Project Kaihuwaʻa II (PKII), a Track 3 NSF S-STEM multi-institutional consortia, strives to increase the success (retention, graduation, and transfer rates) of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need pursuing STEM degrees at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College (UHMC) and Hawaiʻi Community College (HawCC). Kaihuwaʻa, the Native Hawaiian word for canoe hull, serves as an analogy for leadership. PKII will lead the way, as the hull of the Polynesian voyaging vessel, to build institutional capacity to better serve low-income—to include low-income Native Hawaiian—STEM students:
- PKII expands the 2-year UHMC Associate in Science in Natural Science (ASNS) degree in engineering to the island of Hawaiʻi via Distance Education methods.
- PKII provides scholarships to students enrolled across four STEM programs: Electronic & Computer Engineering Technology-ECET, Electronics Technology (ET), Information Technology (IT) and Natural Sciences-NSCI. KSP includes an annual student aid of up to $10,000, STEM faculty mentoring, annual scholarship recognition banquet, semester cohort activities (social gatherings, study skill and transfer workshops, STEM events), as well as leadership and research opportunities. Scholarships will be provided to both incoming freshmen and existing students.
Kaihuwaʻa Scholarship Program (KSP) Eligibility
Applicants must meet all the following:
- Enroll as an ECET or NSCI major at UHMC; or as an ET, IT or NSCI major at HawCC
- Be a low-income student
- Have a minimum GPA of 2.5 (3.0 for high-school students).
- Be a part-time or full-time student
An application packet is sent out in March. Deadline to apply is April 1st.
Contact
For more information, contact Elisabeth Dubuit, edubuit@hawaii.edu