In October of 1988, upon the recommendation of the Hawaiian Studies Task Force in the Ka‘u Report of 1986, the problem of recruitment and retention of Hawaiian students at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa (UHM) was addressed through the development of Operation Kua‘ana, now known as Kua‘ana Native Hawaiian Student Development Services (KNHSDS).

KNHSDS is a service program for Native Hawaiian students that is organized under the Office of Student Affairs at UHM.