Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Timeline
Generic

Ākeamakamae Kiyuna

Assistant Professor
Hilo

Summary

Assistant Professor with 15 years of experience successfully contributing to Hawaiian Language, Hawaiian Studies and Linguistics curriculum development and delivery. Driven to contribute to program outcomes by facilitating engagement and supporting learning objectives. Enthusiastic professional with background in academic advisement.

Overview

16
16
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
2
2
Languages

Work History

Assistant Professor

Hawai‘i Community College
08.2017 - Current
  • Reports directly to the Dean of Liberal Arts and works closely with the Coordinator of the Hawai‘i Life Styles Program. Responsibilities will be to work with ITSO to provide training and support for HWST and Liberal Arts faculty for DE development, maintain working relationships with Hawaiian Studies and Liberal Arts, provide leadership for improving and expanding Distance Education for Liberal Arts program and Hawaiian Studies for both Manono and Palamanui campus, and actively participate in Ha‘akūmalae Hawai‘i Protocols Program at Hawai‘i CC.
  • Helped struggling students by providing support outside of classrooms and consistently checking in on progress.
  • Inspired critical thinking skills among students by fostering a learning environment that encouraged open-mindedness, curiosity, and intellectual exploration.
  • Created materials and exercises to illustrate application of course concepts.
  • Promotion from Instructor (C2) to Assistant Professor (C3) was applied for and approved in 2021.

Varsity Softball Head Coach

Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i
02.2017 - 05.2023
  • Translate sports knowledge to athletes and develops and evaluates athlete's and team's performance and progress.
  • Teach individual and team skills to athletes, assisting them to reach their full potential.
  • Organize and supervise well-planned, safe and efficient practices and games by utilizing coaching staff effectively and efficiently.
  • Develops team concept in student-athletes within values-driven framework of the KS organization. Promotes sportsmanship and respect for game rules and respect for officials. Provides a good balance between skill development and team concepts. Addresses each player as part of a team.
  • Developed athletes'' skills through personalized coaching, resulting in higher individual achievements.
  • Prepared athletes for special competitions and tournaments.
  • Mentored beginner players to foster sense of healthy competition and confidence prior to focusing on skill-building.
  • Promoted good sportsmanship with competing teams on- and off-field.

Lecturer

Hawai‘i Life Styles at Hawai‘i Community College
08.2016 - 07.2017
  • Teach assigned courses: HAW 101 Elementary Hawai‘i Language I, HAW 102 Elementary Hawai‘i Language II.
  • Office hours are held to assist students with any problem areas they may be facing in the course and to answer any questions that they may have outside of class.
  • Evaluated student progress through regular assessments, providing detailed feedback for improvement and growth.
  • Created and designed quizzes, tests and projects to assess student knowledge.
  • Developed and implemented innovative teaching strategies to engage students in lectures and coursework.
  • Increased student interest by incorporating real-world examples into lessons and connecting material to relevant experiences.

Varsity Softball Assistant Coach

Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i
01.2013 - 02.2017
  • Translate sports knowledge to athletes and develops and evaluates athlete's and team's performance and progress.
  • Teach individual and team skills to athletes, assisting them to reach their full potential.
  • Assist Head Coach in running drills at practices, ensuring a safe learning environment for student athletes.
  • Developed strong relationship with players to assist in reaching goals, build trust and rapport.
  • Advised head coach on discipline, performance, and other decision-making areas.
  • Strengthened athletic abilities with customized workouts focusing on specific skill development relevant for each sport discipline.
  • Assisted head coach in evaluating player performance, identifying areas for improvement, and providing constructive feedback to ensure continuous growth.

