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Community Needs and Challenges
Community Needs and Challenges
American Samoa is home to one of the oldest indigenous cultures of the United States. In fact, recent studies have determined that the islands of Tutuila, Ta’u, and Olosega are the cradle of Polynesian and Hawaiian cultures throughout the scattered lands of the South and Central Pacific Ocean. Even today, the territory is home to a population that is over 90 percent indigenous Polynesian, with families and cultural heritage extending back almost 3000 years.
The remoteness of American Samoa and the historic lack of focus on the territory as a federal priority have helped to lead to some of the most difficult economic conditions of the United States. The median household income is $23,892 and 57.8% of individuals, 54.4% of all families, and 67.3% of families with children under the age of 5, live below the poverty line. Low levels of investment and infrastructure lead to a difficult economic situation for new businesses and industries seeking to grow within the territory.
Exacerbating the obstacles American Samoa has faced during the past decade is the global COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly unique in the world, the territory has weathered the pandemic with almost no infections and zero deaths. However, the price of this achievement has been economically extreme; the islands were completely cut-off from travel for months, and even at the time of this writing (and possibly for the coming year) flights and shipments are drastically limited. What has been a pandemic for the rest of Earth has been, here, an endemic crisis of isolation.
How does COVID-19 reinforce the necessity for a transformation to American Samoa’s economy? For starters, American Samoa’s economy has suffered sharp shocks, first from reductions in global demand and then–even more painful–supply chain disruptions that have caused shipping problems, sudden price changes, and shortages. With no opportunities for real internal economic growth during this period, territory residents have missed out on the wage growth seen elsewhere, and borne the brunt of the pain from supply and price shocks.
Unlike the rest of the United States, however, American Samoa has had no chance to pivot its economy to face the new realities being seen on the global stage. In fact, it hasn’t even been on the global stage. Instead, the territory has been forced to wait out the virus. Outflows of talent and labor from 2018 and 2019 have not only gone without replacement, but have led to real loss of knowledge and sector skills through their complete absence. Green shoots of business activity from earlier in the decade have withered and frozen with near-zero access to capital and very limited local support. No other municipality of the United States will have experienced economic effects similar to what has been, from a business perspective, an 18-month, near-total lockdown.
The resulting economic situation has led to a slow decline in territory population (from 57,000 in 2000 to an estimated 55,500 in 2020, according to Census estimates.) This population decline may accelerate due to many factors, once pandemic travel restrictions ease. Worse, the population loss is especially sharp among the “best and brightest” of young Samoans (our Tupulaga.) The resulting impacts include both spiraling economic challenges and one of the greatest threats to indigenous Samoan culture in the history of the territory.
Challenges to the Institution
The timing of the Pandemic has been especially challenging in the face of a concerted effort by ASCC to improve its performance and meet accreditation standards. The College continues its commitment to student achievement through ongoing review of established Institution-Set Standards (ISS). The ISS committee, with its role and responsibilities as detailed in the Amended Participatory Governance Structural Manual was tasked with the review of all ISS in 2017 and 2020. The Student Learning Outcome and Student Achievement Manual details approved Institution Set Standards.
In the 2020 review of target achievements, the College did not achieve the target for standard one (developmental course completion) and standard two (gateway course completion)–missing the achievement by two percentage points–but met its target for standard three (program requirement completion rates) that include General Education and Second Year General Education. The institution continues to meet its targets for student achievement standards four and five with the exception of Transfer to higher education. The institution did not achieve the target for Transfer to higher education by seven percent.
As a result of the 2020 review, the ISS Committee provided recommendations to include Career Technical Education as a standard, and to establish stretch goals for all Institution Set Standards. Also included is the standard for degree and certificate completion as the College was reporting degree/certificate completion targets using the General Education and Core/Co foundation targets. Stretch goals were already established for Standard IV on persistence in 2015. The ISS also recommended changes to increase stretch goals for persistence based on findings from the 2020 review.
It is important to note that the geographic isolation of American Samoa is a factor in all planning and development activities. Even prior to the pandemic, American Samoa was linked to Hawaii by two passenger flights each scheduled each week. When the borders are open, American Samoa will still be challenged with the access to consultants, university libraries, vendors and other resources that are readily available on the mainland but require extensive travel, expensive international phone calls and shipping delays that place a burden on transactions that are accomplished routinely elsewhere.
The A’oa’oga Aso Nei Initiative is specifically designed to overcome these challenges; to actually leverage the events of the past 18 months in favor of transitioning the College into a core economic development engine for the territory of American Samoa.
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