeholders, including students and employees, so that everyone knows exactly what we’re doing, how we’re doing it. We’re hopeful that as we move through the winter months, we’ll be able to revisit some of our policies and remove some of the measures that we have in place.”
At UH West Oʻahu, we are following suit. Maintaining our safety protocols that, at minimum, include: daily LumiSight UH check-in and verification, weekly testing for those with exemptions, face masks, comfortable spacing indoors and outdoors, thorough cleaning protocols, and continuous communications with employees and students. We encourage you to maximize our outdoor learning spaces when you return to campus.
Information regarding Airport COVID Testing Site (shared by Sheri Ching): There is just one location (located at the end of the terminal) — easiest if someone can just drop-off/pick-up but parking is available in the garage (Terminal 2 would be the closest) for a fee. Individuals need to pre-register at the following link. https://oahucitypass.lumisight.com/. They will receive a QR code that they will need to show along with their State ID at check-in.
What’s in this month’s Peʻahi Lono?
We have an enriching newsletter this month!
- Our Hana Lawalawe section celebrates the beginning of Lono i ka Makahiki with Dr. Manu Meyer.
- A highlight of faculty, staff and student good works follows.
- How does that work column presents important information from our HR/EEO office, a request asking our student Vets to respond to a survey, and a resource link from our Director of Institutional Research.
- A response from a question we received from a faculty member regarding student learning assessments in D.E. classes.
- Announcements asks for faculty review of the General Education Proposal and we provide information on a landmark digital archive of mele recently released by Hawaiʻi State Archives.
A couple announcements:
This is the season for giving! Fresh off the press! The UH Foundation officially launched its new scholarship fundraising framework. A key aspect of the new framework is encouraging donors to give to the new “Equity & Access” student scholarship fund that will support our students in greatest need to actualize their dreams of career and community leadership. Learn more at this new page promoting the Equity & Access Fund.
During this season of giving, I ask you to consider giving to a UH West Oʻahu scholarship fund. Your generous support will assist us in our kuleana to enrich the lives or our students with great ability but little resources. You can help our students to capture their big dreams, to lawe i ke aʻo a mālama a e ʻoi mau ka naʻauao (apply the wondrous gifts of knowledge) they receive at UH West Oʻahu to make a difference in their communities.
Haven’t been on campus for awhile? Interested in learning more about the new Academy for Creative Media at UH West Oʻahu facility? See this recently published video: https://youtu.be/jUNw9Ap3Xco
Hana Lawelawa: On Leadership
Hauʻoli Lono i ka Makahiki
Contribution from Dr. Manu Meyer, Konohiki, Kūlana o Kapolei.
Lonoikamakahiki! Here comes our Winter season and the welcoming of all elemental forms and inspirations of Lono – the Hawaiian deity of harvest, abundance, peace, winter, and our body orifices. We are animated during this time because it is an opportunity to pause and take in the changes around us. It is a time to recognize the purpose of peace, gratitude and excellence. A time to honor rains, winds and winter manifestations. A friend, Kaui Kanakaole of Hana, Maui speaks of this time also in a trilogy: observe, connect, aspire. So, here are the aspirations of Kūlana o Kapolei to help us welcome our Winter Season:
- Come and walk around our Uluniu – coconut grove – and pick up a healthy niu seedling to plant in your own yard or community! We are welcoming the Makahiki Season of Peace, Gratitude, and Excellence with this gifting. This event is happening all day on Friday, November 19, 2021. We will be located in the hale within our Student Organic Garden. 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Please, let us know who you are, where you are located, and how many niu you wish to request. We have many to give away, so please don’t be shy! Come join the cultural agroforestry movement! Contact: manulani@hawaii.edu
- Come to help distribute food to our beloved community. We have one final distribution on campus: Saturday, November 6 from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. You must wear covered shoes, tie your hair back, wear a red t-shirt, and a mask. Please let Aunty Manu know if you’re coming so you will understand what is expected. Contact: manulani@hawaii.edu
- We held two blessings on campus to welcome rocks and to open our outdoor amphitheatre! A ritual: Launa Kapu o Pōhaku helped welcome a rock collection from the continental United States and Kahu Auliʻi Mitchell also blessed our beautiful amphitheatre beside the Nāʻulu Center. Mahalo Donna Shaver for her work in securing lunch, and Sarah Glancy for her work with the Rock Collection, and to Dr. Lelemia Irvine for assisting kumu Auliʻi in his work and intention. Mahalo also to Bonnie Arakawa, James Schattuck, and Fenita Long for their steady and inspiring work with our beautiful amphitheatre. It was a special ceremony that helped welcome and honor the natural world in all forms and spaces.
