Wo Learning Champions announced at UH Maui College

Maui College
Contact:
Emily R. Sullivan, (808) 984-3549
Director of Marketing and Community Relations, Marketing
Jennifer Sim, (808) 984-3381
Personnel, Admininstrative Affairs
Posted: Jun 1, 2011

Debasis Bhattacharya, professor of applied business and information technology
Debasis Bhattacharya, professor of applied business and information technology
Joyce Yamada, Dental Assisting Program coordinator
Joyce Yamada, Dental Assisting Program coordinator

Each generation of the Wo Learning Champions sponsors a system wide professional development opportunity for faculty and staff at all the UH Community College campuses. University of Hawai‘i Maui College is pleased to announce that this year's Wo Learning Champions are Joyce Yamada, CDA, RDH, MS, and UH Maui College Dental Assisting Program coordinator, and Debasis Bhattacharya, JD, DBA, professor of applied business and information technology.

“I am pleased to work with Debasis and our colleagues at our neighboring community colleges through the Wo Learning Champions program. I look forward to active collaboration and sharing ideas for professional renewal and enrichment,” said Yamada in a written statement, upon hearing of her recognition as a campus leader.

The Wo Learning Champions initiative focuses on professional development for faculty and staff in Hawai‘i’s two-year institutions. With a focus on learning and an eye on leadership development, the Wo Learning Champions are representatives from all seven of Hawai‘i’s community colleges. This program, which was begun in December of 2000 by Dr. Joyce Tsunoda, senior vice president of the University of Hawai‘i and chancellor for the community colleges, invests in junior members of the academic community, renews its senior faculty, and promotes the enrichment of all at the state’s community colleges.

Specifically, their responsibilities as Wo Learning Champions are to design a program of professional development for faculty/staff renewal and enrichment that will:

  • Keep learning at the center of its focus
  • Have system-wide impact
  • Allow for expansion and enrichment of activities as new resources become available
The Wo Learning Champions initiative is funded through the support of two foundations: the Bob and Betty Wo Family Foundation and the Jim and Juanita Wo Family Foundation. The Wo families have recognized the crucial role that the state’s community colleges play in the lives of the members of our community as well as in the economic development of the state. Furthermore, the Wo families have also recognized the critical importance of professional development for faculty and staff at these institutions. As a result, they have pledged a gift of $1,000,000 over a five-year period.