Chaminade University of Honolulu

Innovation

Chaminade University Partners with United Nations

Nikhil Seth, Executive Director of UNITAR, and Dr. Lynn Babington, Chaminade President, signing the partnership agreement

Chaminade University is proud to announce an exciting new partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) that will provide innovative leadership development opportunities in the islands and empower those working on community-building projects to maximize their impact.

The new UNITAR center at Chaminade is part of a global network of 21 other learning hubs worldwide.

The Chaminade center will offer education and training programs around key UN Sustainable Development Goals. The priorities for the center include climate action, advocating for the oceans, reducing inequalities, and developing programs that pursue peace, justice and strong institutions.

Dr. Lance Askildson, Chaminade provost, said the hub isn’t meant to supplant the work of other organizations in Hawaii but facilitate new conversations and bring together community stakeholders. It will also serve as a gathering place for forward-looking leadership development offerings.

“We want to engage young people. We want to engage thought leaders. We want to engage alumni,” Askildson said. “There is a tremendous amount of work to be done and everybody has a role. Our role is to do what we’ve always done: to educate young people and empower them to drive positive change.”

He added, “We are a convenor to bring people together.”

Nikhil Seth, Executive Director of UNITAR, chats with Chaminade students, faculty and staff

Askildson said the UN center is seen as an extension of Chaminade’s service-oriented mission and will put a special emphasis on inspiring and challenging students to make a positive difference in their communities with a host of unique opportunities — from individualized projects to internships.

The Experiential Honors Program at Chaminade will also be integrated with the center to maximize student engagement, and an ever-evolving sustainability curriculum will reflect student interests and needs.

The center plans to work closely with alumni and the Catholic network across Hawaii and the Pacific along with a long list of community partners — from the East-West Center to Hawaii Green Growth — to “stand on the shoulders of giants” and reach shared sustainability education goals.

“We are seeking to complement what other organizations are already doing well and not in any way duplicate or compete with good programs,” Askildson said. “One of the most important things we can do is engage with the private sector. They’re looking for ways to burnish their credentials in sustainability. They’re looking for partners who can help them with education.”

The United Nations officially invited Chaminade to establish and host the training center — whose reach includes the entire Pacific Islands region — in late 2020. The center falls under the CIFAL Global Network, a French acronym that translates to International Training Center for Local Authorities/Leaders.

Nikhil Seth, Executive Director of UNITAR, speaks to the Chaminade community

And in October, the University got the opportunity to host UN Institute for Training and Research Executive Director Nikhil Seth on campus. At a talk on campus, Seth said Chaminade was an “obvious choice when we were looking for partners in this part of the world” because of its stellar reputation, strong community partnerships, and decades of service in Hawaii and across the Pacific region.

“We want to have a bigger footprint. We want to touch the lives of many more people,” Seth said, adding that the center at Chaminade will serve as a “model for collaboration” and a place to spotlight those who share a common vision around the need for community-focused climate action.

While the center at Chaminade is still in its early days, Askildson is excited about what’s ahead.

One major upcoming planning item: Chaminade is poised to host the CIFAL Global Network annual meeting and conference in November 2022. Askildson said the event will undoubtedly bring in educators, changemakers and learners from across the globe — and across the state.

“The center is allowing us to capture a lot of the activity we’re already doing and then expand,” Askildson said. “It’s an opportunity to use that amplification and the banner of the United Nations.”

Chaminade University and Hawaii Catholic Schools Announce 2021 Ka Ho’oulu Innovation Recipients

Chaminade University’s Center for Strategy and Innovation, in partnership with Hawai‘i Catholic Schools, has announced the recipients of the 2021 Ka Hoʻoulu Innovation Awards: St. Louis School’s Principal Devin Oshiro, EdD, and St. Joseph Parish School. The awards recognize the demonstration of substantial innovation that has greatly advanced Catholic education in Hawai‘i.

Devin Oshiro, EdD, recipient of the 2021 Ka Ho'oulu Award
Individual Award – Dr. Devin Oshiro, principal of St. Louis School

Dr. Oshiro has led and worked collaboratively with St. Louis School’s faculty to create a diverse learning environment that addresses the needs of all students. Their six-point system, which consists of ‘aina-based learning, global learning, personalized learning, whole group learning and learning specific to young men, has resulted in stronger GPA levels, improved standardized test scores and the school’s highest enrollment in 20 years.

