122
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO
   ESTABLISH A HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE DOCTORAL PROGRAM THROUGH THE
   HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE PROGRAM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT
   HILO.



 1       WHEREAS, Hawaiian is an official language of the State of
 2   Hawaii; and 
 3   
 4       WHEREAS, Article X, section 4, of the Hawaii State
 5   Constitution mandates the promotion of the study of Hawaiian
 6   culture, history, and language; and
 7   
 8       WHEREAS, the Legislature established the College of
 9   Hawaiian Language (College) at the University of Hawaii at Hilo
10   to build upon the unique strengths of that campus to address
11   the constitutional requirement to promote the Hawaiian
12   language; and 
13   
14       WHEREAS, the Hawaiian language is studied by approximately
15   two thousand students in the University of Hawaii (University)
16   system annually, giving it the second largest enrollment for
17   any language offered by the University; and
18   
19       WHEREAS, the enrollment in the Hawaiian Master of Arts (MA)
20   program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo is greater than the
21   enrollment in two of the three doctoral programs offered in
22   languages at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and
23   
24       WHEREAS, the College offers the world's only MA program in
25   the Hawaiian language; and 
26   
27       WHEREAS, the MA program in Hawaiian is the first program in
28   the United States to offer a MA degree in a language indigenous
29   to the United States, and has generated a significant amount of
30   interest from other Native Americans; and
31   
32       WHEREAS, the College and its programs in language
33   revitalization, including its MA program, have drawn attention
34   from faculty of Oxford University, and were also the subject of
35   a recent front page article in the Los Angeles Times; and

 
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                                  H.R. NO.              
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       WHEREAS, the strategic plan of the University identifies
 2   five specific goals for the 21st century including:
 3   
 4       (1)  Providing access to quality educational experiences
 5            and service to the State;
 6   
 7       (2)  Implementing differentiated campus missions and
 8            functioning as a system;
 9   
10       (3)  Continuing to champion diversity and respect for
11            differences;
12   
13       (4)  Strengthening the University as a premier resource in
14            Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific affairs, and advancing
15            its international leadership role; and
16   
17       (5)  Acquiring resources and managing them with
18            accountability and responsiveness;
19   
20   and
21   
22       WHEREAS, expanding the graduate program at the College
23   would address all five of these goals as well as the state
24   constitutional mandate to promote the study of the Hawaiian
25   language; and
26   
27       WHEREAS, current University policies of restricting the
28   offering of doctorate degrees to the Manoa campus prevent
29   planning and implementation of a doctorate program within the
30   College at the Hilo campus; now, therefore,
31   
32       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
33   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
34   of 2000, that this body requests the Board of Regents of the
35   University of Hawaii to establish a doctoral program in the
36   Hawaiian language within the College at the University of
37   Hawaii at Hilo, with special attention to changing internal
38   policies to allow for the planning and implementation of this
39   program at the Hilo campus; and
40   
41       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
42   Resolution be transmitted to the Board of Regents of the
43   University of Hawaii, the President of the University of
44   Hawaii, the Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and
45   the Director of the Hawaiian Language College at the University
46   of Hawaii at Hilo.
47 
48 
49 
50                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________