University of Hawaii West Oahu Seal

Bulletin No. 7

Date/Time sent: 06/29/2020 8:05 am

Aloha mai kākou!

We are closing the books on the month of June and Fiscal Year 2020! While we are still living with uncertainty, we have been able to draw on the expertise in and across our communities and networks to plan forward, to be stronger and resilient, and to act intentionally. I am grateful to everyone for staying the course, leaning in when needed, helping to navigate us through these tricky tides. Here is your update for this week focused on:

  • Our campus COVID-19 Guidelines
  • Fall Academic Schedule
  • Our enrollment as of today (6/29/2020)
  • Summer 2020
  • CARES Act funding
  • Update on our Fiscal Status (as of June 26, 2020)

An update on the status of our UHWO COVID-19 Guidelines:

The guidelines provide campus (employees, students, and visitors/community) with general details and procedures for re-opening and rejuvenating our campus for Fall 2020. The UH System will be posting an “Interim” systemwide guidance document this week that provides overarching guidance for all 10 campuses. UH West Oʻahu’s  “Interim COVID-10 Guidelines” follows this same template adding and providing more detail specific to our campus. Our guidelines will be posted soon after the UH System posting.

Note that the guidelines are as current and thorough as they can be for now. However, given the ambiguity of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we use the term “Interim” to allow for changes to be made to the procedures that reflect current needs/realities.

An update from our campus scheduler, Princess Soares, regarding Fall class scheduling:

STATS (prelim)
Of 728 active CRNs, 265 CRNs were online prior to conversions, with 463 CRNs scheduled as hybrid, in-person, or HITS.

Of the 463 CRNs, 184 CRNs converted to online in the 1st wave; 35 CRNs confirmed and scheduled for online conversion in 2nd wave; 117 CRNs confirmed for hybrid conversion to one of the new modalities; 127 CRNs pending confirmation from two DCs – should receive by Wednesday (8 CRNs have been confirmed for online conversion)

Monday/Tuesday focusing on room assignments for the 117 CRNs confirmed.

Online conversions will resume on Wednesday

After room assignments have been drafted (117+pending) it will be reviewed by facilities and the Office of Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for recommended adjustments prior to changes being publicized and entered into Banner.

An update on our enrollment status from Student Affairs, Director of Admissions, Michelle Cohen:

We have an overall application increase of +1.24%. Applications for Early College and Running Start continue to be down (233 this year compared to 425 last year at this time), accounting for the majority of our application decrease (425-233 = 192; this is a -45% decrease for Early College/Running Start).

Quick snapshot (Applications):

  • Freshman apps are up +19.7% (820 apps today vs. 685 apps last year)
  • Transfer apps are up +6.5% (914 apps today vs. 858 last year)
  • Returning apps are up +18.8% (91 apps today vs. 77 last year)
  • Running Start & Early College apps are down -45.0% (233 apps today vs. 425 last year)
  • Unclassified apps are down -15.6% (43 apps today vs. 51 last year)

Opening Enrollment Reports (Registrations)

  • Overall registration is down -5.9% (slightly decreased from last week’s -5.6%).
  • Total # registrations:  2,122 today vs. 2,256 last year.
  • Freshman registrations are up from last year: 72 today vs. 65 (+10.8%)
  • Transfer registrations are nearly on par with last year: 382 today vs. 392 (-2.6%)
  • Returning student registrations are slightly up from last year: 32 today vs. 29 (+10.3%)
  • Continuing student registration has improved slightly from last week’s -7.6% decrease: 1,635 today vs. 1,768 last year (-7.5%)

We need your continued support to encourage your continuing students to register for the fall semester. Know that the mode of delivery of our fall classes are in progress. Students can learn more about their options via online access OR by reaching out to their  academic adviser. In addition, our financial aid team is available to respond to student needs.