Institution Award – St. Joseph Parish School
Located in Waipahu, St. Joseph Parish School has integrated a community-wide Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum to address a much-needed facet for all learners. The school partnered with the Institute of Social and Emotional Learning and formed an internal SEL Committee to develop and implement the curriculum through workshops for administration, faculty and staff to develop a common language and basic understanding of the process, and reinforce the belief that SEL is essential to student achievement.

The Ka Hoʻoulu Innovation Awards were created in 2020, as a way to recognize outstanding educators from Catholic schools throughout the state. Award applicants submit projects that exemplify the Catholic world view, support quality academics, integrate technology, demonstrate data-driven decision making or promote operational vitality. Those who submit projects with the highest marks receive recognition at an annual award ceremony and a grant to continue their work.

“We are so delighted to sponsor this award,” said Dr. Helen Turner, vice president of Chaminade’s Center for Strategy and Innovation. “The winners represent Catholic education in Hawai‘i, where teachers and administrators are continuously innovating in support of their students and their shared mission to provide high quality, affordable education. Students who are benefitting from the creativity of educators like Dr. Oshiro and teams like that of St. Joseph Parish School are part of a talent pipeline in Hawai‘i that is grounded in values and strong academics. We at Chaminade look forward to seeing them as future Silverswords!”

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Chaminade University of Honolulu believes in the power of education to drive positive change, broaden perspectives and deepen our understanding of one another. With an emphasis on transformative service-learning experiences, we prepare students to serve as tomorrow’s leaders, inspiring and challenging them to use their minds and their hearts to help build stronger and more just communities. We are proud to serve as Hawai‘i’s only Marianist university, and rely on these values to guide us in delivering a high-quality education with an individualized approach and a focus on excellence, innovation and change. Established in 1955, we offer more than 30 undergraduate and graduate programs, including doctoral degrees in education, psychology and nursing practice. Learn more at chaminade.edu.

Welcoming the Inaugural Doctor of Nursing Practice Cohort

Doctor of Nursing Practice inaugural cohort listening to a guest speaker

Chaminade’s new Doctor of Nursing Practice launched this Fall, and participants were welcomed to campus as part of a hands-on immersion experience designed to build a strong foundation of relationships with their professor-mentors, advisors and peers.

The School of Nursing and Health Professions and Chaminade administration leaders were among those who offered their greetings to students in the immersion. The sessions will be held annually for each cohort and this year’s schedule included campus tours, cultural experiences and a networking panel.

Doctor of Nursing Practice inaugural cohort listening to guest speakers

Dr. Rhoberta Haley, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions, described the DNP as an innovative program designed to prepare students for the highest clinical levels of nursing—with a strong emphasis on leadership development and culturally-informed practice for diverse communities.

“There is a critical shortage of healthcare professionals in Hawaii, including highly-skilled nurses equipped to tackle diverse patient needs and help to oversee positive patient outcomes,” Haley said. “We know our DNP program will make a significant impact in the lives of Hawaii residents.”

As part of the DNP program, students choose from one of three concentrations: Family Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner or Post-Master’s Executive Leader.

In her address to new students, Chaminade President Lynn Babington said she looks forward to watching the trajectory of their academic and professional careers. “I have deep respect for all of you for the commitment you have made for extending your education and working at the highest level possible in nursing,” she said.

Doctor of Nursing Practice inaugural cohort's Hawaiian lunch spread

Babington added that what separates Chaminade’s Doctor of Nursing Practice is the University’s “partnership with our communities”—including with those that are traditionally underserved—and a team of faculty and advisors who offer support to students every step of the way in their degrees.

The first cohort for the DNP program has over 20 students.

They officially start on August 23, with instruction delivered fully online in addition to the in-person immersion sessions. The fully-accredited program additionally challenges students to take on an action-based research project, pursuing an area of professional interest that would improve patient care.

Community and Public Health: Power to Help People Live Healthier Lives

Those at the frontlines of the healthcare industry don’t just work in hospitals.

As the COVID pandemic has made clear, frontline professionals also include health navigators and coaches, nonprofit healthcare administrators, public health project managers and advocates, health data analysts, epidemiologists—and a long list of other experts seeking to build community health.

School of Nursing and Health Profession students participating in a people without houses simulation.

In fact, healthcare that’s focused on prevention, health maintenance and access to care and delivered in the community is among the fastest-growing sectors of the industry, including in the islands, said Chaminade School of Nursing and Health Professions Associate Dean Dr. Pamela Smith.

