Distance Education
The Program's distance education program utilizes the Hawaii Interactive Television System (HITS) to deliver courses to remote sites in the state. LIS has been one of the pioneers on campus in using this innovative instructional delivery system. It currently offers approximately 30 percent of its courses through HITS; at least 2 courses are available through this medium each fall and spring semester. Beginning in summer 2004 - 2006 the program will offer two additional HITS courses in consecutive 6-week sessions.
HITS Program Requirements for MLISc-degree Neighbor Island Students
LIS provides as much assistance as feasible to Neighbor Island students. However, each student is ultimately responsible to follow through on their own responsibilities. So that Neighbor Island LIS students know what their responsibilities are, the following is a list of program requirements: Who to contact
Your faculty advisor: Questions you may have regarding your academic program
of study in your degree program and approval for courses each semester.
Examples: What courses would work well for your area of interest. Your
faculty advisor was chosen for you according to your indicated area of
interest in your statement of objectives in your application. You may
change advisors as long as you obtain approval from the new advisor and
you notify the LIS office.
The LIS Office: Administrative processes having to do with your degree program, registration information, Leaves of Absence forms, or LIS Tuition Waivers.
Graduate Records Office: Located in Spalding Hall on the Manoa campus, this office oversees the operation of all graduate-degree programs on the Manoa campus. Some administrative work is processed directly out of this office, including the Intent to Graduate form.
Admissions and Records Office: Located in the Manoa Student Services Center, Admissions and Records handles all official address changes, transcript requests and Hawaii residency requirements for in-state tuition. Note: A & R is a very large office that handles the entire campus.
HITS coordinators: These people are on your island and serve as administrative counselors. They can provide you with assistance regarding course schedules for all HITS classes. They do not provide academic counseling for MLISc-degree students.
Orientation
All incoming classified students must come to Manoa for the LIS New Student
Orientation held before the start of the semester. Students need only
attend once. Neighbor Island students must fly in for this all-day function.
Those who fail to attend in their incoming semester must still attend
one at a later date.
Email
All LIS students are required to have a UH email address (hawaii.edu),
to inform LIS of their email address, and to check their email on a regular
basis (at least once a week). Lack of a computer or difficulty in accessing
computer facilities does not excuse students from checking their email.
It is especially critical for Neighbor Island LIS students to have email
access, so that they can obtain important information in a speedy manner.
It is most strongly urged that Neighbor Island students purchase their
own PCs and modems.
Faculty Advising
All classified students must confer with their faculty advisor each semester
regarding their program of study. Continuing students communicate with
their advisor as part of pre-registration, to obtain permission for courses
they wish to take. LIS will not give course approval to classified LIS
students unless they have communicated with their advisor and obtained
permission first, as noted in their student files. This includes Neighbor
Island students.
Registration
All students, including HITS students, must contact their faculty advisor
for permission to take any courses that are to be counted toward their
LIS degrees.
Summer Session classes: After obtaining permission from an advisor, students must register through the Outreach College Office. Students who did not register for a Manoa class in the preceding Spring semester are required to complete a (Summer Session) Outreach College Enrollment Information Form.
Fall and Spring semesters at Manoa: Students wishing to register for a Manoa campus class must inform the LIS Office as early as possible in the previous semester. HITS students are normally not coded in the UH Manoa database, and this must be amended (by prompting by the student) early enough to allow proper registration. Failure to do this in the previous semester will result in the Neighbor Island student not being allowed to register into the Manoa registration system.
Students who fail to register for a Manoa class in a timely manner are required to pay a $50.00 late registration fee. This fee is imposed by UH Manoa and not by LIS.
Graduation
Students who plan to graduate must complete the Intent to Graduate form
during the first two weeks of that semester. The Intent to Graduate form
is available from the Graduate Records Office in Spalding 352 (phone 956-8500).
Students who fail to complete this form in a timely manner will not graduate
in that semester.
Graduating LIS students who are required to take the oral comprehensive exam must fly to Oahu twice in their final semester. The first is at the start of the semester, to attend the oral exam orientation so they can obtain their exam questions and sign up on the exam schedule (the first Friday of the semester, announced over lis-stu). The second is to they take their exam. All oral exams are conducted on Fridays, and last one hour. Summer graduates must schedule and take their exam in the preceding Spring semester.