West Hawai‘i Higher Education Forum
Documents
Agenda (.pdf)
Attendees List (.pdf)
Morning Session Summary (.pdf)
Afternoon Session Summary (.pdf)
"The additional space at Hawai‘i 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 Hawai‘i, 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 associates's degree in digital media, a bachelor's degree in business and a bachelor of science degree in marine science." -West Hawai‘i Today, 12/12/14.
Forum
This summarizes the discussions at the West Hawai‘i Higher Education Forum held on December 11, 2014 at the Hawai‘i Gateway Energy Center at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority (NELHA) in Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i.
Summary
The community forum on the West Hawai‘i Higher Education, hosted by the University of Hawai‘i was held on December 11, 2014, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at NELHA. The goal of the forum was to begin a conversation toward the future of the West Hawai‘i Palamanui campus.
UH President, David Lassner opened the forum and by welcoming key UH leaders and invited Kona-Kohala stakeholders to discuss shared vision for higher education in West Hawai‘i, future of Palamaui, and prioritization of high-need areas. He introduced Noreen Yamane, Chancellor of Hawai‘i Community College who discussed the plans for Palamaui, and Marty Fletcher, Director of the Univeristy Center West Hawai‘i who discussed the current status and feedback from the community.
The group discussed their shared vision of high-priority areas which included: hospitality and tourism, health and well-being, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), education and social care, Hawaiian culture, business and entrepreneurship, computing and technology and general trades. (See documents box above.)
President Lassner closed the morning session by summarizing the broad themes of the morning session as workforce development, recognizing assests, gathering student input, starting small and building our way up, and working with partners such as the Department of Education and Kamehameha Schools.
John Morton, Vice President for Community Colleges facilitated an afternoon session attended by UH personnel with a focus on identifying possible programs to offer at Hawai‘i Community College - Palamaui. Discussion centered around the need for marketing, and exploration of other programs which will benefit the needs of the students who will attend the new campus.
Next steps, include:
- Convening the University Center Directors to discuss to ways to market programs at West Hawai‘i;
- Develop a clear list of contacts for each of the offered programs; and
- Exploring programs and workforce needs.
