Bill Text: HI HCR75 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 75 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Peace Corps Prep Program

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-30 - Re-referred to FIN, referral sheet 39 [HCR75 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-HCR75-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	75
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Encouraging the establishment of a peace corps prep program at the university of hawaii at manoa.

WHEREAS, the Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States government with the stated mission of providing technical assistance to interested countries and advancing cross-cultural understanding between Americans and the people of nations in which they serve; and

WHEREAS, since its establishment in 1961, Peace Corps has sent over two hundred thousand volunteers to over one hundred thirty-nine countries, including one thousand four hundred volunteers from Hawaii, and with over twenty-five persons from Hawaii currently serving; and

WHEREAS, in 2007, Peace Corps established the Peace Corps Prep program with the goals of fostering stronger partnerships with undergraduate institutions and developing a pipeline of diverse, highly qualified Peace Corps applicants; and

WHEREAS, the Peace Corps Prep program uses existing curriculum to prepare students for international development fieldwork and potential Peace Corps service, while meeting four interdisciplinary learning objectives that serve this end, and

WHEREAS, students who successfully complete the Peace Corps Prep program receive an official certificate of completion from the Peace Corps, which provides a competitive edge should they choose to apply to be a Peace Corps volunteer after graduation; and

WHEREAS, the Peace Corps Prep program allows each partner university to create a path by which their students may meet these objectives through the existing curriculum and at little cost to the participating university; and

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii has a rich legacy of instilling its students with international and culturally based perspectives and a strong commitment to service; and

WHEREAS, many students at the University of Hawaii receive undergraduate degrees in fields that are critical needs areas for Peace Corps service, such as public health, biology, education, social work, agriculture, family resources, and business; and

WHEREAS, students from the University of Hawaii should be encouraged to take advantage of Peace Corps as a stepping stone towards their career; and

WHEREAS, a Peace Corps Prep program at the University of Hawaii, in partnership with the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, would prepare students for service in the Peace Corps by designing individualized course plans that emphasizes sector-specific skills; foreign language training; intercultural and diversity-based coursework; leadership and professional training; and any other curricular requirements for Peace Corps service; now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the Senate concurring, that the University of Hawaii at Manoa, in partnership with the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, is encouraged to create a Peace Corps Prep program to prepare students for post-graduate service opportunities with the United States Peace Corps; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Director of the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and the State Representative of the Peace Corps.