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]]>We have re-visioned and reorganized how we approach student success at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. All three of the major areas on campus—academic affairs, student affairs, and administrative affairs—are engaged in making this re-visioning a tangible, forward looking, and meaningful process.
The Student Affairs Leadership Team is now kaʻi i ka wēkiu, elevating student success, and making sure it is central in everything we do. There are four teams: enrollment, student engagement, student wellbeing, and workplace culture.
The first of these, enrollment, is all about recruiting students and, even more importantly, making sure more of them cross the finish line and obtain their degree. This group will be working closely with our data folks to identify trends and working with an enrollment management firm on increasing our reach.
Student engagement concerns all the ways we interact with students, both in and out of the classroom. What activities are of most interest to students? How can we encourage more students to pursue research or study abroad? How do our students and programs interact with the larger community of Hawaiʻi Island?
The student wellbeing group is working on all the things that make sure student lives are healthy and flourishing so that they can be successful. This ranges from basic needs to fitness to physical and mental health. We need to make sure that all students who need to connect to support services know how to do so and are getting the support they need.
Finally, we all know that staff and faculty wellbeing translates to student wellbeing, so the workplace culture group will focus on various ways of supporting our employees: do they have the training they need to be successful? Are there appropriate opportunities for advancement?
Parallel to this work, our Division of Student Affairs has a new strategic plan focusing on supporting students in reaching their full potential in both academic success and their overall wellbeing.
And the new plan does not focus solely on students, it also encompasses the needs of staff, too. We want to create an environment where everyone can thrive.
A key concept we are envisioning is about a deep commitment to nurturing student success and fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and culturally sensitive campus environment. Priorities are not just academic achievement but also holistic wellbeing, equity, and cultural competence, critical aspects of students’ overall growth and development.
The new strategic plan is based on several guiding principles rooted in compassion and inclusiveness: 1) coordinated efforts between units and programs dedicated to student success, 2) inclusivity where students and staff find equity, justice, and a strong sense of belonging to the university community, 3) holistic well-being, where health and wellbeing are actively cultivated in both students and staff, and 4) where collaboration is the driving force behind it all.
Driven by the core value of inclusivity, the plan grew from town hall meetings led by Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Chris Holland. Nearly 80 percent of division staff actively participated in the process.
Crucial steps include the formation of teams that can coordinate efforts and ensure accountability; developing tasks and adequate financial resources; ongoing data collection and analysis to identify areas that need improvement; staff training; and consistent reporting on progress with milestones celebrated to boost morale.
Feedback is a crucial component, ensuring the plan remains relevant.
The UH Hilo ʻohana has a strong commitment to empowering students in all areas of their university experience. With careful planning, collaboration between divisions and units, and dedication to continuous improvement, we are well on our way to creating a nurturing and thriving campus community where every student can reach their full potential.
With aloha,
Bonnie D. Irwin
Chancellor
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]]>Ron Terry, the owner of Geometrician Associates, put together a presentation on the Role of Zoning in Hawaii’s Housing Crisis for the last GAC meeting held on February 15. He invited Trey Gordner, the Director of the Hawaii Zoning Atlas and Sterling Higa, the Executive Director of Housing Hawaii’s Future to join him. It was an informative and engaging discussion of the housing challenges in the islands, and it can be viewed here.
Ron started by discussing Chuck Morone’s (strongtowns.org) concept of the growth Ponzi scheme and its effects on a sustainable community. Basically the idea is that urban sprawl creates future budget issues by having more roads to fix than taxes collected in the areas that need maintenance. The options to avoid this predicament are to 1) Keep growing, 2) Raise taxes, or 3) Cut services. Ron’s proposed fixes included greater density, eliminating roadblocks related to minimum lot size, setbacks, and parking, and allowing non-conforming use. The idea is to build more in areas that already have water, wastewater, and road infrastructure.
Trey talked about the history of zoning and emphasized that the housing crisis is a policy choice. Zoning excludes by design: it is easier to build single family homes, that only people with money can afford, than multi-unit dwellings. The results are a 40% increase in housing costs in the last 2 years, the highest rental rates in the nation, and double the rate of homelessness compared to the rest of the country. He echoed Ron’s call of allowing more types of housing (duplexes, triplexes, etc.), enable mixed use communities, reduce minimum lot size, reduce/eliminate parking minimums, simplify requirements and processes for ADUs (accessory dwelling units), and allow manufactured and modular homes. He did not have time to show us the Hawaii Zoning Atlas (hawaiizoningatlas.com), but he pointed out that Hawaii County has 108 different land use designations with 95% of the land falling into agriculture, government, or open space. He noted that “concerned citizens have a moral responsibility to propose and support reform,” and one way to do this is by giving feedback on the County General Plan (https://cohplanning.knovieo.com/) which lays out what the future of our community should be. The public comment period ends on April 1, so do it soon!
