The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has updated the 2015–25 Strategic Plan after extensive engagement with the campus community. The new plan, Mānoa 2025, articulates how the university will strive to meet its mission statement—“E hoʻomālamalama i kō mālama: Cultivating the potential within each member of our community,” and vision statement—“He lamakū o ke aloha ʻāina: A leading light of aloha ʻāina for Hawaiʻi and the world.” Both statements were updated during the process.
Mānoa 2025 identified four goals:
- Becoming a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning
- Enhancing Student Success
- Excellence in Research
- Building a Sustainable and Resilient Campus Environment
The final stages of the years-long effort were completed while the COVID-19 virus spread around the world and as a fiscal crisis in Hawaiʻi caused by the pandemic began.
“Our university’s core values, mission and vision must persist through both normal times and times of crisis,” said UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno in a December 15 message to the campus announcing Mānoa 2025. “We believe that the values, mission, vision and goals articulated in the plan will help us navigate through this crisis and emerge stronger than ever.”
The update started in 2018 as a series of conversations with UH Mānoa stakeholders—students, faculty, staff, administrators and community members—about the state of the university and what it should aspire to become. A draft based on those conversations was shared with the campus community in early 2019 and was finalized after receiving feedback from hundreds of stakeholders.
Provost Bruno’s message
Aloha,
As you may recall, in 2018 I charged the strategic planning committee to revisit our goals and update the mission and vision statements for the campus. That effort was guided by a series of campus conversations with students, faculty and staff who shared their thoughts on where we are and what we aspire to be as a university in the next five years. Inspired and informed by these conversations, the committee prepared a first draft of the updated plan, which was shared with the campus electronically in early 2019. The feedback received from hundreds of faculty, staff and students on that draft informed the final draft of our strategic plan, Mānoa 2025.
We acknowledge that our campus continues to struggle with both the global pandemic and the budget implications of the associated fiscal crisis. Certainly, one could be excused for asking whether the uncertainty about the future should be allowed to upend this strategic plan. But as we state in the plan, we believe that the answer to that question is no—our university’s core values, mission and vision must persist through both normal times and times of crisis. We believe that the values, mission, vision, and goals articulated in the plan will help us navigate through this crisis and emerge stronger than ever.
As always, thank you for your ongoing efforts in support of our campus and our community. On behalf of all who worked on this document, I wish you and yours a joyful holiday season, the best of health, and peace in the New Year.
Mālama pono,
Michael Bruno, Provost
