January President’s Report: Inaugural Address, UH Mānoa Chancellor, AI Chatbots

University of Hawaiʻi President Wendy Hensel provided updates to the UH Board of Regents (BOR) on the Inaugural President’s 10-Campus Address, the start of the 2026 Legislative session and the UH Mānoa chancellor search during her President’s Report at the board’s first meeting of 2026 held at Windward Community College on Thursday, January 15.

Hensel also highlighted the launch of a strategic exploration of a unified vision for UH West Oʻahu and Leeward Community College; the success of the AI chatbots, now available across all UH campuses; and increase in applications attributed to the Direct2UH initiative, which aims to give Hawaiʻi public high school students a more seamless transition from high school to higher education.

• Inaugural 10-campus Address (video)
• 2026 Legislative season underway (video)
• Federal update (video)
• New student information system (video)
• UH Mānoa chancellor search (video)
• Leeward CC/UH West Oʻahu exploration (video)
• AI chatbots success (video)
• Direct2UH update (video)
• UH Mānoa recognition (video)