IV - Focus Groups

Between June and September 2020, GUILD Consulting conducted six focus groups with UH personnel. Five of the six groups were requested by UH Vice President Don Straney. The sixth arose from the interviews and was organized by GUILD. Each group discussion sought to gather additional views on UH’s future. Each lasted 1 to 1.5 hours, and all were conducted via Zoom. The focus groups were with:

  1. UH Council of Chief Academic Officers (CCAO)
  2. UH Council of Senior Student Affairs Officers (CSSAO)
  3. University of Hawaiʻi Student Caucus (UHSC)
  4. UH All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs (ACCFSC)
  5. UH Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao
  6. Town-Gown Economic and Community Bridge Builders

All meetings were informal and conversational in nature but anchored in three basic questions:

The sixth focus group also was slightly different, a more wide-ranging discussion on the current status and potential strengthening of UH’s town-gown relationships, especially in furtherance of enterprise and workforce development in the coming decade.

A description of GUILD Consulting’s one-year project with UH was provided at the start and all participants were assured that no one would be individually cited, quoted, or attributed. The “assumptions” generated by focus group participants have been consolidated with others gathered over the course of this study and are included in Part-II. Here is a summary of what we took away from the discussions.

Section A reports on who participated in each focus group. Section B reports on response to the anchoring questions.

1. Participants

A. UH Council of Chief Academic Officers (CCAO) 6/17

  1. Laura Lyons
  2. Ken Hon (UH Hilo)
  3. Jeffrey Moniz (UH West Oʻahu)
  4. Joni Onishi (Hawaiʻi CC)
  5. Susan Kazama (Honolulu CC)
  6. Maria Bautista (Kapiʻolani CC)
  7. Frankie Harris (Kauaʻi CC)
  8. Kay Ono (Leeward CC)
  9. Kaheleonolani Dukelow (UH Maui College)
  10. Charles Sasaki (Windward CC)
  11. Donald Straney (UH System)
  12. Debora Halbert (UH System)
  13. Tammi Chun (UH System)
  14. Della Teraoka (UH System)
  15. April Goodwin (UH Mānoa)
  16. Sarah Cockett (UH System)
  17. Kristle Carter (UH System)


B. UH Council of Senior Student Affairs Officers (CSSAO) 7/20

  1. Dorinna Cortez, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (Hawaiʻi CC)
  2. Lara Sugimoto, Dean of Student Services (Honolulu CC)
  3. Thomas Noʻeau Keopuhiwa, EdD, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (Kapiʻolani CC)
  4. Margaret Sanchez, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs (Kauaʻi CC)
  5. Kami Kato, Dean of Student Services (Leeward CC)
  6. Debra Nakama, PhD, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs (Maui College)
  7. Judy Oliveira, EdD, Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (Windward CC)
  8. Farrah-Marie Gomes, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (UH Hilo)
  9. Lori M. Ideta, EdD, Interim Vice Chancellor for Students (UH Mānoa)
  10. Jan Javinar, EdD, Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (UH West Oʻahu)


C. University of Hawaiʻi Student Caucus (UHSC) 7/13

  1. Maura Stephens-Chu (UH Mānoa)
  2. Kevianna Adams (UH Hilo)
  3. Mariah Tinay (Honolulu CC)
  4. Raiyan Rafid (UH Mānoa)
  5. Ramon Araujo, Jr (UH West Oʻahu)
  6. Rene Hutchins (Windward CC)
  7. Samuel Peralta (Maui College)
  8. Tatiana Makekau (Leeward CC)