Academic Program Coordinator

Ka Haka ‘Ula o Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo
10.2012 - 09.2016
  • Title III Hanakahi Grant, Activity 3, A‘o Kukui
  • Worked directly with the PI and Hawaiian language faculty and staff of Ka Haka ‘Ula
  • Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo to improve the efficacy of the Hawaiian language courses.
  • Main duties and responsibilities included coordinating meetings with project and college staff to discuss activities and policies to better serve Hawaiian language students and majors.
  • Worked with Hawaiian language faculty and staff to coordinate professional development opportunities to help increase teaching effectiveness and improve retention rates amongst Hawaiian language students.
  • Helped to develop and implement various strategies to provide Hawaiian language students opportunities to improve and stay engaged both in and out of class.
  • Created a tutoring sheet to assist Hawaiian language tutors and students with problem areas that need to be addressed.
  • Worked with project staff to create surveys to measure student engagement in the Hawaiian language courses. Surveys measured engagement in the classroom, teaching effectiveness, as well as the relevance of field trips to local immersion schools. I also did the data collection and analysis for these surveys.
  • Helped to coordinate, facilitate and sometimes lead meetings and professional development opportunities amongst language staff to improve teaching effectiveness, student retention, and student success.
  • Developed innovative solutions to address challenges faced by students, improving retention rates and graduation statistics.

Lecturer

Ka Haka ‘Ula o Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo
08.2012 - 07.2017
  • Teach assigned courses at the undergraduate level at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. I have taught HAW 101/102 (Elementary Hawaiian 1), LING 102 (Introduction to Linguistics), and KHAW 303 (Third Level Hawaiian Language).
  • Lecturers must create the syllabus for each course that they are teaching, ensuring that the student learning outcomes (SLOs) are in line with what the college has drafted. Office hours are held to assist students with any problem areas they may be facing in the course and to answer any questions that they may have outside of class.
  • Responsible for attending monthly college meetings and to complete any other tasks and responsibilities related to teaching.
  • Served as the chair for the Hawaiian Language Sub-committee under the college and was responsible for coordinating and facilitating meetings amongst all language faculty and staff members to ensure cohesiveness.
  • Developed strong relationships with colleagues, collaborating on curriculum development and sharing best practices in teaching strategies.
  • Managed large class sizes effectively, maintaining an orderly learning environment conducive to student success.

Kumu

Aha ‘Ōpio Alaka‘i Instructor for Nā Pua No‘eau
05.2010 - 06.2010
  • Planned and facilitated daily curriculum for Native Hawaiian high school students to develop their leadership skills.
  • Knowledge of community issues directly and indirectly impacting Native Hawaiians was the basis of the curriculum for these students entering into their Junior and Senior years of high school.
  • Students learned about various issues impacting their own communities and how they can start to make a difference by being a leader. Learning what types of leaders there are and how to be an effective leader were topics that were also discussed in this two week program.
  • Student evaluations were also conducted to comment on student performance throughout the leadership program.

Student Instructor (SI)

HAW 303 course
08.2009 - 12.2009
  • The Student Instructor assisted the instructor with grading of assignments and tests.
  • The SI needed sufficient knowledge of the course material to be able to follow the lesson plans of the instructor and to also provide tutoring to students.
  • The SI would maintain the grade book and assist the instructor by inputting grades into GradePro.
  • Working directly with the instructor to address student needs and problem areas was also a responsibility of the SI.
  • The SI also became the communications director between student and instructor to ensure the success of each student.
  • One-on-one and group tutoring sessions were organized outside of the allotted class time to help students that are struggling or that wanted more practice.

Graduate Assistant

UH Mānoa
08.2011 - 05.2012
  • Unit Mastery for LING 100 and LING 102 at UH Mānoa
  • Main responsibility was to monitor the testing center by: 1) administering quizzes to students; 2) grading the quizzes and providing immediate feedback to students; and 3) answering any questions about the course or the content that students may have.
  • Responsible for a group of students and also served as their writing tutor. Any research paper that was written for these Unit Mastery courses were submitted to the GAs for grading and feedback. Students had the option of meeting with the GAs to discuss the comments made in order to submit a better paper.
  • Other duties included creating test questions for assessments based on course readings, organizing the testing center and the test binder, and monitoring student progress.