- Kaiāʻulu Wellness Series! Please come and enjoy this wonderful series of health and wellness that Dr. Gloria Niles, Tasia Yamamura and others have developed for and with us. Kūlana o Kapolei is dedicating every Tuesday morning (8 to 8:30 a.m.) – 30 minutes – to meditation and the idea of ʻmindful mindlessness’. Please sign up with the OPDAS – Office of Professional Development and Academic Support and mark your Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m. to spend a moment with yourself.
- Fulbright New Zealand is hosting a talk from Aunty Manu Aluli Meyer on the Hawaiian views of the Makahiki Season. Please come and join in if you have a moment! It’s set for Tuesday, November 23 @ noon. Contact: manulani@hawaii.edu
Please help us welcome our Makahiki Season with three cheers:
Lono-i-ka-makahiki! Lono-i-ka-makahiki! Lono-i-ka-makahiki!
A Celebration of Good Works: Kūlia I ka Nuʻu (Reach for the Summit!)
- Sustaining STEM success among Native Hawaiian students
- UH West Oʻahu awarded $780K grant from Department of Homeland Security
- Grant funds grow-your-own teacher prep program at UH West Oʻahu
- ‘Our Kuleana, Made with Pashyn’ created with UH West O’ahu involvement
- Creative Media students contribute skills, talent to Kapolei Commons campaign
How Does that Work?
Messages From Across Our Campus
From our Institutional Research Office, John Stanley, Director
IRAPO (UH system — Institutional Research Analysis & Policy Office) has unveiled their new site. Of note, the new data on retention and graduation for last academic year including retention from last year to this year is available.
Should you have any questions about the portal or the date please contact John Stanley, jstanley@hawaii.edu.
Aloha from UH System EEO Office
Regarding service animals and emotional support animals, and digital accessibility. The UH systemwide Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Offices, in October, hosted a webinar sessions on topics related to service animals and emotional support animals, and digital accessibility. If you would like to request information about accommodations, please contact either UHWO HR Janice Sunouchi or the UH System EEO/AA Office at (808) 956-2907 or eeo@hawaii.edu
Announcement for our Veteranʻs: You matter and your voice matters! UH West Oʻahu invites you to complete the 2021 Invitation to Self-Identify Disability and Protected Veteran Status. Part of our commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) requirements involves the ability to provide accurate employee demographic data such as disability and protected veteran status. In compliance with federal regulations, we ask employees to identify their status. By participating, we can embrace a more diverse and inclusive culture, and use the aggregate data to assess our good faith outreach efforts and effectiveness.
If you have not done so yet, please take a few moments to complete the survey using the confidential UH login below. For protected veteran status, please check all that apply. For disability status, please be aware that the options include “having/or not having a history/record of having a disability.”
https://www.hawaii.edu/offices/eeo/veteran-disability-survey/
This information will be confidential and submitted directly to the EEO/AA Office. Your supervisor will not have access to this information. It will be used only for federal reporting purposes and will not affect your current employment. Your response is strictly voluntary.
If you have any questions, problems filling out the survey, or would like more information on veteran and/or disability definitions, please feel free to contact Janice Sunouchi, EEO/AA Coordinator at uhwoeeo@hawaii.edu or (808) 689-2523.
Questions Received:
From Faculty Member: Are we assessing student success in our DE classes?
Response from AVCAA Alan Rosenfeld: Yes, we are assessing DE courses and disaggregating that data. During the prior AY, all of our learning outcome assessment data focused on DE courses by default. Our recent assessment reports are available on our new assessment website. One positive development has been the assistance of the IRO in creating assessment data dashboards–for Information Literacy and Quantitative Reasoning–which allow users to isolate DE assessment data (by clicking the “student multivariate comparison” tab at the bottom). However, overall learning outcome assessment efforts in recent years were not as pervasive or deep as they need to be (to meet WSCUC expectations), and my reading of the WSCUC lines of inquiry suggests that team members have picked up on this fact.
Announcements
Review General Education Proposal:
Please see proposal for Place-Based Capacities Proposal for General Education. We would greatly appreciate your assistance in disseminating this to your constituents/delegates. Comments and questions can be sent to gedesign@hawaii.edu or submitted anonymously online at https://forms.gle/xJsYMpqGMjPa5qNy6.
Hawaiʻi State Archives launches a treasure trove of digitized mele
This memo introduces you to this valuable asset. Also, check out the Hawaiʻi State Archives: Songful Voices of the Ancestors.