HILO — Fall enrollment at the University of Hawaii at Hilo appears to be lower than predicted, but interim Chancellor Marcia Sakai said she’s optimistic the campus can reverse the decline.
“I know the enrollment numbers are a concern, and they are also a concern to me,” Sakai, 69, said Wednesday. “But you don’t turn something around overnight. And I think we know what we have to do. We just need to keep on doing it.”
As of Tuesday, UH-Hilo had 3,446 students enrolled, a 4.3 percent drop from Aug. 22, 2016, enrollment of 3,600.
The numbers are preliminary. Sakai said enrollment is expected to fluctuate in the coming weeks, at which point official numbers will be posted.
But the drop follows five consecutive years of declining enrollment. It’s also lower than what the campus originally predicted.
Administrators drafted a plan last school year to manage its decreasing enrollment. The plan predicted a 1.2 percent decline this school year, followed by incremental increases through the 2019-20 school year, at which point it’s aiming for 3,830 students to be enrolled.
The number of continuing students showed the largest decline this year, according to preliminary numbers, dropping from 2,384 Aug. 22, 2016, to 2,227 as of Tuesday.
The number of first-time freshmen, however, increased from 374 in 2016 to 421 on Tuesday.
“That’s a good sign,” Sakai said of the freshman increase. “That’s something we can look at with positive interpretation because it would indicate we are successfully communicating to students what UH-Hilo has to offer them. … It’s the returning students … students we would have expected to return … that is smaller than the (number) who returned last year.”
Sakai said she plans to hire a new admissions counselor this year who will recruit and assist West Hawaii students — an “area … identified for service and growth.”
She said UH-Hilo also plans to increase support for freshmen and transfer students. For example, it’s planning a center specifically to help transfer students, and also plans to hire a freshmen “experience director” who will focus on increasing freshmen retention.
Sakai said she also wants to expand a discipline-based, peer mentoring program and continue Living Learning Communities — residential communities for first-year students.
She said administrators believe part of that decline among continuing students includes out-of-state students who enroll with an inaccurate perception of the school. The campus revamped its recruitment materials in recent years in effort to attract students better suited for East Hawaii.
“The thought here is that, if we attract students who are looking for what we’re good at, they will stay,” Sakai said. “If we attract students who come here thinking they will have a white sand beach and go surfing, we won’t keep that student because that’s not what we’re good at.”
An additional 134 students attended UH-Hilo’s new student orientation this year, Sakai added, which could bode well for enrollment in future years. She said UH-Hilo also has steadily awarded more degrees and certificates each year since 2010.
Sakai was appointed interim chancellor Aug. 1 on a one-year assignment. She replaced Chancellor Donald Straney, who was reassigned to a new position within UH leadership.
Originally from Oahu, Sakai said she moved to Hilo more than 40 years ago when her husband got a job at UH-Hilo. He’s still a faculty member in the College of Agriculture.
She has worked at UH-Hilo since 1991. She began as a business and economics faculty member, and in 2005, she was named dean of the College of Business and Economics. Most recently she was vice chancellor for administrative affairs.
She said much of her family now lives in Hilo, including her only child and seven grandchildren.
“I never planned to be in this position,” Sakai said, regarding her interim chancellor role. “But I’m happy to help and serve. … Hilo is my home, so I want to do what I can to help the University of Hawaii at Hilo be what it can be and to be an advocate for it at the system level.”
A search for Straney’s permanent replacement already has begun, Sakai said. She said the UH plans to use a third-party search firm. She said President David Lassner also is planning to visit UH-Hilo at an undetermined date in the future to meet with campus groups about the search process. She said the community will be invited to participate.
“My primary goal is to maintain the forward momentum from the past year, but to do so with a sense of stability,” Sakai said. “Students should know we consider their progress our top priority, and that’s what we’ll work toward.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.