Dual Enrollment

The University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu’s First-Year Composition program proudly collaborates with the Early College High School Program, Holomua GEAR UP, and Title III Pueo Scholars Grant to offer dual enrollment sections of ENG 100 to qualifying high school students at Waianae, Nanakuli, and Waipahu High Schools.

The ECHS Program’s Mission

As a collaborative member of the UH and State of Hawaiʻi-supported Early College High School Program Consortium, the First-Year Composition program “is committed to contributing to a sustainable program which provides baccalaureate level educational opportunities to secondary school partners who serve low-income youths, first-generation college students, and students who come from ethnic background that are largely underrepresented in higher education” (ECHS Handbook, 1). The Early College High School Program Consortium’s “aim is to increase college and career readiness and cultivate in students the skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond..[therefore the ECHS Program works to] expose students to the rigors and intensity of college at an earlier age” thus encouraging and normalizing a college-focused culture in area high schools (ECHS Handbook, 1).

The FYC Program’s Involvement

Since 2013, the First-Year Composition Program’s Early College sections of ENG 100 have offered dual high school and university credit to qualified area high school students. These sections of Composition I reflect and align with 1. national best practices for dual enrollment instruction (CWPA position StatementCCCC position statement); 2. the strategic mission and initiatives of UH West Oʻahu (UH West Oʻahu Early College High School Program); and 3. the FYC Program’s course learning outcomes, content, rigor, and pedagogical philosophies. In order to ensure student success, dual enrollment teaching faculty complete additional professional development training that familiarizes them with the composition field’s theories and best practices surrounding the delivery of early college composition courses. The FYC program currently has four dual enrollment faculty members: Dr. Natalie Szymanski, Tiare Picard, Aimee Takaki, and Andrew Burgess.

Contact Information

For more information about these course offerings, the student registration process, or UH West Oʻahu’s Early College High School program in general please visit https://westoahu.hawaii.edu/about/noteworthy/early-college/. Or contact the Director of College and Career Readiness Initiatives, Garyn Tsuru, at garynt@hawaii.edu or 808.689.2377