Focus on Academic Preparations for Fall 2020

Date/Time sent: 06/19/2020 9:10 am

Aloha mai e ka UH West Oʻahu Student ʻOhana!

In April, we established three (3) work groups whose aim it is to assess and plan for our fall 2020 semester. Today I write to share with you our overarching plans to welcome you back to campus (westoahu.hawaii.edu/covid-19/safe-return/). The changes that we are making to our fall 2020 schedule are predicated on the following principles:

Maximize our efforts that focus on the health and wellness of our students, faculty, staff and visitors.
Leverage the knowledge and skills of our faculty and staff to fortify and intensify, in innovative ways, engaged learning environments and opportunities.
Reinvent and revitalize what we do to meet the challenges of this remarkably unpredictable time.

Physical distancing on campus to maximize the health and wellness of the UH West Oʻahu community requires us to migrate currently scheduled in-person courses to online or hybrid course modalities.

Please know that your UH West Oʻahu faculty, instructors, and staff are working diligently to develop online and hybrid learning experiences to ensure you have the best possible learning experience during this unusual and difficult time. Changes are currently being made and will continue throughout the summer, so please check the UH West Oʻahu Fall 2020 Courses website (westoahu.hawaii.edu/covid-19/fall-2020-courses/) for the status of your course(s) or your STAR (star.hawaii.edu/studentinterface/) account.

Please make sure that you work closely with your academic advisor. Contact your academic advisor directly or email uhwo.advising@hawaii.edu. For accessibility considerations or concerns, please email Tom Hirsbrunner at hirsbrun@hawaii.edu. Again, if you are required to make changes and if you have questions, contact your academic advisor as soon as possible. Remember, your academic advisors – not friends or social media – are your source for definitive answers to your course scheduling questions.

Regarding military/veterans benefits: Benefits will not be impacted. The C19 attribute will appear in class availability and STAR GPS for classes that have been converted from in-person/hybrid to completely online.

Track the latest UH West Oʻahu COVID-19 updates on the campus website (https://westoahu.hawaii.edu/covid-19/).

We know that you value your UH West Oʻahuu learning experience as well as the relationships, conversations, and connections you have with peers! We value them, too, and are looking forward to seeing you online and on campus in the fall!

Pueo Strong! E malama pono!
Maenette Benham, Chancellor