Sterling discussed Hawaii’s rapidly aging population and population shrinkage. Only Hawaii County is still growing as it is the one island that is still somewhat affordable. The cost of living, with housing being the biggest roadblock, is creating a shortage of workers on all islands. One example he gave is that one quarter of all Maui County jobs are vacant. His goal is to make Hawaii family friendly by reducing the cost of living (housing, transportation, education/childcare, and food) and improving quality of life (housing near jobs and mixed-use communities). We want to make it so our children and grandchildren can afford to stay. One way to do this is to prioritize walkable, livable communities. An interesting statistic he shared is that vehicle miles travelled is the biggest predictor of community health. Some of the solutions he laid out included:
All three speakers stressed making your voice heard – “Housing policy is so rooted in our status as social animals, and so dependent on collective action, that there is no way to change it without first changing ourselves.”
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]]>In preparing to host the upcoming University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents meeting to be held at UH Hilo this month, I am currently outlining my presentation to the regents about how our university is engaged in research and community service across the island. As we compile information from faculty and staff, I am thrilled to see a proliferation of dots on our coverage map that indicate the university is serving communities and the ʻāina all over our island in numerous ways.
Some of that work is happening in our island forests and some in coastal ecosystems. You might not be aware of this kind of important research until a publication or presentation comes out. Other activities headed by UH Hilo researchers and other educators are taking place every day in our island schools and communities.
Forestry conservation research is happening in Hakalau, Hilo, Keaukaha, Keau‘ohana, Laupāhoehoe, Pālamanui, Waiākea, and off Saddle Road, under the direction of Professor of Biology Becky Ostertag, a tropical forest ecologist who specializes in tropical forests and tropical ecosystems. Native bird conservation research is happening in Hakalau, Kanakaleonui,Maunakea, Volcano, and off Saddle Road, by Professor of Biology Pat Hart who specializes gathering the acoustics of birds to identify locations and changes in populations.
Associate Professor of Marine Science John Burns runs the Multiscale Environmental Graphical Analysis Laboratory, commonly called MEGA Lab, located at the Mokupapapa Discovery Center in downtown Hilo, an easily accessible location for the general public. The lab develops technologies to understand human-environmental interactions in our coastal ecosystems, and they use storytelling and community engagement to show how science improves our daily lives. He and his research team have 3D mapped the reefs all along the Kona, Kohala, and Hāmākua coasts.
In other fields, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Tourism Angela Fa‘anunu, based at the College of Business and Economics and working closely with our College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management, is studying and teaching viable sustainable tourism and business practices through close collaborations with local farms in Honomu, Onomea, Pauka‘a and Pepe‘ekeo.
Faculty at the agricultural college, under the leadership of Director Norman Arancon, who specializes in soil ecology, are conducting research and community outreach on food and energy crops, animal science, honey production, soils, and ornamentals, all of which benefit farmers islandwide.
At the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, students are honing their skills under the supervision of local pharmacists while providing community outreach via health education and screenings such as blood pressure and blood sugar checks at locations and events throughout the island.
In a pharmaceutical research project equally weighing modern science and Native Hawaiian traditional knowledge, Professor Leng Chee Chang and Professor Supakit Wongwiwatthananukit are working closely with a Native Hawaiian healer who has vast experience in the use of laʻau lapaʻau (Hawaiian medicine) to investigate a Hawaiian medicinal plant for its anti-inflammatory properties.
Associate Professor of Drama Justina Mattos and our Performing Arts Center Manager Lee Barnette-Dombroski are doing outreach to local schools assisting with internships, career days, dance events, stage costumes, and Hawaiian language performances in Hilo, Kea‘au, Mountain View, Pāhoa, and Pāpaʻikou. Justina also runs a community-based play-reading group that includes playwrights from Hilo, Ka‘ū, Kona, Puna, Waimea, and Volcano.
Building on decades of research and community engagement, faculty and staff based at Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language are heading trainings, sharing resources, and developing educational programs at schools in Honoka‘a, Kea‘au, Kealakekua, Keaukaha, and Waimea. The college’s Hale Kuamoʻo Hawaiian Language Center produces and disseminates Hawaiian language books, curriculum, resources, and teacher training to four Hawaiian medium schools on Hawaiʻi Island.