Smith said Chaminade is helping to meet that strong demand for community health with its unique Bachelor of Science in Community and Public Health, launched in Fall 2020. The innovative program has already attracted significant interest and is preparing graduates for a host of new opportunities.

“Our community really needs community health workers,” said Smith. “They are trusted in our communities, which means patient outcomes are better. Because of that, there’s a significant demand for graduates with this degree and they are very employable after graduation.”

Chaminade’s four-year Community and Public Health degree puts a strong emphasis on individualized instruction, hands-on learning, service to others in the community and mentorship. Students can choose from one of four specializations: Community Health Worker, Environmental and Health, Non-profit Administration and Data Analytics, all of which feature a strong foundation of knowledge.

Smith, who oversees the program, said the specializations were designed following in-depth conversations with community stakeholders and significant research into Hawaii’s healthcare needs. Each one gives students a host of potential career options or opportunities for further study.

“For example,” Smith said, “as a patient care manager, you would be looking at medical records, communicating with the patient, communicating with support agencies to improve health outcomes and access to care. Or in data analytics, perhaps you’d be studying information from pedometers to make conclusions about broader trends and to find potential solutions to boost patient health.”

“There are so many potential pathways to success,” Smith added.

The degree also prepares students to take the national Certified Health Education Specialist exam.

Participants in the Community and Public Health program complete foundational coursework in everything from human biology to science writing, and from bioethics to intercultural communication. Additional specialized study is offered in health disparities, the impact of environment on human health, organizational leadership and behavior and community-engaged computing and data analytics.

Going forward, Smith hopes to continue to expand the program as it attracts more students, especially by extending networking opportunities and offering students additional service-learning experiences.

“This program prepares students to work in the field of healthcare and public health outside of traditional patient care environments,” she said. “The simple truth is community and public health workers have the power to help people live healthier lives, reaching their fullest health potential.”

Chaminade University’s “Community First” Approach Sparks an Innovative Data Science Collaboration

A Collaborative Vision: Waianae Coast Community Scorecard and Dashboard Project

As part of an innovative partnership, Data Science students at Chaminade University are teaming up with community groups in the Waianae Coast to develop a Waianae Coast Community Scorecard and Dashboard. This project is designed to be regularly conducted to measure community sentiment and report results that are easy-to-use, meaningful and actionable. The results will shine a spotlight on areas of opportunity and community wellbeing, and will help prioritize initiatives. Dr. Helen Turner, vice president of Chaminade’s Center for Strategy and Innovation and faculty of the Data Science program says, “this project is part of a broader vision that embraces Chaminade University’s ‘community first’ approach and the work done at the Center to foster an Innovation Moku in the Waianae Coast to build a refreshed economic reality that is resilient and fits with community priorities and wishes.”

This project is advised by Dr. Rylan Chong, director of the Data Science program and assistant professor at Chaminade University and by Joseph Lapilio, the executive director of the Waianae Economic Development Council and Waianae Moku Navigators.

Joseph Lapilio says “the Waianae Moku Navigators, made up of more than two dozen community organizations, is excited about the Chaminade Innovation Moku partnership and the prospect of having a reliable—and replicable—tool for gauging public opinion, welfare, wellbeing and key quality of life metrics in the Waianae Coast. A lot of what we do now is based on anecdotes or emotional reaction to issues going on. But actual data,” Lapilio said, “has power that could incite real action.”

The Partnership: Working, Learning, and Growing Together

The Waianae Coast Community Scorecard and Dashboard project was first piloted in fall 2020 and continued through spring 2021. Students enrolled in the Data Science 301: Community-Engaged Computing class worked with the Waianae Moku Navigators and the Waianae Economic Development Council to create an initial scorecard and dashboard.

Lapilio said he’s been “very impressed with how hard Rylan and his students have worked on the project. Rylan has been extremely open to community input,” he said. “Our long-term goal is not only in terms of a scorecard. It is also in terms of—how do we connect community members to data collection so it is more than just us? How do we work together? How do we connect?” The scorecard hasn’t merely been an academic exercise, but a growing experience for Chaminade students and for members of the community. “They need to be able to engage with the community, to see the community as a partner in this work,” Lapilio said.