D. UH All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs (ACCFSC) 8/14 2

  1. Thomas Conway, UHM MFS Chair (UH Mānoa)
  2. Paul McKimmy, UHM MFS VC (UH Mānoa)
  3. Noel Kent, UHM ASFSEC Chair (UH Mānoa)
  4. Paulette Yamada Tamashiro, UHM COE Senate Chair (UH Mānoa)
  5. Christine Irvine, UHM COE Senate VC (UH Mānoa)
  6. Unhee Lim, UHM Cancer Center Chair (UH Mānoa)
  7. Michelle Matter, UHM Cancer Center VC (UH Mānoa)
  8. Thao Le, UHM CTAHR Chair (UH Mānoa)
  9. Sarah Yuan, UHM CTAHR VC (UH Mānoa)
  10. Victor Lubecke, UHM Engineering Chair (UH Mānoa)
  11. Richard Allsopp, UHM JABSOM Chair (UH Mānoa)
  12. Leilani Dawson, UHM Library Senate Chair (UH Mānoa)
  13. Merle R. Kataoka-Yahiro, UHM Nursing Chair (UH Mānoa)
  14. Nick Ordway, UHM Shidler Bus. Chair (UH Mānoa)
  15. Bonnyjean Manini, UHM Stud. Aff. Chair (UH Mānoa)
  16. Ivan Wen, UHM TIM Chair (UH Mānoa)
  17. Rosie Vierra, UHMC Chair (Maui College)
  18. Kulamanu Ishihara, UHMC VC (Maui College)
  19. David Tsugawa, HawCC Chair (Hawaiʻi CC)
  20. Toni Cravens-Howell, HawCC VC (Hawaiʻi CC)
  21. Silvan Chung, HonCC System Chair (Honolulu CC)
  22. Pat Patterson, HonCC Chair (Honolulu CC)
  23. Candy Branson, KapCC Chair (Kapiʻolani CC)
  24. Richard Halverson, KapCC VC (Kapiʻolani CC)
  25. Jonathan Kalk, KauCC Chair (Kauaʻi CC)
  26. Dirk Soma, KauCC VC (Kauaʻi CC)
  27. Michael Oishi, LeeCC Chair (Leeward CC)
  28. Junie Hayashi, LeeCC VC (Leeward CC)
  29. Elizabeth Ratliff, WinCC Chair (Windward CC)
  30. Nicolas Logue, WinCC Chair (Windward CC)

2 Most, but not all of the faculty senators participated.


E. UH Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao 8/14

  1. Isaiah Kaauwai (Kauaʻi CC)
  2. Chancellor Maenette Benham (UH West Oʻahu)
  3. Makanani Sala (Windward CC)
  4. Nawa‘a Napoleon (Kapiʻolani CC)
  5. Momi Kamahele (Leeward CC)
  6. Taupouri Tangaro (Hawaiʻi CC)
  7. Kekoa Harman (UH Hilo)
  8. Gail Makuakane-Lundin (Director Office of Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao)


F. Town-Gown Economic and Community Bridge Builders

  1. Colin Moore (UH Mānoa – Political Science)
  2. Chip Fletcher (UH Mānoa – SOEST)
  3. Gwen Williams (Leeward CC – Human Services)
  4. David Duffy (UH Mānoa – Botany)
  5. John Richards (Kapiʻolani CC –Dean of Business, Legal, Technology, Culinary and Hospitality)
  6. Aimee Grace (UH Mānoa – UHealthy)
  7. Chris Lee (Academy for Creative Media System)
  8. Greg Chun (Senior Advisor to UH on Mauna Kea)
  9. Tom Giambaluca (UH Mānoa – WRRC)


2. Responses (By Focus Group)

A. Perceptions of what works

Council of Chief Academic Officers

  1. The UH system is big and diverse and makes available a good, low-cost education.
  2. UH has statewide reach, offers a wide variety of programs and has high-quality faculty members (though they are not fully leveraged).
  3. UH offers access to marginalized communities and students. People can register across campuses.
  4. There are shared programs with statewide reach. For example, Mānoa’s education program serves the entire state.
  5. Via the community colleges, we can more nimbly address workforce needs via CTE programs and offer reasonable coordination with the DOE.

Council of Senior Student Affairs Officers (CSSAO)

  1. We have a core group of employees who care deeply about mission and community service.
  2. The differentiated campus missions within a single system minimizes redundancies.
  3. We are getting better at 4-year and 2-year integration, cross-learning, and accessibility.
  4. Our group works well together to cross-pollinate ideas and practices regarding internships, donors, and schools. Our different micro-community needs are unique.
  5. Faculty serve on advisory boards.
  6. We are moving ahead on short-term stackable credentials.

Student Caucus (UHSC)

  1. Air-Land-Sea-Space program in one place.
  2. The UH system has lots of land, multiple campuses, plenty of human resources, access to natural resources, and is a good bridge between East and West.
  3. Lots of community support.
  4. Ability to transfer programs within the system.
  5. Early college program helps students move forward.