There is so much more I could share, but the takeaway here is that the strength of UH Hilo is found in our people and the people in our community. The community-engaged, place-based education that we provide to students prepares them well to deal with the complex issues of today and tomorrow, and also allows us to give back to this community and land that we are honored to call our home.
With aloha,
Bonnie D. Irwin
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]]>Happy New Year!
The University of Hawai‘i at Hilo starts off the new year with an exciting baccalaureate degree to announce. The data science program, ready to start in the fall, is designed for workforce preparation, formulated to address local and state needs in a data-driven knowledge economy.
We are proud to say that the new program is the first data science major in the UH System. Data science deals with studying and analyzing sets of data through statistical measures that can be applied to many different fields of study. It is considered an interdisciplinary endeavor because almost every branch of science collects loads of data—big data—and each field needs experts for analyzing the mass amounts of information.
We started building our data science program in 2017 with a certificate in data science, launched in fall of 2018, where all students interested in gaining basic training are welcome regardless of major or background. Students hone their data analysis skills by supporting the university’s active research faculty whose projects generate large amounts of data, such as investigations into coral reef health and studies on the impacts of climate change for our island, state, and region.
The new bachelor’s degree program in data science is an interdisciplinary degree, meaning it interfaces with other majors, where students can build an in-depth skillset in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and statistics. Students will choose one of four tracks to specialize further: astronomy, business, statistics, or computational.
Faculty teaching the skills of data science come from a wide range of programs involved in various research projects, much of it with great local impact.
Core faculty in the program are:
Associate Professor of Computer Science Travis Mandel, who is the data science program coordinator, researches how artificial intelligence systems can best assist human scientists with their work. In research supported by the National Science Foundation, students explore problems in human-in-the-loop artificial intelligence and its connections with natural science.
Associate Professor of Marine Science John Burns, a research scientist studying coral health and coral reef ecosystems, is founder and director of the Multiscale Environmental Graphical Analysis Laboratory or MEGA Lab based at UH Hilo, where students and scientists from UH Hilo and around the world collaboratively collect and transform reef data into 3D images with the newest analytical technologies.
Associate Professor of Mathematics Grady Weyenberg, whose research focuses on statistical techniques to assist researchers and scientists in various fields, ties together natural science, computer science, and mathematics. For example, on the collaborative marine science projects, his students learn how to conduct coral surveys, troubleshoot computer science problems involved in building the 3D models from photographs, and conduct math modeling and computation that goes into more advanced statistical models.
Assistant Professor of Data Science and Business Administration Sukhwa Hong, based at UH Hilo’s College of Business and Economics, conducts research focused on text mining, natural language processing, and social media analytics. Last summer, his students worked with artificial intelligence and large language models to analyze big data and extract key insights to be communicated to the public.
Professor of Geography and Environmental Science Ryan Perroy, who founded and runs UH Hilo’s Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization laboratory, trains his students in machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify objects of interest such as invasive species in our native forests. The data that he and his students have collected using innovative drone and mapping technology have greatly advanced knowledge about the spread of Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death, a devastating fungal disease killing off large areas of native forest on Hawai‘i Island.
Graduates from UH Hilo’s new data science baccalaureate degree program will be in high demand. Their work will help build a new data-driven knowledge economy through their computer and data science skills already honed through multiple undergraduate research activities while at UH Hilo.
With aloha,
Bonnie D. Irwin
Chancellor, UH Hilo
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]]>In November, the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation launched the public phase of the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in Hawai‘i’s history, to raise $1 billion for all 10 UH campuses.
Here at UH Hilo we are grateful for all the support we get from our community. Behind every support fund and scholarship is an individual or company with a commitment to help us remain accessible to all students. Members of the local community who give their support to UH Hilo see it as an investment in the future, recognizing the importance of an education. Many want to pay forward the opportunities given to them while at UH Hilo as a student, staff, or faculty member.
Giving access to these types of opportunities to as many students as possible is a high priority for us, and it’s clear the vitally important role private donors can play opening up access to higher education. This type of support helps students complete their education so they can launch careers and contribute meaningfully to their families and communities. Studies show people who possess a college degree have a much higher lifetime earning potential than those who do not. People with a degree are better able to contribute to their families and build healthy communities.
This is an important point: In an environment where there are many needs, supporting higher education, especially the local university, supports not only the good work that we do with our students, it also supports local families and our communities.
Donated funds for scholarships and other forms of aid that offset the costs of tuition are necessary if we want to remain accessible to all our island students. To make college affordable to all, this must be a priority for our campus and for our community.
Further, our student crisis fund supports students with unforeseen challenges they have in life. This was of the utmost importance during the upheaval caused by the pandemic, but there is still a great need. Not all students qualify for federal relief funding, so we need to rely on institutional or foundation funds for this kind of support.
