Ka Pe‘ahi Lono: Monthly Message for May

Date/Time sent: 05/02/2022 9:00 am

Hoʻokāhi ka ilau like ana (Wield the paddles together)

Aloha mai kākou e UH West Oʻahu ʻOhana!

As we come to the close of our 2021-2022 Academic Fall and Spring semesters (summer on its way), I am filled with gratitude! Mahalo nūnui to our staff who go the “extra mile” every day to ensure that our campus infrastructure is working and at-the-ready to support our core efforts – learning, teaching, and service. Mahalo nūnui to our student leaders and kakoʻo/helpers who have worked so hard this past year to encourage peers to return to campus, to engage in extra-curricular activities, and to support one another. Mahalo nūnui to our directors and campus executives for it has been a challenging time for us all but through the drop in enrollment and the constant call to return to campus you have all sustained your commitment to our campus, your staff, and to each other. Mahalo nūnui to our faculty, instructors, and lecturers for inspiring your students and giving of your time and expertise to support our campus initiatives.

Yesterday I spent my afternoon with ʻUluʻulu staff, ACM students, Dr. Magnussen, Dr. Aaron Salā and Lilinoe Andrews (w/Kapena Shim and Myrna Kamae) celebrating the launch of the Eddie Kamae Songbook (co-produced by UH West Oʻahu) at the Royal Hawaiian Center. It was indeed, a glorious May Day—truly a legacy gift to the generations to come. Our presentation focused on Eddie Kamae’s kumu Pilahi Paki, Mary Kawena Pukui, and Sam Liʻa. They were the compass for Eddie and Myrna’s work.

Pilahi Paki who shared the meaning of ALOHA told Eddie, “Do it now for soon there will be no more.”
Mary Kawena Pukui told Eddie, “Do it for the children, Eddie, for it will live forever.”
Tutu man Sam Liʻa from Waipiʻo said to Eddie, “Sing for the children, Eddie. Sing for the children!”

Here are a couple links about the Kamae songbook launch:
https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2022/04/27/eddie-kamae-songbook-educational-resource/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBcDBDhOnvg

Over the last several weeks, I have been reminded that for all of us as educators, students, and supporters of learning and teaching our kahea/calling is, to pass on knowledge and wisdom to ensure that the brilliance of humanity, the legacy of aloha and intelligence of generations weathers all storms and is ALIVE through our actions. We look forward to our in-person Fall 2022 Convocation and Professional Development to be held in August and bring “alive” all our classrooms, labs, studios, and campus meeting places. Have a great summer and see you, on campus, in the fall!

Please take the time to read our May Peʻahi Lono – there’s important information and updates!

Mahalo nūnui for taking the time to review this week’s bulletin.
E mālama pono!
Maenette Benham, Chancellor

Section divider made up of two canoe paddles.

REVITALIZING THE LIFE OF OUR CAMPUS

We need your kōkua to support our UH West Oʻahu Enrollment Team!

Enrollment Services is busily processing applications, sending out admissions decisions, and working with admitted students to help them finalize their college plans. Your support, your kōkua is greatly needed and appreciated at this time. Here is a message from Dr. Lokelani Kenolio and the Enrollment Team:

As we welcome May, it is graduation time at UH West Oʻahu. More than 400 students have petitioned for graduation with about 284 are expected to participate in the graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Congratulations to our graduating seniors!

Continuing students are encouraged to register for Fall. Registration opened on April 4 and will be available through the first week of school in August. With registration for Fall 2022 underway, accepted students are preparing to join us this fall. In April, Enrollment Services hosted 76 admitted first-year students and 84 family members at the first admitted student reception since the pandemic began. More than 40 faculty, staff and current students welcomed our guests at the Nāulu Outdoor Learning Space for an academic and student services Fair which offered information, fun giveaways and great conversations. Students also went on campus tours and had the chance to hear first-hand from faculty and staff at several locations which included the Academy for Creative Media building, the science labs, the music recording studio, the Noʻeau Center and the Nāulu Center.

Two men pose in front of a table with a "UH West Oahu" logo

Stay tuned for details about an upcoming event for admitted transfer students! The event will focus on advising, registration, and financial aid for incoming transfers.