All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs (ACCFSC)

  1. 1. The cost of higher education is reasonable.
  2. Where we have good chancellors on an individual campus, shared governance works well.
  3. Students feel faculty members care about them.

Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao

  1. Among Native Hawaiian staff, there is a feeling that we are a family even when we disagree amongst ourselves.
  2. There is a strong Native Hawaiian network and we have a collective voice that can no longer be ignored by the administration.
  3. Title III funding works well!

B. Perceptions of what doesn’t work

Council of Chief Academic Officers

  1. System is very resistant to change. Makes it difficult to prepare students for a changing world. Seattle prepares you for the “next job,” but we are reactionary and the job market is always shifting.
  2. Multi-level system makes it difficult to have a single-vision.
  3. Coordination, communication, budgeting, and legislative synchronization across the system are difficult. Though Mānoa seems to have a different relationship, and perhaps gets primacy.
  4. The other nine campuses feel like outposts even though everyone is dependent on G-funds which keeps UH dangling at the legislature.
  5. Unable to interchange faculty and non-faculty open positions.
  6. We have aging facilities and no funds for capital improvement.
  7. Unions tend to create protections for weak personnel which makes change hard in a system that is already slow to adopt changes. A program concept launch can take 4- 5 months.
  8. Articulation, especially with Mānoa, is still difficult.
  9. Salaries of administrative groups are lower than peer institutions, so advancing to administrative management is not attractive.
  10. BOR and legislature are often adversarial.
  11. Education is siloed, not interdisciplinary.
  12. Higher education is becoming narrow. General education is being cut to make room for STEM. There is a tension between liberal arts and research/professional education.
  13. Online education does not teach essential soft skills or critical thinking.
  14. Value of a degree is dipping in society. Job placement has become prime.

Council of of Senior Student Affairs Officers (CSSAO)

  1. Student journey. There is a gap in expectation and actual operation as one system.
  2. There is uncertainty and tension about responsibilities from campus to campus and our overall academic culture is designed for degrees rather than credentials which are not valued as a campus success measure.
  3. We are not a learning organization (in terms of scaling bright spots, at any individual campus-level, to the entire system).
  4. Student transfers lead to campus-level competition and the system is slow.
  5. It takes two years to change curriculum which means we cannot be nimble.

Student Caucus (UHSC)

  1. Students want to study where they can work and live after they graduate. UH has a disadvantage there due to Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living.
  2. We have a hard time transferring credits and sometimes have to retake courses. Students don’t get very much navigational help while they are in school, nor do they get much counseling.
  3. We don’t think of the undergrads we already have, and how we can incentivize them to go to graduate school at UH.
  4. There is lots of student anxiety.
  5. UH does not explain the connection between programs and relevant jobs.
  6. COVID has probably damaged UH’s appeal for non-locals.
  7. A hiring freeze plus retiring faculty means we won’t have experienced faculty who can be good advisors and instructors. Grants will also dry up and students with certain research interests have to look elsewhere.
  8. Many campuses have limited internships and Mānoa has the resources.
  9. There seems to be confusion whether campuses should provide counselling, or it should come from the UH system. “Many of my friends have no idea what they will do.”
  10. UH also has a lot of overhead costs that don’t feel sustainable. Our electricity costs $34 million a year.
  11. UH has a ratings disadvantage.
  12. Low endowments are a big financial disadvantage in these times.
  13. Remote internships offered watered down experience. So, students doing capstone now have a disadvantage.

All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs (ACCFSC)

  1. The System is taking over all management functions without regard to campus uniqueness. The campus-to-system migration of responsibilities is not working.
  2. There is less strategic collaboration between campuses and more competition.
  3. There are a lot of “dual positions” which creates miscommunication on roles and reduces trust.
  4. There is also a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy.
  5. Too many similar programs in such a small state.
  6. IT consolidation may have been good for cost-control; however, it does not seek feedback from teachers, for example what learning management system (LMS) do they prefer?
  7. Non-instructional faculty (e.g. student services) feel the inequity and there are some harebrained initiatives by the System which are pushed forward by Chancellors. Then, campus admin has to clean up the mess.
  8. Faculty Senate is never at the table and the system runs on top-down decision making.
  9. There is no real transparency on budgets and the accounting system is clunky. There are too many siloes.
  10. As faculty, we are constantly played with hollow words like “input,” “kuleana,” “transparency,” “feedback,” and “stakeholder” but it is not a true, trusting relationship. So, we have to turn to the Union.
  11. Our kids don’t see the value of going to school here. They feel they are being punished. We need to get the trust back from the community the way it was forty or fifty years ago. Our leadership doesn’t understand how painful that is.

Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao

  1. There are fiscal challenges in maintaining ten campuses and UH doesn’t provide enough scholarships to Native Hawaiians who are under-represented at Mānoa and the four year schools.
  2. For the most part, UH leaders are ignorant about NH perspectives. Only 1 Regent understands.
  3. The UH student body is very diverse, so why is 50%+ faculty Caucasian? But that said, faculty is more diverse today than before. It has taken us a long time to get here.

C. Ideas for possible big moves

Council of Chief Academic Officers

  1. The COVID crisis and the shift to distance learning will force changes in how we think about workspaces, education, working from home, and brick and mortar space utilization. It will be a new era and allow degrees to become “UH system” credentials.
  2. That will also help us create a better identity and brand for UH System.
  3. Program reviews should be done as a means to evaluate programs for purpose of making real changes.
  4. UH could find ways to incentivize interdisciplinary efforts and help break down silos.
  5. “Learning away from home” that some students want, can be achieved by inter- island education (still within the UH System)

Council of Senior Student Affairs Officers (CSSAO)

  1. Simplify hiring, invest in infrastructure, and push students to expect faster success.
  2. We must improve collaboration between campuses and work closer with community partners, especially for non-credit options.
  3. Military opportunities need to be examined and expanded and try to win back the 95K students who have not completed degrees.
  4. Promote UH globally as a premier, indigenous serving institution and leverage indigenous organizations.
  5. Organize experiential learning in gap years and hold faculty to negotiated workloads.

Student Caucus (UHSC)

  1. Invest in modernization of systems.
  2. Fix broken bathrooms and dilapidated facilities.
  3. Invest in community capital.
  4. UH has ratings disadvantage (no real peers) … so it should collaborate more with other universities (via doctorates, lectureships).
  5. UH should become more self-critical. UH is part of the problem in many situations …e.g. oil investments which go against nature, TMT issue.
  6. Faculty should be trained in handling student mental health issues in current crisis.
  7. We should be investing in financial, community capital and double-down on scientific exploration.
  8. UH could reimagine natural sciences, go beyond conventional astronomy, and have real space programs.
  9. We should collaborate more with other universities via doctorates and lectureships.
  10. We need more diverse faculty and international professors.
  11. The move towards being an indigenous institution also means providing hands-on and well-rounded education. For example Native Hawaiian readings in West Oʻahu. We do that in social sciences, but STEM students feel a disconnect.
  12. Fix the perception “if you don’t go to Mānoa, you are not good enough.”

All Campus Council of Faculty Senate Chairs (ACCFSC)

  1. Society’s commitment to higher education is going downhill. We need to get public buy in.
  2. Undertake better assessment of what students want. Pharmacy, criminal justice ... students want these courses, but we don’t provide them.
  3. Make better connections with the community. If we offer an automotive program with an internship at Servco, students will come.
  4. Program promotion is important for increasing enrollment. People don’t know about all our programs.
  5. We need to think about what our society needs to thrive and not just survive and build a better bridge with high schools, so we can keep our bright kids here.
  6. UH needs to go after large endowments, create more seamless remote education and mentoring, and reduce paperwork.
  7. The system needs to work on faculty and student retention.

Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao

  1. Native Hawaiians will make the institution part of the community. UH should learn Native values and practices and bring those into teaching.
  2. UH must resolve Mauna Kea today.
  3. UH should reach out to Polynesia and become the center of Pacific Basin knowledge.
  4. To actualize the system’s mission, we proposed a VP of Native Hawaiian affairs and a BOR committee for Native Hawaiians. Both proposals were rejected. We hit the wall on decolonization.

