UH West Oahu, Kapiolani CC establish new degree pathway for paramedics

Pathway will help Kapiolani CC students move towards a bachelor's degree at UH West Oahu

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Ryan M Mielke, (808) 454-4750
Executive Director of Public Affairs, Chancellor's Office, UH West Oahu
Louise Pagotto, (808) 734-9517
Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Kapiolani Community College
Posted: Sep 14, 2009

HONOLULU ---  Students completing an associate’s degree in Kapiʻolani Community College’s Mobile Intensive Care Technician (MICT) program have a new pathway toward a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration degree from UH West O‘ahu, thanks to a new articulation agreement between the schools being signed during a ceremony at the Kapiʻolani campus today.

Chancellors from both schools will attend the ceremony and make the agreement official with their signatures. The new agreement takes advantage of a prior agreement between the schools (Mānanawai Program, 2008) allowing for dual admission and dual enrollment of students in good standing and who meet UH West O‘ahu’s admission criteria. Qualified MICT students may transfer as classified students to UH West O‘ahu’s Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration with a concentration in Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management or Health Care Administration.
 
“This agreement helps students build upon the strong foundation they have acquired at Kapiʻolani Community College while taking advantage of our baccalaureate programs in related fields,” said UH West O‘ahu Chancellor Gene Awakuni. “We will continue to work with Kapiʻolani Community College and other UH campuses toward finding ways to leverage our strengths for the benefit of our students.”

The agreement ensures faculty and administration at both campuses assist students with counseling and other services to further their understanding of program requirements as well as scholarship and grant opportunities that may exist at the campuses. This coordination between the campuses is designed to ease students along a university baccalaureate program path.  

“We are pleased to offer Kapiʻolani Community College students another degree pathway, this time for MICT students, and to contribute to increasing the educational capital of the State,” said Leon Richards, Kapiʻolani Community College chancellor.  “With a strong academic partnership such as this with UH West Oʻahu, and with other four-year UH campuses, we can say to our students, ‘Start your baccalaureate at Kapiʻolani Community College!’”

This new agreement between Kapiʻolani CC and UH West O‘ahu will be reviewed annually by both campuses and can be altered or discontinued with the consent of both schools.

About Kapiʻolani CC’s Mobile Intensive Care Technician Program:  The emergency medical services department provides first responder training via the associate in science (AS) degree in mobile intensive care technician (MICT), also known as the paramedic program. Certification as an EMT-I is a prerequisite, or requirement, which must be met before students apply to the MICT degree program.

About UH West O‘ahu’s Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management Program: The study of disaster preparedness and emergency management provides students with a broad range of administrative skills and knowledge that are ideally suited to meet the critical needs of emergency management administrators. At UH West O‘ahu, students may pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration with a concentration in Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management or a certificate in Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management. All courses meet the national standards as established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Higher Education Project.

About UH West O‘ahu’s Health Care Administration Program:  The UH West O‘ahu Health Care Administration curriculum is designed to further a student’s understanding of central concepts of health care systems as well as analyze and provide solutions to health care challenges. The program provides students with the essential skills and knowledge to work as health care administrators in hospitals, ambulatory care centers, and long-term care facilities. This concentration will also assist those who are already employed in the health care field to fully develop management, legal and behavioral skills for more effective job performance. UH West O‘ahu offers a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Health Care Administration, as well as a Health Care Administration certificate program.  

For more information about the MICT articulation agreement, contact Louise Pagotto, Kapiʻolani CC interim vice chancellor for academic affairs at (808) 734-9517, email pagotto@hawaii.edu, or contact the UHWO Student Services Office at 454-4700 or toll free at (866) 299-8656.

For more information and a complete list of UH West O‘ahu academic programs, visit www.uhwo.hawaii.edu, call the Office of Admissions at (808) 454-4700, toll-free at (866) 299-8656 or email admissions@uhwo.hawaii.edu.


UH West O‘ahu became a four-year, comprehensive university when it served its first class of freshmen in fall 2007. The university offers quality education, small classes and personalized attention at convenient locations. UH West O‘ahu held a ground blessing ceremony in January in anticipation of the start of construction for a state-of-the art, new campus in the City of Kapolei. For more information, visit uhwo.hawaii.edu, twitter.com/uhwestoahu, facebook.com/uhwestoahu or call 454-4700 or toll-free (866) 299-8656.