In this talk, the presenter will describe how professional interactions with Dr. Larry Duffy influenced Kapi’olani Community College’s development of strategies to support STEM success for Native Hawaiian and other underrepresented students. In 2006, with insights gleaned from SUNY-Stony Brook STEM diversity efforts and from a broad literature review, Kapi’olani submitted a successful planning grant to the National Science Foundation’s Tribal Colleges and Universities Program. The core focus of this and later NSF grants was engaging an increasing number of Native Hawaiian and other under-represented students in STEM majors. The key strategies for engaging these groups are: 1) a dedicated, accessible STEM Learning Center with talented discipline-based tutoring and mentoring available; 2) dedicated faculty who are available in the STEM Center; 3) a nurturing Native Hawaiian Outreach Coordinator; and 4) undergraduate, field-based research experiences, all embedded within a two-year Associate in Science/Natural Science (ASNS) transfer-oriented degree. Partnerships with faculty at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, where nearly all of our STEM faculty received their advanced degrees, are also transformative.<br/>Since 2008, we have been working with Dr. Larry Duffy as part of our sustained engagement with the NSF Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) program. Dr. Duffy’s inspiring “way-finding” in creating targeted and rich learning opportunities for Alaska Native students has helped our campus to commit to amplifying indigenous perspectives while humbling our own. Today, this commitment had led to enduring campus-community partnerships for student learning and success while bracing our communities for climate change challenges. In 2017, we received a 3-year Keck Foundation Grant entitled, “Transcending Barriers to Success: Connecting Indigenous and Western Knowledge Systems” to tackle climate change.<br/>Running astride this campus commitment, place- and field-based service-learning opportunities, in partnership with the UH Manoa Access to Civic and Community Engagement in the Social Sciences (ACCESS) program, emphasize understanding and restoring traditional Native Hawaiian land and water management system, removing invasive species from coral reefs, and transforming campus and community ecosystems with native flora. From fall 2014 to Fall 2019, 332 Native Hawaiian and URM students have been ASNS majors.

Enduring approaches to supporting under-represented students in STEM majors and careers: strategies, partnerships, commitment and field-based learning

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.