Town-Gown Economic and Community Bridge Builders

Note: Our sixth focus group was initiated and convened by GUILD Consulting and composed of invited faculty members from Mānoa, Leeward CC, and Kapiʻolani CC some of whom had been interviewed individually and all of whom had been identified as town gown “entrepreneurs” and had strong initiatives, projects, and connections to institutions and communities outside academia. Our questions were different.

What motivates you and others that you know to move beyond your duties at UH and work with communities and institutions outside academia?

  1. “I am from here. I came back when asked to start something here.”
  2. “I like to build things, use my training, and get things done.”
  3. “You get more engagement when you talk to the wider community.”
  4. “I am an accidental academic and much more interested in human well-being.”
  5. “We have unbelievable resources at UH. I want to be part of that.”
  6. “I have had good mentorship and inherited network links from senior colleagues.”
  7. “In research, I want to work where “academics” and “community” connect.”
  8. “I believe we are better together.”
  9. “We need to listen to the needs of industry and introduce programs which meet them.”

What are the barriers you see, either those you have encountered or that you see among colleagues?

  1. “UH is very top down and has boxes. Research happens in organized units. UH is also disorganized. Some administrators can work in this environment, others can’t.”
  2. “UH is so huge. People outside often don’t know how to connect with UH. Even Larry Ellison’s organization, hungry for collaboration, couldn’t figure it out.”
  3. “Academics are not at the table when community needs are discussed.”
  4. “Articulation with Mānoa remains difficult.”
  5. “The system is made up of fiefdoms.”
  6. “It is difficult to do public/private partnerships.”
  7. “UH Mānoa doesn’t like the term “workforce development.”
  8. “Constraints at community colleges: there is a commitment to CTE programs, but barriers exist. CCs can’t have majors and minors. Students come into a program with all levels of educational experience (no degree, AA, BA, MA, PhD, etc.).”
  9. “Programs need to collect statistics beyond what the University collects. We are not looking at the health of programs correctly.”
  10. “Younger faculty moving up have a difficult time connecting to the community and using their expertise.”
  11. “CC faculty and students aren’t as well respected as their four-year school counterpart. There is a “tyranny” that keeps the CCs lower.”
  12. “Younger faculty have difficulty breaking through and finding links to areas of interest.”
  13. “Teaching nine courses a year doesn’t give you time for town-gown efforts. Instead, faculty give time to the campus community, not the outside community.”
  14. “Our prevailing mindset is Honolulu-centric vs. Islands-Centric”
  15. “Island communities are changing and becoming increasingly different from each other, with deep divides.”
  16. “To start big programs, we used to have champions at the top of the management chain. Now, there are no champions … just lots of managers.”
  17. “Innovation in the system is choked.”
  18. “Town-Gown networking takes a lot of time to build. New faculty need support from those who already have the connections.”
  19. “Faculty need to keep publishing, so we don’t get support from UH.”
  20. “Faculty does not know how to get out there. There is a fear of rejection.”
  21. “Perception of university as an ivory tower full of eggheads.”

What can UH do to build entrepreneurial bridges in the next 10 years?

  1. “A focus beyond campus won’t be a system motivation until it is quantified in hiring, tenure, promotion, etc. Currently outreach is lumped under “service”. Need to make this a specific target for professors. Town-Gown should be a criterion for tenure.”
  2. “Create an ‘innovation information hub.’ Community issues could be ‘registered’ and, on the other side, faculty and students could register their areas of interest. We should be able to match university faculty and students to community projects in their interest areas.”
  3. “The solution needs to be at a campus-level. Campuses are best aware of community issues.”
  4. “Do more to hire from Hawaiʻi, without losing excellence. Avoid missteps in terms of diversity. Have a person who keeps track of people who have good potential to return and bring excellence back. Call this position: ‘Chief Schmoozer.’”
  5. “We need network weavers. Hire people who are interested in building linkages with the community. Put language into hiring documents that would help hire from the desired groups.”
  6. “See the community as a research opportunity and a research funding source. This would help UH faculty to be perceived as partners in solution-finding.”
  7. “Flip side of brain drain: Should be able to bring back kids from Hawaiʻi after they have outside experience. People used to come to Hawaiʻi for jobs. Hawaiʻi now is a service-based economy – but they will come for family reasons, i.e. aging parents.”
  8. “Seek excellence and include knowledge of Hawaiʻi as part of this excellence. Right now, Mānoa doesn’t want to hire PhDs from Mānoa.”
  9. “Fear of failure. Serious problem of risk-avoidance at UH.”
  10. “Get students more involved with industry work, community service and get course credit for it. Foreign students can act as cultural ambassadors of Hawaiʻi.”
  11. “Take stock of internal mind- and perspective shifts that would help UH be more approachable.”
  12. “Shift perspectives from “managing” to becoming “stewards” (as in the case of Mauna Kea) – do this across the board.”
  13. “Think about benefits to the community and think about partnerships as a way to deliver benefits and support benefit growth to the community.”
  14. “Many communities see scholarship dollars and limited use of facilities, but many people would like the opportunity to be part of the stewardship even more.”