The next step for this project is launching the initial scorecard to a test group before taking the scorecard community-wide to collect responses. The scorecard incorporates a host of data points, including information on food security, household income, housing, health, feelings about safety, technology infrastructure and acceptance, and a sense of belonging.

The Experience: Hands-On, Collaborative, Meaningful

Dr. Gail Grabowsky, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Chaminade  says, “real-world projects and partnerships like the Innovation Moku get our students involved and allows them to apply their data science skills in a collaborative environment to address the wellbeing of their communities.” Chong adds, “the Waianae Coast Community Scorecard and Dashboard project is about providing the students with a taste of what data science can actually do and the positive impacts they could have in the Data Science discipline.”

Students participating in this project say the effort has been fulfilling.

“My biggest takeaway from the project was how far-reaching an effect data science can have,” Chaminade Data Science senior Aaron Walden said. He assisted with the effort in Fall 2020 and said it helped him understand how “data science can be used to identify community initiatives.” The scorecard, he said, “is a tool to visually see trends to support prioritization of the community initiatives.”

Senior Hunter Yamanaka, who is majoring in Biochemistry with a minor in Data Science, also participated in the scorecard and dashboard project in Fall 2020. He said “working with the community while digging into the numbers helped him understand how similar efforts could benefit organizations and the public. Data Science has endless ways of improving society,” he said.

“For instance,” says Data Science major Taylor Ishisaka, “data science can turn lists of data points and numbers into something visual and meaningful that everyone can understand. It can shape how we see the world.” Ishisaka, who participated in the scorecard and dashboard project Spring 2021, said “it has been eye-opening to see how much work and collaboration goes into a project like this.” Data science in Hawaii and the Waianae Coast Community Scorecard and Dashboard project is more than collecting data, programming, and analyzing data. When data science is applied to this project, it’s clearly a powerful discipline that can be applied to any field, provide a platform for a community to voice their opinions, inspire discovery and innovation, connect communities, and has the potential to confirm or make ethical societal or policy changes. As Ishisaka and Lapilio said, “when it comes to data science, the possibilities are endless, with real potential for inciting action and implementing positive change in our communities.”

Kosasa Foundation Awards Grant for Emerging Scholars Program

Through the Center for Strategy and Innovation, Chaminade University recently received a $25,000 grant from the Kosasa Foundation to support its Emerging Scholars pilot program aimed at promoting pathways to college for rural high school students on Kauai. The first cohort of students will begin the year-long program in the fall.

Prior to the pandemic, Chaminade offered a number of early college programs as part of the statewide Hawaii P-20 initiative promoting pathways to college. When the University pivoted to online learning, dual-enrollment and pre-college courses were canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Chaminade has revamped and redesigned its college readiness programs to be offered online or through a mixed online/in-person format.

There will be two types of Emerging Scholar programs: 1) a non-credit Summer Institute for high school students, which will mostly be paid for by the federal college-readiness initiative, GEAR UP, and 2) an academic year dual-enrollment program for high school students to take courses and receive both high school and college credits that can be used toward a college degree.

“We are excited to initiate this pilot program for Kauai students this fall,” said Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington. “The pandemic has created significant educational challenges for those residing in rural areas, including the neighbor islands. A lack of technology and broadband access has made online learning difficult for many students. The Emerging Scholars program will ensure students who are disproportionately disadvantaged by distance learning will have everything they need to excel online.”

Program administrators have identified a basic technology package—laptop, headphones, storage and backup—that will be provided on loan to its high-need college students, including those in the Emerging Scholars programs.

During the program, 40 students from Kauai high schools will take four dual-enrollment, introductory courses each semester. The courses will be enhanced with guest speakers who will participate in each course. Faculty will fly to Kauai to physically meet the students prior to each semester start. At the end of the year, Chaminade will fly the participating students to Oahu to stay overnight in the residence hall. During their stay, they will meet with advisors and faculty from each division, and participate in college prep workshops.

Chaminade is reimagining the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to adapt to changing learner needs, and to rethink and transform approaches to higher education. This program seeks to provide students on Kauai with new opportunities and ensure success in pursuit of learning.

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Chaminade University of Honolulu provides a collaborative and innovative learning environment that prepares graduate and undergraduate students for life, service and successful careers. Established in 1955, the university is guided by its Catholic, Marianist and liberal arts educational traditions, which include a commitment to serving the Native Hawaiian population. Chaminade offers an inclusive setting where students, faculty and staff collectively pursue a more just and peaceful society.