Financial aid has been hard at work to award students in a timely manner for the upcoming 2022-23 award year. Awarding is done while serving currently enrolled students, performing the end of term processing, awarding summer financial aid recipients. Financial aid awarding started for the 2022-23 award year in early March and is currently up to date. In addition, the UH Foundation scholarships (donor funded and applied through the Common Scholarship application) for UH West Oʻahu have been selected and awarded to our recipients. More than 5,000 FAFSA records for more than 4,000 students have been received for the 2022-23 award year. Frank Green, our financial aid wizard, continues to conduct weekly webinars and outreach to local high schools. On the federal front, for the 2022-23 award year, the Pell Grant appropriations have increased the award by as much as $400 for the highest eligible award amount. Students are welcome to submit the FAFSA application through summer. Financial Aid staff are available to assist with any questions, please contact uhwo.finaid@hawaii.edu or call 808-689-2900.

Four men sit and stand behind a table promoting University of Hawaii-West Oahu.

A CELEBRATION OF GOOD WORKS: KŪLIA I KA NUʻU (REACH FOR THE SUMMIT!)

Let’s celebrate our good health and our ability to be a steward of our community!

During this unprecedented time, the Hawaiʻi Foodbank needs our continued support now more than ever. The issue of hunger continues to be a major challenge facing our community and the demands on the Hawaiʻi Foodbank are even greater. While the top five needs are various canned goods and rice, which are currently in short supply, please be reminded that monetary donations are also being accepted via the Hawaiʻi Foodbank’s “Online Donation” page – be sure to list UH West Oʻahu as your campus.

This year, your Hawaiʻi Foodbank coordinators will be trying something new. Coordinators will be asking for weekly donations of the highest in demand requests from the Hawaii Foodbank.

PLEASE DROP OFF YOUR DONATIONS IN THE FINAL WEEKS:
May 2-6 Canned vegetables
May 9-13 Rice

Donations can be dropped off in the Naʻulu Center or Administration building lobby.
We look forward to continuing the University’s long tradition of support for the Hawaiʻi Foodbank. More information about UH’s Foodbank Campaign can be found at www.hawaii.edu/offices/president/foodbank. Additional Information on Emergency Food Assistance can be found at the Hawaiʻi Foodbank: www.hawaiifoodbank.org/emergency-assistance.

Please take a moment to consider making a contribution to assist those who are most in need.
If you have any questions, please contact Chris Neves at 689-2773 or at cabralch@hawaii.edu or Ryan Perreira at rperreir@hawaii.edu.

Highlights

HANA LAWELAWE: ON LEADERSHIP

Pūpūkahi i Holomua (Unite to Move Forward)!

This month we feature the leadership of our Office of the VC of Academic Affairs. From the Desk of AVCAA Alan Rosenfeld.

This iteration of Peʻahi Lono sees us celebrate the tremendous success of UH West O‘ahu’s Early College Program, which has come into full bloom in Spring 2022, with a record enrollment of 377 students. Chee-hoo! Of course, this could not have been possible without the work of many helping hands, including UH West O‘ahu faculty members and our local high school partners. However, we should recognize the two rocks sustaining our growing Early College Program—Director Garyn Tsuru and Coordinator Brandon Carlos, who even filled in as the Interim Director for eight months in 2021 while Dr. Tsuru took a leave of absence to assist the DOE as the Early College Director at Waipahu High School. This was undoubtedly one of the reasons that Mr. Carlos was selected for the 2021 Kumupa‘a Staff Award.

Although the onset of the coronavirus pandemic two years ago presented a significant challenge as our Early College classes were forced to pivot quite suddenly to fully online delivery, Garyn and Brandon worked to ensure that this transition was a massive success. Of course, dozens of faculty members and lecturers completed the ground work to make this all possible. Thanks to all of them, UH West O‘ahu’s Early College program has been able to expand its reach into new “markets.” This semester we launched a new Health Science Pathway at ’Āiea High School, with the delivery of HLTH 204: Introduction to Native Hawaiian Health & Healing. Furthermore, this coming fall Mililani High School students will be participating in an ACM Early College Pathway by enrolling in an ART 112: Introduction to Digital Art class. Importantly, these two initiatives constitute UH West O‘ahu’s first ever Early College courses at ‘Āiea and Mililani High Schools. Truly a momentous achievement! Furthermore, our Early College Program will welcome Leilehua High School back into the fold this fall, with their students’ participation in an Education Pathway course—EDEF 107: Careers in Education—sponsored by James Campbell High School.