An update on our Summer Session II Learning Lab Courses from Director of DE, Gloria Niles:

EDUC 210 Hawaiian Ways of Knowing
Instructor: Dr. Cathy Ikeda
Mode: HOT Hybrid (Rotating Group/Group size 5 & 6)
Room A 224 SD Max = 9
Schedule: M/W
Coupled with SD 103 First Year Experience
Instructor: Katrina Abes
ENROLLMENT MUST SEE DR. IKEDA

ENG 100T Composition II with Tutorial
Instructor: Tiare Picard
Mode: HOT Hybrid (Reserved Seats)
Max enrollment = 20
Room A 219 SD Max = 12
Coupled with SD 101-PE1 Summer Bridge
Instructor: Loea Akiona
ENROLLMENT STILL OPEN – ENCOURAGE STUDENTS (TUITION COVERED BY CARES)

MATH 103 ML-PM1 College Algebra with Tutorial
MATH 103 ML-PM2 College Algebra with Tutorial
Instructor: Alika Gorospe
Mode: Hybrid/Online Blend
Room A 223 SD Max = 10
Coupled with SD 101-PM1 Summer Bridge
Instructor: Kaʻiulani Akamine
ENROLLMENT STILL OPEN – ENCOURAGE STUDENTS (TUITION COVERED BY CARES)

An update on our CARES Act Funding:

  1.  CARES Act Student Grant Selection and Distribution Proposal Total Funding $697,500

    • Allocated by UHWO Financial Aid, Dir. FinAid James Oshiro

    • Amount remaining as of 6/19 $471,400

    • FinAid will be disbursing remaining funding in three tranches:

      1. First, to all remaining eligible Spring 2020 students who did not receive CARES funds, which is approximately 620 students. The award is $700.00.

      2. Second, award ($700) all eligible summer I and/or summer II enrolled students as they are also being disrupted by the change in modality.  Estimated amount of 20 to 30 students.

      3. Lastly, if there are remaining funds, eligible students enrolled in summer would apply for additional grant awards for summer and fall tuition.

  1. CARES Act Institutional Funding Total $697,500

    • Allocated by UHWO Chancellor’s Office. Budget covers: (1) Reimburse campus costs to address impact of COVID-19 on spring semester (e.g., cleaning supplies and personnel; IT/DE supplies, equipment and personnel), (2) Preparing campus for Fall 2020 Re-open (e.g., IT costs, classroom set-up costs, purchase of cleaning products and PPEi, personnel costs, etc.), and (3) Support salaries & wages for summer 2020 and fall 2020 (e.g., student assistants, essential casual/temporary hires, stipends, etc.).

    • All units are hiring and training a core of student assistants to support instruction, online learning, IT support, ADA needs, tutoring, student success, student services.

    • Targeted personnel support funded: Financial Aid, IT Help Desk and AV, Tutoring.

    • Funds are being used to support 3 pilot hybrid courses for incoming freshman and second year students, which will provide the material for the development of PD video.

    • Lionʻs share of current expenses on (1) preparing our classrooms, cleaning products, appropriate PPE, and (2) IT/AV equipment for all our classrooms, for faculty and students.

    • In light of our fall 2020 budget shortfall, we anticipate using the remainder of our funding to support (1) instructional and student success endeavors, and (2) campus health and safety, daily health tracking, and support for more robust on-campus health aid (physical and mental well-being).

  1. CARES Act Institutional Money for eligible Minority Serving Institutions Total Funding: $1,238,245

    • Due to our impending cut to our fiscal year 2021 budget, we have refrained from committing too much of this tranche of resources. What we know is that we will fund:

      1. Essential hires: instructional, student assistants, and support staff

      2. Support personnel, supplies/equipment to ensure that health and well-being of all members of out campus community

      3. Employ resources wisely to maximize the success of our students and sustain the quality of our teaching, community outreach, and engaged scholarship endeavors.

An update on our Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Budget

All 10 campuses across the UH System are on a strict hire freeze. All positions that may have become open after the initial sweep of vacant positions (in April) are frozen. All searches have been halted and no offers are being made. We are hopeful that within 3-5 weeks we will have a better understanding of our personnel and fiscal situation.

Currently, we believe that we will experience at least a 10% cut to our general fund base. This is the pool of funding that covers our permanent employee salaries. Since we do not receive the full amount of general funds to pay our permanent employees we draw on our TFSF (Tuition and Fees). In addition, UH West Oʻahu draws $4.1-plus million from TFSF to pay the bond investment made to build the campus. This leaves us very “tight” on operational funds during a time when our enrollment (funds TFSF) is unstable.

The Chancellor is currently discussing with campus leadership how we might prioritize our efforts in a manner that will identify:

  1. Those key areas to target investments. These are areas that will make us stronger and help us thrive.

  2. Those critical areas to sustain at or slightly below current levels. These are areas that will keep us balanced and help us survive.

  3. And finally, those areas that we must “hold” or sunset. These are areas that as well as those areas of our work that could sunset

Please take good care and mahalo for all you do!

E mālama pono!
Maenette Benham, Chancellor