Student Researcher and Translator

University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
11.2010 - 07.2011
  • Fluency in the Hawaiian language was required in order to do research in and translations of the Hawaiian Language newspapers. Articles pertaining to weather and weather related events were searched for and pulled for translation and analysis. Audio recordings done by Mary Kawena Pūkuʻi and Larry Kimura were also selected and transcribed based on their content and relevance to weather and sustainability.
  • Proficiency in Hawaiian and English was required to be able to provide accurate translations, transcriptions and analysis of all the materials gathered.
  • Other duties included digitizing old documents and recordings, creating and maintaining an Excel spreadsheet as a database so as to track all of the articles and audio recordings.
  • Weekly meetings and deadlines needed to be adhered to in order to ensure the maximum yield for this research project under NOAA, Sea Grant and JIMAR.
  • Little to no supervision was given and the student researcher needed to be able to complete all duties, tasks and responsibilities as assigned.

Kumu - ʻAha ʻŌpio Alakaʻi

Nā Pua Noʻeau
05.2010 - 06.2010
  • Self-motivated, with a strong sense of personal responsibility.
  • Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
  • Proven ability to learn quickly and adapt to new situations.
  • Skilled at working independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
  • Planned and facilitated daily curriculum for Native Hawaiian high school students to develop their leadership skills.
  • Knowledge of community issues directly and indirectly impacting Native Hawaiians was the basis for the curriculum for these students entering into their Junior and Senior years of high school.
  • Students learned about various issues impacting their own communities and how they can start to make a difference by being a leader. Learning what types of leaders there are and how to be an effective leader were topics that were also discussed in this two week program.
  • Student evaluations were conducted to comment on student performance throughout the leadership program.

Student Instructor

UH Hilo
08.2009 - 12.2009
  • Served as a mentor for struggling students, offering additional support and guidance both inside and outside the classroom setting.
  • Organized one-on-one and group tutoring sessions outside of the allotted class time to help students that were struggling or that wanted more practice.
  • Assisted the instructor with grading of assignments and tests.
  • Had sufficient knowledge of the course material to be able to follow the lesson plans of the instructor and to provide tutoring to the students.
  • Maintained the grade book and assisted the instructor by inputting grades into GradePro.
  • Worked directly with the instructor to address student needs and problem areas.
  • Acted as the communications liaison between students and instructor to ensure the success of each student.

Education

BA - Hawaiian Studies, Linguistics

University of Hawai‘i at Hilo
Hilo, HI
05.2010

MA - Linguistics

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Mānoa, HI
05.2012

Skills

  • Proficient in the Hawaiian language I have the knowledge to analyze, teach and converse in the language
  • Student research guidance
  • Mentoring students
  • Online teaching
  • Digital literacy
  • Online learning tools

Certification

Certified Kumu Hula, Unukupukupu - Unuolehua II

Timeline

Certified Kumu Hula, Unukupukupu - Unuolehua II

12-2019

Assistant Professor

Hawai‘i Community College
08.2017 - Current

Varsity Softball Head Coach

Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i
02.2017 - 05.2023

Lecturer

Hawai‘i Life Styles at Hawai‘i Community College
08.2016 - 07.2017

Varsity Softball Assistant Coach

Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i
01.2013 - 02.2017

Academic Program Coordinator

Ka Haka ‘Ula o Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo
10.2012 - 09.2016

Lecturer

Ka Haka ‘Ula o Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo
08.2012 - 07.2017

Graduate Assistant

UH Mānoa
08.2011 - 05.2012

Student Researcher and Translator

University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
11.2010 - 07.2011

Kumu - ʻAha ʻŌpio Alakaʻi

Nā Pua Noʻeau
05.2010 - 06.2010

Kumu

Aha ‘Ōpio Alaka‘i Instructor for Nā Pua No‘eau
05.2010 - 06.2010

Student Instructor

UH Hilo
08.2009 - 12.2009

Student Instructor (SI)

HAW 303 course
08.2009 - 12.2009

MA - Linguistics

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

BA - Hawaiian Studies, Linguistics

University of Hawai‘i at Hilo

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