Two top University of Hawaii officials are assuring West Hawaii that the system has the area’s higher education needs foremost in mind. ADVERTISING Two top University of Hawaii officials are assuring West Hawaii that the system has the area’s higher
Two top University of Hawaii officials are assuring West Hawaii that the system has the area’s higher education needs foremost in mind.
Two top University of Hawaii officials are assuring West Hawaii that the system has the area’s higher education needs foremost in mind.
University of Hawaii President David Lassner and John Morton, vice president for community colleges, sketched their vision for the new Hawaii Community College — Palamanui at a forum Thursday evening in Kealakehe. The forum was attended by about 170 people.
Morton pledged that the new center will be a full and comprehensive branch campus of Hawaii Community College. The campus will also serve as a university center to deliver professional programs and bachelor’s and master’s degrees that a community college wouldn’t normally carry.
What prospective students won’t see in the foreseeable future is an independent community college. To set the facility and administration up to get accredited would cost an additional $750,000 to $1 million — money that could be put to better use in programs, Morton said. Instead, the center will piggy-back off of existing Hawaii Community College accreditation, Morton said.
Lassner echoed the sentiment, saying that, given tight fiscal constraints, he would prefer to put $1 million into programs.
“The cost of independent accreditation is not small,” Lassner said. “We have about 400 students at Kealakekua and room for 50 percent more at the new center. Our smallest accredited campus is 1,800 students on Kauai, and that’s small by national standards.”
“We need to grow this thing.”
The next phase of the center will include the nursing program, expanded culinary offerings, additional classrooms and full administrative and support services, followed by a phase that may include trade and technical offerings, Morton said.
There is no timeline for the additional phases because they depend largely on funding from the Legislature, Morton said.
“We’re obligated to go to the Legislature building by building, phase by phase for funding,” Morton said. “I would hope to begin the second phase a year after the first phase is complete.”
Completion of all four phases is about six years out, Morton estimated. but he noted that Kapiolani Community College took 16 years.
“Our strategy is that once you get started, people believe it is real and we want to keep that momentum going,” Morton said.
The additional space at Hawaii Community College — Palamanui will allow the UH system to quickly offer programs that are available elsewhere in the state but haven’t yet been brought to West Hawaii, Lassner said.
Lassner said UH administrators have been discussing such offerings at the center as health information technology, a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies, a master’s of art and teaching, an associate’s degree in digital media, a bachelor’s degree in business and a bachelor of science degree in marine science.
Asked if he intended to hire more teachers, Morton responded that there are empty seats in current classes that need to be filled first.
Morton said it has become apparent that many people aren’t even aware of the programs the current university center in Kealakekua is offering. A lot of work needs to be done to better communicate what programs are available, Morton said.
“We need to be out there much more with what we’re already doing,” Morton said.
In the future, the college must be more aggressive in publicizing new programs, giving students time to plan, Morton said.
Morton is optimistic water will be available for the center now that the state Commission on Water Resource Management has ordered Hawaii County and the National Park Service to mediate a dispute over whether the county or state should control the Keauhou aquifer. State control would lead to a period of at least a year when new water permits would not be available. The state commission may still take over control of the aquifer, but not before next summer. That should give the center time to obtain a permit, Morton said.
“But we’re still watching what the commission is doing, because we have phase two, three and four,” he said. “We need water.”
Asked about funding for culinary equipment being withdrawn from the new center, Morton said the approximately $800,000 went to fund change orders in the construction project. Now, the funding for equipment will have to come from elsewhere in the community college system — but it will come, Morton said.
“I’m not going to say, ‘come look at my new culinary facility,’ with no culinary equipment in it. Not into that,” Morton said. “Ultimately the money will come from the other campuses but I’m happy to make that decision. You’ve waited long enough.”
