Ka Pe‘ahi Lono: Monthly Message for February
Date/Time sent: 02/01/2023 9:00 amUH West Oʻahu Value Proposition
We prepare 21st Century leaders, career creators through integrated, transdisciplinary programs where learners and teachers, together, discover and innovate and engage diverse communities to create a vibrant and socially just world.
Hoʻokāhi ka ilau like ana (Wield the paddles together)
Aloha mai kākou e UH West Oʻahu ʻOhana!
新年快乐 – Happy Chinese New Year
Xīnnián hǎo (新年好) New Years goodness
On Jan. 22 we celebrated the start of the the year of the Water Rabbit. In Chinese culture, the rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity. Around the world many cultures associate the rabbit to springtime, a time of new beginnings. Much like our favorite pink Energizer Bunny, the symbolic rabbit is spry and energetic, positive and full of life, possibility, and hope. After the non-stop intensity of action and change that characterized 2022, the Year of the Tiger, it is predicted that we will transition to a new spring, a year of prosperity and hope we are much in need of.
Welcome Our New Campus Executives
In late December, we welcomed Interim Vice Chancellor Lokelani Kenolio to the helm of Student Affairs! Her passion and drive, the warmth of her smile and kindness, and the clarity of her vision is steering the student success waʻa steadily forward. While we search for a permanent VCSA (target start date June 1, 2023), Dr. Kenolio and her team continue to work diligently to recover our enrollment numbers, bring more students to campus, and ensure we create every opportunity for our students to succeed.
Director for Strategic Directions, Accreditation and Assessment, Jessica Miranda, began on Monday, Jan. 23. She brings to our ʻohana much needed expertise in evaluation, assessment, accreditation, measurement and psychometrics. The work she will do at UH West Oʻahu is game changing. She will link the dots across all that we do by providing evidence based data (both quantitative and qualitative) that will help us to get better at what we do and to share our good works with multiple audiences. An educational psychologist, Ph.D. from UH Mānoa, she brings to her work her extensive assessment and accreditation experience at the College of Education (UHM). Jessica earned her M.A. in Second Language Studies with specializations in Language Teaching and Language Assessment, Measurement, and Program Evaluation; and her B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Teaching English as a Second Language. All her degrees are from UH Mānoa. Her smile and grace, her quick wit and sharp acumen, and her openness to listen will embrace you.
Today, Feb. 1., we welcome our new Vice Chancellor for Administration Dave McDonald. Dave comes to us from Western Oregon University where he was the Associate Vice President for Public Affairs and Strategic Initiatives. He brings to UH West Oʻahu a board portfolio of skills from his experience as Associate Provost, Dean of Admissions, Retention and Enrollment Management, the Director of Enrollment Services for the Oregon System, and Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies at UC San Diego. With a BA in Marketing, Business Administration and Management from the University of Oregon and an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Washington, Dave brings solid expertise in educational management and an abundance of joy and passion to ensure all students from diverse backgrounds and communities experience successful learning journeys.
Our community has proven that when we all work as a collective, we can navigate any uncharted territory together. With new leadership aboard, our sails are full and our paddles ready! Hoʻokāhi ka ilau like ana (Wield the paddles together)!
“E ʻeleu mai ʻoukou!” Step lively, let’s move together!
E mālama pono!
Maenette Benham, Chancellor
Health and Well-Being Reminder
The COVID-19 vaccines are still one of the best tools available to protect against the COVID-19 virus. The virus remains a serious health concern, especially for those in high-risk categories. Information on the new COVID-19 bivalent booster, vaccination options for children and vaccination sites near you.
The new booster is specifically designed to protect against original COVID-19 and Omicron sub-variants.
Keep in mind, kūkulu kaiāulu! Please strengthen our community with your passions, respect for one another, and patience! Please respect an individual’s personal choice to wear a face mask. Mahalo to everyone, for your patience and empathy, your good work and commitment to care for one another!
Important Highlights
Here are January highlights you might have missed:
- Feelings of pride mutual between mother and daughter, both UH West Oʻahu grads
- Hirono visits, discusses sustainable agriculture, digital media, and more
- Father and son making memories together
- Spring 2023 Convocation welcomes new semester
Hana Lawelawe: On Leadership
Speak your Aloha
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. It is a day that we express our love and appreciation for family, friends, our children and siblings, our pets, and so on – a celebration filled with hugs, chocolate, and roses. However you celebrate this “Hallmark” moment, I wish you all a day filled with the warmth and embrace of the magic of aloha.
Speak Your Aloha
Share these affirmations. It is a great way to manifest aloha. Try these in ʻōlelo Hawai‘i!
I love you – Aloha wau iā ʻoe
I am proud of you – Haʻaheo au iā ʻoe
I am thankful for you – Mahalo au iā ʻoe
You’re my cherished friend – ʻO ʻoe kuʻu hoapili
You look great today – Nani loa ʻoe i kēia lā
You are strong – Ikaika ʻoe
You are important – Koʻikoʻi ʻoe
I am here for you – Aia au me ʻoe
You are kind – ʻOluʻolu ʻoe
I believe in you – Hilinaʻi au iā ʻoe
Kūkulu Kaiāulu Hōʻike Hapahā Makahiki: Building Community Quarterly Report
I know that our slow and steady transitioning to a new university can be unnerving and can be overwhelming. Yet, I have been witness to extraordinary commitment to learning, to being present and engaging on-campus, and to meaningful outreach into community and into our K-12 schools. The work that faculty, staff and students do has been demonstrated in so many ways. I recognize just three:
- I see maximized efforts by our student success coaches, our counselors, our front desk service workers (IT, Library, Student Services) ALL focused on the health and wellness of our students and ensuring that all visitors feel welcome.
- I see faculty, instructors, lecturers leveraging their knowledge and skills, working within and across divisions to fortify and intensify, in innovative ways, engaged learning opportunities across all modalities.
- I see staff on our facilities crews, in our business and HR offices – to name a few offices – our back of the house backbone reinventing and revitalzing what they do to meet the challenges of this remarkably unpredictable time.
The results of your actions are illuminated in the stories that our students tell about their learning journey at UH West Oʻahu. Our Winter 2023 Quarterly Impact Report shares the stories of ʻohana, of dreams and aspirations coming true. Please take a moment to read the stories shared in this report.
Institutional Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Report
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently sent our institution’s 2022 IPEDS Data Feedback Report (DFR). We regularly provide data to IPEDS, which is required of all Title IV institutions. IPEDS data are used to satisfy several statutory requirements. These data are publicly available in many ways:
- Much of the data appear on College Navigator (http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/), the U.S. Department of Education’s college search site that receives over one million visits per month;
- The recently updated College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/) utilizes several IPEDS data measures along with other federal agency data to help students and parents make smart college-choice decisions based on costs, value, and quality;
- The retention, transfer, graduation rate, and price data are displayed in the FAFSA online (https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa) when students are applying for financial aid;
- The average net price and tuition and fees data are used for the lists presented in the College Affordability and Transparency Center (https://collegecost.ed.gov/affordability); and
- The data are publicly available for download from the IPEDS website (https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data/) and are used by institutions for benchmarking as well as by policymakers and reporters.
Should you have any questions please reach out to our campus Institutional Research Office, John Stanley at jstanley@hawaii.edu.