V. Survey Results

1. Background

Simultaneous with the individual interviews, GUILD created an electronic survey to gather information that might help focus the interview discussions and canvass a wider group. Of special interest to us was what sectors of the economy were likely to grow or shrink. In effect, we asked respondents to use their best knowledge or instincts and place sector “bets” as if they were investors. Not every interviewee completed the survey, but we also requested interviewees to forward the survey weblink to other colleagues and used our own networks, inviting as many others to respond as possible.

The thirteen survey questions were:

  1. What is your affiliation with University of Hawaiʻi (check all that apply)?
  2. Imagine you are an investor investing your own money. Which sectors of Hawaiʻi’s economy are likely to SHRINK or GROW in the coming decade?
  3. Which UH academic programs are best aligned to your growth bets?
  4. UH’s Strengths (areas of excellence, competencies - tangible and intangible)
  5. UH’s Weaknesses (lacks, disadvantages - tangible and intangible)
  6. UH’s Opportunities (trends/events to capitalize on)
  7. UH’s Threats (dangerous external trends/events)
  8. What should UH prioritize to support State’s economic growth?
  9. What should be UH’s top consideration for a mission to serve Hawaiʻi?
  10. Any other thoughts you want to share?
  11. What is your ZIP code?
  12. What is your primary occupation?
  13. How many years have you lived in Hawaiʻi?

Though the survey is crowd-sourced rather than randomized and controlled, we received 210 completed responses which are reported graphically as follows. We also received many comments which are appended at Attachment-6.

2. Response Graphs

Q: What is your affiliation with UH (check all that apply)?
Affiliation
Alumnus50.00%
Current or past faculty28.57%
Current or past staff18.57%
Related to a student, faculty or staff14.76%
Other (please specify)32.38%

Half of the respondents were alumni of the System. The other “category” was comprised of UH administrators, legislators, state workers, ex-Regents, journalists, and other community members.


Q: How many years have you lived in Hawaiʻi?
Years
>1 year0.00%
1-4 years2.38%
5-9 years4.76%
10-20 years7.14%
20+ years59.95%
"Born and lived here all my life"34.76%

Q: What is your primary occupation?
Occupation
Business23.30%
Government7.28%
Education31.55%
Non-profit16.02%
Other (please specify)21.84%

Q: Imagine you are an investor investing your own money. Which sectors of Hawaiʻi’s economy are likely to SHRINK or GROW in the coming decade?
SectorI bet it will
SHRINK		I bet it will
GROW
Agriculture21.63%78.37%
Administrative55.39%44.61%
Arts, Entertainment, and Communication42.16%57.84%
Construction and Development39.90%60.10%
Defense40.30%59.70%
Education41.18%58.82%
Finance and Insurance55.50%44.50%
Government and Public Administration47.29%52.71%
Health Care and Social Services8.13%91.87%
Manufacturing78.54%21.46%
Retail and Wholesale77.88%22.12%
Scientific and Technical Services22.22%77.78%

Q. Which UH academic programs are best aligned to your growth bets?

As can be expected, this question attracted a wide range of responses which are at Attachment 5. It also highlighted the lack of awareness or confusion about UH programs in the community. There were several responses (included in Attachment 7) that stressed the need for interdisciplinary programs. The programs which were perceived to be best aligned to the growth sectors are centered around health care (JABSOM, psychology, cancer center, nursing school, pharmacy, public health), sustainability and environmental studies (SOEST, NatSci, NREM, DURP), agriculture (CTAHR, sustainable community food systems) and a broad reference to technology (STEM, ITS, ICS).