Many other types of funds support the people and programs of UH Hilo. Private donations and endowments support not only scholarships and financial aid for our students, but also research in such fields as sustainability and conservation for our island environment, programs to strengthen cultural preservation, outreach to spark innovation and entrepreneurship.
I’d like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to our donors. I hope members of our university and local communities, business people, alumni, and others will be inspired to make an investment in the future of our island by helping us reach our goals during this history-making fundraising campaign.
With aloha,
Bonnie D. Irwin
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]]>Senator Richards’ main focus is agriculture, namely land access & tenure and water access & tenure. The goal is to push for a state farm bill that would address all aspects of supporting agriculture in the islands: infrastructure, leases, water, etc. By eliminating silos and working comprehensively, the goal would be to make the state more food self-sufficient, support value-added processing and increasing exports, all while addressing wildfire mitigation.
Senator Inouye is focused on legislation that would address some of the issues surrounding the Lahaina fire: electric grid resilience, water shortages and emergencies, managing lands to reduce fire risk, adequate evacuation routes, etc. In addition, she is looking to expand the Hilo High School parking lot project to 500 stalls while also reintroducing two bills.
The GAC is working on the Chamber’s legislative priorities. We currently have a general outline from previous years that covers the economy, government, and education, but the goal is to provide our legislators with specific topics that we are interested in promoting. Examples include the continuation of astronomy on the mountain, making it easier for medical practitioners to thrive in the islands, simplifying the building code to make it less expensive for people to build new homes, etc. If you are interested in joining the GAC, please call Miles or Carla at the Chamber office, (808) 935-7178.
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]]>This is the last of my three columns on the six colleges at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and their impact on the community. This month I’d like to focus on the College of Natural and Health Sciences, and Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language.
The College of Natural and Health Sciences welcomed a new dean over the summer. Simon Kattenhorn comes to UH Hilo from the University of Alaska Anchorage where he was a professor and associate dean at the Department of Geological Sciences. In addition to extensive teaching in geology, geomechanics, and geohazards, he has an impressive record of research in both the geology of Earth and of other bodies in the solar system. He has mentored many undergraduate and graduate students in their research projects, and this experience will be invaluable to our students and faculty as the college expands its community-engaged research.
Also over the summer, the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES), a research and education program exploring Earth and space, is now officially a program of the College of Natural and Health Sciences. The program was founded in 2007 and focuses on research and the development of space exploration technologies with dual-use applications for Earth and space.
Originally, PISCES was part of UH Hilo, then in 2012 was transferred to the State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. But funding was spotty after that transfer, and with the move back to UH Hilo, the hope is PISCES will find more stability where university students will benefit immensely. This is an incredible opportunity for our science majors, giving students more exposure to hands-on experience in scientific research, with the potential to launch exciting career paths.
There also is new leadership at Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, with Ka‘iu Kimura named interim director in August (the same month, former director of the college, Keiki Kawai‘ae‘a, was appointed interim vice chancellor for academic affairs).
Interim Director Kimura is long-standing executive director at UH Hilo’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, a position she will retain while serving at the college. A UH Hilo alumna, she received her bachelor of arts and master of arts in Hawaiian language and literature and is currently a candidate in the university’s Indigenous language revitalization doctoral program. She has been a lecturer and served on the leadership team of the college for years, and has developed Hawaiian language curriculum offered to Hawai‘i’s business and tourism industries. She is well acquainted with the needs of the college, its students, staff, and faculty, as well as the needs of the community-at-large for robust culture and language revitalization programs.
An exciting development, in conjunction with Haleʻōlelo (the building that houses Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani) is the proposed ‘Ōlelo Hawaiʻi Campus project, envisioned to be a complete educational system based at UH Hilo to cultivate a legacy of Indigenous language and learning. This is a critically important project that will position UH Hilo at the forefront not only of ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) revitalization, but also global Indigenous language revitalization and normalization.
The project is collaborative between members of the Hawai‘i ʻImiloa Institute: Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani, ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, Ke Kula ‘o Nāwahīokalani‘ōpu‘u (our immersion laboratory school), and community-based immersion organization ‘Aha Pūnana Leo. It includes three new buildings, that recently won two architecture awards, for educational and ceremonial protocol spaces.
As Ka‘iu eloquently says, the proposed campus, located adjacent to the college, “is guided by a constellation of dedicated minds, including the visionaries at the Hawai‘i ʻImiloa Institute, we weave our heritage into the fabric of education. With each brick and beam, we echo the voices of generations past and empower the voices of generations yet to come. This recognition affirms our journey toward a future where our native languages thrive, our cultures soar and our people flourish.”
