Knowing them first, in order to serve them best: Exploring the Pacific Islander college experience at Utah's 2-year institutions of higher education

The purpose of this study was to understand the distinct experiences of Pacific Islander (PI) college students who have attended a 2-year institution of higher education in Utah to incorporate access and retention strategies for addressing this population at Westminster College. By way of individual interviews, the personal narratives of eight PI participants with the shared identity of attending either Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) or Snow College as a part- or full-time student were collected. Data on PI student populations, disaggregated from Asian American students, are sorely wanting and especially for those PI students at the community college level. Through individual and paired interviews, I was able to gain further insight to the experiences of PI community college students, identify voiced and implied needs, and ultimately propose a strategic method to increase the number of PI transfer students enrolling at Westminster. The incredibly strong focus on family roles, responsibilities, and relationships was a common theme amongst all of the eight participants and many of them also encountered the challenge of finding mobility amongst an increase in social capital. The data have led me to determine that an increased focus on authentic, sustainable PI-led mentorship programming that are implemented early on in a student's college journey would be affective in increasing their ability to matriculate from a 2-year institution to Westminster.