Q. UH’s Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats

The perceived strengths of UH include specific programs like oceanography and astronomy, the deep presence UH has in the islands due to its various physical campuses, the fact that it is an indigenous-serving institution, the unique location in and knowledge of Asia-Pacific, Mānoa being a R1 research institution, and being a single- system that is affordable and accessible by a wide variety of students.

On weaknesses, some survey responses indicate a lack of understanding of UH functioning. Some responses point to challenges emanating from the State’s geographic isolation and high cost of living. Lack of a unified vision for the System and the resultant hodgepodge of programs is a common theme. Several responses point to a siloed, overly bureaucratic administration, poorly managed by outdated systems. UH is generally viewed to be Mānoa-centric and unable to properly balance the needs of university and community colleges within the System. Inability to change or engage the community in meaningful ways is a common criticism as well.

Some respondents were either unaware of big opportunities for UH or skeptical that there is the political will to drive big changes. Online education and greater use of technology in program content and delivery were recurrent themes. Several respondents chose programs like culinary, business or astronomy as areas of opportunity; and even greater numbers indicated to UH’s potential for leadership areas like sustainability, green economy and Native Hawaiian studies. The COVID-19 pandemic is widely perceived to be a great opportunity for UH to help in rebuilding the State with the transformation of industries like healthcare, and diversification of state’s economy from service-based to knowledge-based. Resolution of the TMT and UH funding diversification are perceived to be issues that need urgent resolution. Also, it is felt that UH can do more in assuming intellectual leadership in Hawaiʻi through hosting relevant lecture series and sponsoring other educational events for the community.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the related drop in funding and non-local enrollment figures were the most prominent threats in the survey. Respondents have used terms like lethargy, complacency, and mediocrity to describe UH’s self-created threat. Micro- management of higher education by State legislators is also a recurring theme in the feedback. UH is perceived to be behind other universities in online education, and risks losing students as distance education becomes a norm. Trends in climate change and declining working population are expected to affect the State economy, and UH, adversely.


Q: What should be UH’s top consideration for a mission to serve Hawaiʻi?
Consideration
Developing better citizens14.71%
Economic development24.51%
Sustainability29.41%
Native Hawaiians and Hawaiian culture7.84%
Academic and research leadership12.75%
Other (please specify)10.78%

Sustainability and the State’s economic development were by far the most prominent aspects of UH’s mission in minds of our survey respondents.


Q: What should UH prioritize to support State’s economic growth? (Top 3)
Priority
Flexible schedules or back-to-school programs for working adults26.67%
Micro-credentials to develop specific skills19.52%
Online education27.62%
Collaborate with industry leaders and associations to design new programs40.48%
Partnerships with top universities to offer joint-degrees24.29%
Technology trends like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Big Data23.33%
Sustainability, climate change and aging demographic60.95%
World class program on tourism16.67%
Short programs which develop managerial capacity8.10%
Programs to develop digitally savvy workforce27.14%
Other (please specify)14.76%

Over 60% of the respondents felt that dealing with the state’s challenges related to sustainability, climate change and an aging demographic should be the top priority for UH. It was also widely felt that UH should collaborate with industry leaders and industry associations to design new academic programs.

:

VI. Comments from GUILD’s Panel of Advisers

1. Background

At the beginning of our GUILD Consulting team’s study, we organized an outside advisory panel. Our intent was to secure specialized guidance in areas relevant to the study by individuals independent of the University of Hawaiʻi. Our advisers were economist Paul Brewbaker, PhD.; Native Hawaiian expert Dawn Chang, Esq.; business expert H. Mitchell D’Olier, Esq.; foundation and non-profit expert Terrence George; land and organization planners Kem Lowry, PhD and Keith Mattson, MURP; and Deane Neubauer, PhD, former UH executive and an expert on U.S. and international higher- education.

We had two lengthy focus group meetings with the advisers, one at the beginning to elicit pertinent questions and assumptions about the future, the other in October to critique a draft of our final report. This second meeting was also attended by our point- of-contact team Pearl Iboshi, David Mongold, Fiorella Penaloza, and Marcia Sakai and UH executives Don Straney and Deborah Halbert.

