Ocean safety degree to be offered

By Allison Schaefers
Advertiser Staff Writer

Windward Community College will soon open enrollment for the nation's first associate's degree program in Ocean Recreation and Safety.

The two-year degree program, which begins in the fall of 2004, is designed to prepare graduates to enter the $500-million industry, said Jim Howe, operations chief of the city Ocean Safety Division.

Although ocean recreation and safety occupations account for about 7,000 of Hawai'i jobs, there are no academic training programs in the state or on the Mainland, Howe said. Students would have to travel to Australia or Great Britain to find similar programs, he said.

Providing a program where commercial businesses can train their employees and Hawai'i students can pursue degrees is a plus for the state, Howe said.

He said 200 lifeguards here look after millions of people. "If this new program can help in any way to ensure that commercial operations have skilled employees, that should be in everyone's overall benefit," he said.

A group of ocean recreation and safety professionals from O'ahu and Maui worked on the degree concept for more than a year.

Laurel Anderson, a Hanauma Bay volunteer and Kailua resident, applauded the idea.

"We can't get out enough information about safety," Anderson said. "There are a lot of lives lost because people just aren't well informed."