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Chaminade University Receives $25,000 Grant from First Hawaiian Bank

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HONOLULU (January 30, 2020) – Chaminade University of Honolulu recently received a $25,000 grant from First Hawaiian Bank that will allow the university to remain current and be better positioned to train tomorrow’s teachers. The grant will be used to ensure Chaminade’s School of Education graduates teachers who are using best practices in place-based, deep learning.

First Hawaiian Bank presenting check to Chaminade University
Pictured left to right: Dr. Elizabeth Park, Chaminade University; Dr. Lynn Babington, Chaminade University; Donna Mendes, First Hawaiian Bank; and Dr. Katrina Roseler, Chaminade University

Place-based education encourages student agency and is situated within the context of the learners’ environment, allowing them opportunities to explore questions that are immediately relevant. In Hawai‘i, such an instructional approach provides a space to honor and highlight native/indigenous knowledge and skills in addition to addressing required state and national standards. It has been shown that learners who engage in place-based education are not only more engaged, but also demonstrate a deeper understanding of content. Teachers who embrace this style of teaching are also more likely to stay in the classroom.

Chaminade will collaborate with the Kupu Hou Academy, a teacher professional development program housed at Mid-Pacific Institute, to help translate and implement the place-based, deeper learning model in the university setting.

According to Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington, “This collaboration with Mid-Pacific Institute will transform Chaminade’s School of Education and ensure that it is graduating teachers who are using best practices in place-based, deep learning, and who are empowered to be innovative and creative in the classroom. The real beneficiaries will be Hawai‘i’s children, who will have access to an engaging, quality education.”

Chaminade’s School of Education offers six undergraduate degree programs and two master’s degree programs, supplying the second largest pool of teachers for the state.  For more information, visit www.chaminade.edu.

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About Chaminade UniversityChaminade 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. For more information, visit www.chaminade.edu.

Chaminade University Receives $40,000 Grant from the Freeman Foundation

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HONOLULU (January 16, 2020) – For the seventh year in a row, Chaminade University has received $40,000 from the Freeman Foundation in support of its Hogan Entrepreneurial Program’s China Summer Study and Internship program. The innovative program provides Chaminade students with an immersive cultural learning experience to broaden their understanding of China and Chinese business practices.

“Thanks to the Freeman Foundation, Chaminade has been able to offer this enriching and transformative experience to our students over the last six years,” said Dr. Lynn Babington, President of Chaminade University. “The impact has been great for our students. After the experience, they come back to Hawai‘i stronger, more confident and with a deeper appreciation of and respect for the diverse cultures and people of China.”

The Hogan Entrepreneurial Program’s China Summer Study and Internship program combines guided tours and cultural visits with tangible work experiences with entrepreneurs in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macau. The students are chaperoned by Dr. Caryn Callahan, Professor of Business, who is an expert in East Asian Studies. Through the experience, students become informed global citizens and better prepared for a world requiring a global perspective.

Chaminade University’s Hogan Entrepreneurship Program is a one- or two-year certificate program. Students learn first-hand from experienced Hawai‘i business leaders and entrepreneurs about the business of getting a new idea up and running. This involves academic coursework, mentorships and internships with business leaders, weekly lectures, study trips, and programs like the nonprofit business plan competition. For more information, visit chaminade.edu/hogan

The Freeman Foundation was established in 1994 through the bequest and in memory of the businessman and benefactor Mansfield Freeman, a co-founder of the American International Group, Inc. (AIG). This private and philanthropic foundation, based in Stowe, Vermont, is dedicated to augmenting international understanding between the United States and the nations of East Asia. It created the Undergraduate Asian Studies Funding Initiative to provide grants to numerous American colleges to strengthen and expand their Asian studies programs to increase access to Asian studies courses and to increase the number of students in the United States studying about Asia.

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About Chaminade UniversityChaminade 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. For more information, visit chaminade.edu.

Chaminade University Receives Grant from Albert T. & Wallace T. Teruya Foundation

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Hale HoalohaChaminade University of Honolulu was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Albert T. & Wallace T. Teruya Foundation to name the Multipurpose Conference Room in the newly renovated Hale Hoaloha building on the University’s campus.

Formerly used as a residence hall, the three-story Hale Hoaloha was renovated to house the much-needed conference room as well as additional classrooms, the Center for Teaching and Learning (a professional development space for Chaminade faculty) and office space for Chaminade’s Criminology and Criminal Justice program. The 1,775 sq. ft. conference room is on the ground floor and opens to a garden. It is used for large classes, guest lectures, donor events, and internal and public workshops.

“We are so grateful to the Albert T. & Wallace T. Teruya Foundation for their generous support,” Lynn Babington, PhD, president of Chaminade University, said in a statement. “The new conference room will help us better serve our large cohorts of students, such as our nursing students, and will allow us to host a myriad of events on campus.”

According to Roy Uyehara, Secretary/Trustee of the Teruya Foundation (and a Chaminade alumnus ‘67), “the Trustees at the Teruya Foundation are happy to invest in a project that will promote Chaminade’s ability to offer its students a first-class education in an innovative and supportive learning environment. As an alum, I am pleased that from among competing grant requests the trustees chose to support Chaminade’s endeavor.”

 

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ChaminadeUniversity 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 aid package 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.

I Am A Scientist STEM Expanding Outreach to More Schools with GIFT Foundation Donation

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A $49,000 donation from the GIFT Foundation of Hawaii is helping Chaminade University expand its I Am A Scientist STEM outreach program to additional public schools, including those on the Neighbor Islands. The donation also helps the program pursue its long-term goal of securing federal support and developing a self-sustainable funding model.