The second meeting was aimed at critiquing our draft final report. We asked our panel to comment on a) what in our report most resonated?; b) what factual errors did you see and did we miss anything critical to UH’s decadal planning?; and c) if there was one piece in the report that should rise up above others for UH, what would it be?

2. Adviser comments and observations

In the general order they were offered, we heard the following:

  1. There is a need for stronger connections between UH and the community, especially non-profits.
  2. The thematic notion that we need to act as a system.
  3. Town-gown efforts are sporadic and not-strategic.
  4. AI endeavors in the context of the pandemic and the fourth industrial revolution aren’t clear given 42% of all current jobs may disappear by 2022. It is also not clear what UH has underway now. Possible actions?
  5. UH needs a robust approach to “futurizing” to anticipate what we are likely to see several years out.
  6. Is there a model for international distance education to rebuild some of the lost funding from a loss of international students?
  7. Legislative meddling needs to be called out and dealt with.
  8. UH can do more to generate alumni gifts.
  9. There are problems for outside donors: Departments get taxed by the foundation to use their research funds. To increase giving, UH executives should review the UH Foundation’s requirements. The overhead problem is too great and there are caps to fundraising that amplify the problem.
  10. UH must work more closely and better with military.
  11. The “Talent Roadmap” research identified some of the areas of need and is now embedded in P-20’s department. This should be highlighted in the UH Third Decade Report.
  12. There continues to be a gap between UH’s research goals and what businesses are looking for. A dialogue is needed to mend this.
  13. There is another topic that UH can help with – how do we solve our affordable housing problem? The community needs to come to a decision. How can UH become more involved in this discussion?
  14. As UH continues to move to an online environment, UH may have excessive space that could be used for community needs (i.e. including homebuilding).
  15. Native Hawaiian perspectives needed to be featured in the report more prominently.
  16. UH must focus on what they are good at and uniquely situated for (oceanography, law school, etc.).
  17. Regarding the assumptions on economic impacts, there may be fewer students willing to travel afar. The UH system may be the only option in Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi Promise should be of greater focus.
  18. Aloha ʻĀina offers a great opportunity to work with the UH system (especially the travel industry). It does this by integrating Hawaiian values.
  19. Numerous retirees offer a market opportunity for the development of certificate and related programs that foster opportunities to accelerate certificate and other programs and foster life-long learning, especially for state employees.
  20. In the report, the term “anti-development” is used when it shouldn’t be. The issues stem from failed promises to Native Hawaiians. They are trust and process exclusion issues. UH system needs to find a place for the Hawaiian way of thinking to help bridge the differences and establish trust.
  21. I hope the work that is started with GUILD’s report doesn’t stop and that the conversation continues.
  22. UH should convene an annual discussion on the state of the State.
  23. Community Design in Architecture pulls interdisciplinary graduate students and raises UH’s credibility.
  24. 2029 DOD leases will be coming up for renewal and people are lining up to sue. DOD can pay UH to do community research instead of community partners.
  25. Community engagement is necessary but how specifically do we deliver on our land grant status?
  26. UH can actively expand the use of technology for open access natural resources (i.e. hiking apps).
  27. The emphasis on micro-credentials stood out but it is a very complex undertaking.
  28. We need standard template agreements for applied research to facilitate the bridge building process.
  29. The UH is perceived as being composed of two types of people: those within the system and those outside of it. Within the system there are also many diversified perspectives of the system (grad students’ views will vary from other populations). How can we capture the success of leavers, i.e. graduates from here, who go to places like Idaho?
  30. UH is the third most affordable university in the U.S. That is a huge selling point and a bragging right.
  31. A new office of industrial partnerships could be considered if we had the volume.
  32. The report is provocative.
  33. The shadow of the pandemic and the economic stress colored reactions to some of the points mentioned in the report. Both short-term and long-term.
  34. How do we assess what we are doing well and maintain whatever we do well?
  35. Can we look at what others have done (without investing too much energy in the work) and piggyback on other work?
  36. Critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, etc. and their importance seem to become increasingly necessary but not reflected in the report.

Summary of Best Advice to UH

Third Decade Report main page | Return to Annex C table of contents | Next section: Annex-1