Scientists by necessity, Hawaiians of old held intimate knowledge of their waters, winds, soils, and forests. Complex understanding of water engineering, resource management, ocean science, astronomy, and navigation were traditions of Native Hawaiian excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). However, today Native Hawaiians continue to be conspicuously underrepresented in postsecondary education, particularly in the fields of STEM. STEM Scholars Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is striving to change this trend. As both a multifaceted and collaborative program in structure the STEM Scholars Program works with several different college campuses, professional and private sectors throughout the Pacific and the US continent in order to provide students the opportunity to excel academically as well as professionally.
Funded by the United States Department of Education and the National Science Foundation the STEM Scholars Program is required to follow strict guidelines and requirements throughout their granting period, including a program evaluation. Following the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) the STEM Scholars program have incorporated both formative (and process) and summative (or outcome) evaluation strategies to monitor and document project activities, identify implementation difficulties, and assess outputs and outcomes. The outside evaluation team in charge of performing the evaluation is the Office for Evaluation and Needs Assessment Services (OENAS) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI). Data collected from the evaluation provides feedback and recommendations used in developing a plan of action for future program improvements.