The Early College momentum appears to be carrying forward into Summer Session 2022, with 14 classes currently scheduled and 140 applications already received (as of April 26). As competition for Leeward high school graduates intensifies, our Early College efforts play an increasingly crucial role in our recruitment and enrollment efforts. Let us keep in mind that UH West O‘ahu has a tremendous home field advantage, namely that the four high schools with the largest graduation classes in the state are all located right in our own backyard: Campbell (690), Waipahu (611), Mililani (605), and Kapolei (456). Led by Garyn Tsuru and Brandon Carlos, and staffed and supported by countless dedicated faculty members, our Early College Program can serve as a conduit for guiding many of these students into the UH West O‘ahu ‘ohana.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

FROM OUR BUSINESS OFFICE

SuperQUOTE Training:
CommercePoint, Inc. will be providing SuperQUOTE training on the following dates/times:

May 3: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.
May 10: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.
May 17: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.
May 24: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Please use the following zoom link to attend (registration is not required):

https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/93779290162
Meeting ID: 937 7929 0162
One tap mobile
+19712471195,,93779290162# US (Portland)
+12063379723,,93779290162# US (Seattle)

Reminder: Fiscal 2022 Year-End Closing Procedures:
We’re in our countdown to year-end … just two months left in the fiscal year! Please be sure to adhere to fiscal year-end deadlines provided by your respective administrative staff.

FROM OUR HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE

Open Enrollment is currently taking place for changes to the EUTF Health plans and PTS Deferred Comp which ends on May 13, 2022. This is your opportunity to enroll or make changes to existing health benefits or take advantage of pre-tax savings for out of pocket medical or childcare expenses.
https://www.hawaii.edu/ohr/2022-open-enrollment/

Also, this is a reminder for all BU-07 Faculty and Lecturers to submit your annual Conflict of Interest Forms for 2022 ASAP. The Conflict of Interest form has been moved to Kuali Build.

Go to: http://go.hawaii.edu/xyA
In the website’s search bar, search for “UH Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Form”
Complete the form and click “Submit”

FROM UH SYSTEM REGARDING STRATEGIC PLAN 2023-2029

Aloha UH faculty, staff and students,

As President Lassner announced on March 8, UH System is moving forward on a new Strategic Plan, 2023–2029. This process builds upon the Third Decade Report, the President’s Post-Pandemic Hawaiʻi white paper, and UH’s progress on Strategic Directions 2015–21. We know the semester is quickly coming to a close, so in order to engage as many faculty, staff and students as possible, we are hosting four town halls before the end of the term.

Please join one of the virtual town halls on the strategic plan:

Tuesday, May 3, 2022 1:00–2:30 p.m. (RSVP here)
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 12:00–1:30 p.m. (RSVP here)
Tuesday, May 10, 2022 8:30–10:00 a.m. (RSVP here)
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 12:00–1:30 p.m. (RSVP here)

We also encourage the UH community to respond to a survey about priorities for the strategic plan and process for strategic planning. Deadline for providing input via the survey is Friday, May 6, 2022.

Over the summer we will invite the community to engage in the strategic planning process and also continue with the planning process so that when students and faculty return in the Fall, we will discuss a draft and host additional town halls at that time. Information about the strategic planning process can be found here.

If you have questions, please email ovpas@hawaii.edu.

Mahalo,
Debora Halbert, Vice President for Academic Strategy
Pearl Iboshi, Director, Institutional Research, Analysis and Planning Office

REGARDING COVID-19

Our revised COVID Guidelines are posted. We encourage you to get your booster shot and to follow all campus safety precautions. If you have any questions about our campus protocols please email covid19@hawaii.edu.

Let’s be mindful, respectful, and responsible of and to our campus community as we celebrate family, holidays, commencement, and continued good news in the upcoming months.

The Hawaii Safe Travels program ended on March 25, 2022. As a result, the Hawaii Safe Travels digital platform, found on travel.hawaii.gov, will no longer be available.

The Hawaii SMART Health Card application, which is found on the Hawaii Safe Travels website, will also shut down when the program ends. Holders of a Hawaii SMART Health Card who wish to keep a copy of their digital vaccine card for possible future use have these options:

Save the QR code by printing it or saving a screenshot of it on their mobile device
Add it to their Apple Wallet. Instructions can be found here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212752
Add to Samsung Pay or CommonHealth app.

If saved, the QR code will still have the ability to show the verified information when scanned by the verifier app.

All of the information stored in the Hawaii Safe Travels digital platform is subject to the State’s records retention schedule, which is 3 years after the end of the program. When the Safe Travels platform goes offline on March 26th, the existing data will be secured, encrypted and stored off-line in a safe manner. After 3 years, the data will be destroyed. We are planning to make a version of the information, with all personal information removed, available for research purposes in the future, for example, visitor trends during the pandemic.

Mahalo for supporting the Hawaii SMART Health Card Program.
-Hawaii Safe Travels Team