Kapi'olani CC leads Teagle Foundation Project

Faculty to lead national project to stimulate moral, ethical and civic engagement

Kapiʻolani Community College
Contact:
Louise Yamamoto, (808) 734-9513
Robert Franco, (808) 734-9514
Posted: Jan 14, 2014

Project Team (L to R): Dr. Robert Franco, Dr. Krista Hiser, Francisco Acoba and Dr. Tanya Renner.
Project Team (L to R): Dr. Robert Franco, Dr. Krista Hiser, Francisco Acoba and Dr. Tanya Renner.

HONOLULU - With a $270,000 grant from the New York-based Teagle Foundation, the Community College National Center for Community Engagement and Kapi'olani Community College will lead a national project entitled, “Student Learning for Civic Capacity: Stimulating Moral, Ethical, and Civic Engagement for Learning that Lasts.” Four Kapi'olani faculty will play national leadership roles:  Dr. Robert Franco is the project director, Dr. Tanya Renner is the project evaluator, Dr. Krista Hiser is the project technology lead, and Assistant Professor Francisco Acoba will lead project learning assessment efforts.

 

In collaboration with six other community colleges (De Anza in California, Delgado in Louisiana, Kingsborough in New York, Mesa in Arizona, Queensborough in New York, and Raritan Valley in New Jersey), the project will develop 70 courses in the humanities and other fields that: (1) build students’ current and future commitment to civic and moral responsibility; (2) develop strategies for students’ continual building of this commitment across curricular and co-curricular programs to degrees and transfer; (3) develop, review, and refine a qualitative rubric-based assessment methodology for campus use and national dissemination; (4) develop, review, implement, and refine a quantitative pre- and post-test methodology for campus use and national dissemination; (5) create communities of faculty, staff, students, and administrators on each of the seven campuses to build program and institutional commitment to civic and moral responsibility; (6) engage in campus, statewide, and national dialogues on curricular and pedagogical reform promoting civic and moral responsibility; (7) leverage additional resources from campus, state, federal, and foundation sources.

Kapi'olani faculty will integrate the following "big question" into service-learning and sustainability designated courses: “How do we build our commitment to civic and moral responsibility for diverse, equitable, healthy, and sustainable communities?" A new Service and Sustainability Learning Reflection Journal has been developed to continuously engage students in addressing the "big question" over one and multiple semesters. Kapi'olani CC will provide state, regional, and national leadership in preparing students to be engaged citizens and scholars building a healthier and more sustainable Hawai'i for the rest of the world.

For more information on the Teagle Foundation, go to http://www.teaglefoundation.org.