These two colleges—the College of Natural and Health Sciences, and Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language—are taking bold steps to help answer the needs of students, educators, researchers, our local communities, and the world at large, as we all plan for the future.
With aloha,
Bonnie D. Irwin
Chancellor
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]]>The General Plan is currently available for public review and comments are being accepted through November 20, 2023. To access the plan, go to https://www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/general-plan-community-planning/gp. There you can go to an interactive site that allows you to move through the plan, see comments that have already been made, respond to those comments or create new feedback. This document will guide the Big Island for the next few decades, so I highly encourage you to take the time to review it and give feedback. Too often the business community is absent when it comes to the County making decisions that affect us. Here is a chance to make a difference.
The next GAC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 16. Please reach out to Miles or Carla if you would like to join.
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]]>Enrollment was down in the fall, but the students are taking lots of credits. There are some major challenges affecting enrollment at UH Hilo now and in the future.
So what is UH Hilo doing to attract students?
And how can we help?
Dean vs Director – UH Hilo currently has three Deans, two for the larger colleges (College of Arts & Sciences and College of Natural & Health Sciences), and one for the Pharmacy School as it is required for accreditation. However, Bonnie actually prefers Faculty Directors for the smaller colleges: College of Business & Economics, College of Hawaiian Language, and College of Agriculture, Forestry & Natural Resource Management. Directors are chosen by their colleagues, and as a full faculty member, there is more stability and flexibility in their roles. It also doesn’t hurt that there is less cost by not having additional Dean positions. Interestingly, the University of Hilo West Oahu has no Deans and only uses Directors. (Full disclosure – I had to look up all the colleges as I did not know them all before the meeting.)
Join us for the next GAC meeting on Friday, October 13 where I hope to have someone from the County discuss the new General Plan (https://www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/general-plan-community-planning/gp).
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]]>October 2023
UH Hilo’s colleges of agriculture and pharmacy are focused on strengthening ties with the community
In my ongoing series of columns on the six colleges at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and their impact on the community, this month I’d like to focus on the College of Business and Economics and the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.
Our College of Business and Economics is one of only two business schools in the state accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. This is a distinction shared by fewer than 10 percent of business schools world-wide. Attending an AACSB-accredited institution ensures our students are receiving their education and degree from one of the best business schools in the world.
As of last year, the college is under new leadership with Todd Inouye, an associate professor of management who started teaching at the college in 2019. Within two years, he was promoted from assistant professor to associate professor, and last year received tenure, something he feels is a great honor and validation of his hard work, offering him a sense of belonging.
He is now focused on expanding community-engaged opportunities at the college for both students and faculty, and on how the college can contribute to cross-disciplinary collaboration both within and outside of UH Hilo. A great example of this is Delta Sigma Pi, the college’s co-ed business fraternity, that holds events to introduce students to local business owners to jumpstart internships and practical experience opportunities of benefit to both.
The college is also engaged with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawai‘i and the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce, and hosted a “fireside chat” with HICC members and the college’s leadership and faculty last spring.
Plans are underway to update the college’s advisory board membership for a more community-oriented approach. This development is in conjunction with meetings with stakeholders such as the UH System’s Office of Innovation and Commercialization, Hilo Fish Company, Waiakea High School, and Honoka‘a High and Intermediate School, to explore options to grow and enhance student learning. The college is well-positioned for success in these initiatives.
At the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy we are currently searching for a permanent dean. For the past year-and-a-half, the college has been under the leadership of interim dean Miriam Mobley Smith, who came to us with experience in this kind of role. She immediately focused on the college’s transition between deans and in stewarding the college in its vision of the future.
Finding faculty at the college most concerned about enrollment, curriculum, revenue, research, and the college community’s environment and atmosphere, the interim dean set her priorities to strengthen and enhance those areas, including the expansion of research, community collaborations, and clinical services. Notably, she has created pathways for students from the other nine UH campuses into our pharmacy program. Placing emphasis on making a difference in the local community is the driving force behind it all.
As the interim dean says, the bottom line is that good medicine can help communities, and it is our responsibility to make positive differences in our community. The action plan to achieve this is in strengthening connections between students and the resources offered through both the college and local community. A crucial connecting point for this is through faculty who can serve as mentors, assist with community networking, arrange volunteer experiences, and be aware of local health care niches in which students can intern and then later develop their careers.
I’m excited about the future for both these colleges as their ties become stronger with the communities we serve and our students are trained and educated in a way that makes them productive and responsible global citizens even before they graduate.
With aloha,
Bonnie D. Irwin
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