I am a Scientist“We did not know the amount of the award until they gave us the envelope, so it was a huge surprise,” said Research Associate Lori Shimoda, who founded and directs I Am A Scientist STEM. “It was exciting, and extremely humbling to feel the extent of their support for our program. It got pretty emotional as hugs, tears and laughter were shared.”

The GIFT Foundation, which encourages young people to participate in philanthropic giving, collected the donations at its annual fundraiser, a “Miami Vices & Vixens” costume party.

Also receiving donations were the Alliance for Drama Education’s T-Shirt Theatre program, a Kalihi-based performance group for middle and high school students; and HUGS, which provides financial and emotional support to families with seriously ill children.

 

I Am A Scientist STEM, an initiative of Chaminade University’s Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, provides free outreach activities to Hawaii public schools. Volunteering to conduct the program are researchers, faculty and postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students. Since its founding in 2009, the program has encouraged more than 13,000 K-12 students to learn more about science and mathematics.

Chaminade Partnering with Texas Advanced Computing Center to offer new Data Science Training for Hawaii Students

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$300,000 National Science Foundation Grant Funds 2-Year Pilot Program

Chaminade University is partnering with universities in Texas and Georgia on a two-year pilot program that trains Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) students for careers in data science, analytics and visualization.

The SPICE (Supporting Pacific Indigenous Computing Excellence) project is funded by a $300,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science) initiative. INCLUDES is part of the NSF’s “10 Big Ideas” program.

NSM Dr. Helen Turner
Dr. Helen Turner

“The vision of SPICE is training a cadre of students who will lead data science, visualization and analytics efforts that support health, sustainability and social justice in Hawaii and elsewhere in the Pacific,” said Dr. Helen Turner, the project’s co-principal investigator and Chaminade’s dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Vice President for Innovation.

“Solutions to many critical regional problems lie in ‘big data,’” Dr. Turner said. “It’s key that Hawaii’s future science, technology and business leaders are prepared to use data science in their careers and advocacy.

“Analyzing and applying big data has the potential to change lives in Hawaii for the better,” Dr. Turner added, “and we want our students to be part of that better future.”

Partnering with Chaminade on SPICE are the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin and the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics & Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. SPICE principal investigator is Kelly Gaither, TACC Director of Visualization.

Gaither explained that SPICE students will work with large data sets offering possible solutions to current and emerging problems in the Pacific, including health inequities, natural resource management and economic development. Moreover, preparing these students for data science and computational careers will support Hawaii’s transition to an innovation economy.

“The long-term goal is developing the SPICE partnership into a backbone organization that can frame the current and future efforts as an NSF INCLUDES Alliance,” according to Gaither, “starting with a one-month summer immersion program in 2018 and building to a data science curriculum at Chaminade.

Chaminade President Lynn Babington said one of the “most compelling” aspects of this data science, visualization and analytics initiative is its broad applicability.

“These skills are needed by Hawaii’s future workforce across diverse sectors,” Dr. Babington said, “including business, science, health care and environmental protection. This is the gap Chaminade will address.”

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ABOUT THE TEXAS ADVANCED COMPUTING CENTER
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin is one of the leading supercomputing centers in the world. Every day, thousands of researchers rely on the center’s advanced computing resources and expertise which support more than 3,000 projects from more than 400 institutions across the country. TACC’s mission is to enable discoveries that advance science and society through the application of advanced computing technologies. The infrastructure includes web portals and services, high-performance computing systems, advanced scientific visualization systems, data servers and storage/archival systems, cloud computing servers, IT systems, high-bandwidth networks, and a comprehensive software environment comprising applications, tools, libraries, databases, and grid software.

$1 Million Awarded to Chaminade in Recognition of National Excellence in Science Programs

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Chaminade joins select group of 24 universities nationwide recognized for inclusivity and quality in STEM programs

NSM Student in LabChaminade University of Honolulu today announced a grant of $1 million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) as an awardee in the 2017-22 ‘Inclusive Excellence’ program. Chaminade was selected as one of 24 awardees from a pool of over 500 universities who applied for the prestigious recognition as a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Institution. The program will fund culture-based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education programs, Hawai‘i-centered research, and activities that link science to family and community for Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students.

Dr. Helen Turner
Dr. Helen Turner

“Chaminade has been building excellence in STEM for a decade with support from agencies such as National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF) and Kamehameha Schools, and this award recognizes the tremendous progress we have made in preparing the next generation of Hawai‘i and Pacific scientists” says Dr. Helen Turner, Chaminade’s Dean of Natural Sciences and Principal Investigator of the HHMI Program. “This award takes us to the next level of national recognition for the curriculum and cutting-edge teaching methods our faculty have developed. The HHMI program confronts the challenge of connecting STEM education with culture, family and community – which are critical for our local students to be successful and to build a strong Hawai‘i for the future.”

“Finding a way to include all students, from all backgrounds, in STEM is critical for building future generations of American scientists”, says David Asai, HHMI Senior Director for Science Education. “HHMI recognizes that science excellence depends on having a community of scientists that is rich in diversity of people and perspectives. This national experiment expects that the selected universities will produce useful models to address inclusivity in STEM.”

ABOUT THE HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is the largest private, nonprofit supporter of science education in the United States. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has created an Inclusive Excellence Commission whose role will be to evaluate the outcomes of this national experiment, and to disseminate to the broader community what is being learned.