Charles Sasaki

Professional Bio:

Charles Sasaki is Dean of Arts & Sciences at the University of Hawaii – Kapiolani Community College.  UH-KCC is Hawaii’s largest and most comprehensive two-year college and enrolls one of the nation’s most diverse communities of students.  As Dean, Sasaki oversees instruction in nine world languages, transfer curricula for university-bound students, coursework to meet general education requirements, and select career programs including biotechnology, computer animation, and interface design.

Prior to joining UH-KCC, Sasaki served as Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Hawai’i Pacific University.  He was previously Associate Dean at Chaminade University, Founding Faculty and Associate Dean at Cascadia Community College, and Chief Diversity Officer in the Seattle Community College District.  He began his career as a faculty member teaching American Ethnic Studies and Sociology and earned tenure and his college’s Distinguished Teaching Medal for his work in those disciplines.

With particular interest in the needs of underserved and disadvantaged student populations, Sasaki has consulted for several institutions on curricular transformation and the assessment of learning outcomes.  He consults annually with the United Negro College Fund to advise on the allocation of over 1.6 billion dollars in scholarship support through the Gates Millennium Scholars Program.

Sasaki is fortunate to have been awarded two Fulbrights.  In 2008, he traveled to Germany to participate in the International Education Administrators Seminar and in 2012, was a member of the five-person Community College Administrators Seminar delegation to Russia.  Sasaki has also held grants in Korean Studies and Japanese History from the National Endowment for the Humanities and has participated in international education programs in the United Kingdom (NASPA, 2010) and Japan (Fulbright-Hays, 1998.)