This message was shared with the UH Hilo ʻohana on March 3, 2025.
Aloha kākou e ka ʻohana o UH Hilo,
Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin
I am pleased to share that UH Hilo’s 2025-35 Strategic Plan and 2025-26 Strategic Enrollment Plan are now complete and available online. These plans are the result of thoughtful collaboration across our campus community, shaped by the voices and insights of many who engaged in conversations, provided feedback, and contributed directly to their development.
I extend my sincere gratitude to everyone who played a role in bringing these plans to fruition.
As we move forward, I want to emphasize that these are living documents — designed to guide our collective efforts while remaining adaptable to the evolving needs of our students, campus, and community. Your continued engagement will be vital as we refine and implement these strategies in the years ahead.
To explore the plans and their accompanying FAQs, please visit the following links:
UH Hilo 2025-26 Strategic Enrollment Plan: View Plan | FAQs
I encourage you to take a look, reflect on the aspirations and priorities we have outlined together, and continue to be part of this journey. Your insights and contributions will remain essential as we bring these plans to life.
As a final note, per President Hensel’s ongoing communications, we are actively assessing the potential impacts of the Trump administration’s recent executive orders and subsequent agency guidance on UH Hilo’s current and future programming. As we move forward, we will carefully review these developments and adapt our 2025-35 Strategic Plan and 2025-26 Strategic Enrollment Plan to ensure alignment with federal law while upholding our institutional values and commitments.
Mahalo for your dedication to UH Hilo and our shared vision for the future.
With UH President Wendy Hensel (left) at a welcome reception, Feb. 19, 2025, Hilo Yacht Club. (Photo: UH Alumni)
Presidents’ Day week was a busy one at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, as we had a number of important visitors to our campus and community, first and foremost, new UH President Wendy Hensel on her first official visit to Hilo and the UH Hilo campus since becoming president in January.
On the Monday holiday we spent several hours on Maunakea in order to brief the president on the operations of the Center for Maunakea Stewardship (CMS) and the Maunakea Observatories (MKOs). We discussed the conservation efforts underway at CMS as well as the education and outreach programming. Our rangers and staff discussed some of the challenges we face on Maunakea, and the president was able to see those in effect firsthand when we observed some folks trying to snowboard in an area where it was not safe, and our ranger was there to greet the foolhardy visitors as they trudged back up the slope. Institute for Astronomy Director Doug Simons briefed the president on the amazing science that takes place at the MKOs, and how the observatories work collaboratively.
Welcoming UH President Wendy Hensel (left) at kīpaepae ceremony held Feb. 18, 2025, at Hawaiʻi Community College. (Photo via UH System News)
Tuesday brought us back to Hilo where the joint UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College Hawaiian protocol committee, accompanied by many members of both campus’s ʻohana hosted a beautiful welcome for President Hensel. The visit was part of the president’s statewide tour of UH’s 10 campuses, meeting with students, faculty and staff across the state in her first 90 days. She met with important campus governance groups, including the Hanakahi Council (a caucus of Native Hawaiian faculty and staff), the Staff Council, Faculty Congress, and the campus executive leadership team. Among topics discussed were staff development, transparency, student fees, how the campus will integrate new technologies, and expanding interdisciplinary collaboration.
Many of the UH regents arrived on Wednesday and participated along with President Hensel in a huakaʻi, which featured our Hawaiian immersion pathways and educational partnerships with Punana Leo and UH Hilo’s partner charter school Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu in Keaʻau, finishing the UH Hilo portion of the day at Haleʻōlelo, home base for Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language.
While at the college, regents heard from faculty and students about Hawaiian immersion education, the ways in which Ka Haka ʻUla supports it through Hale Kuamoʻo Hawaiian Language Center, and the partnership between Ka Haka ʻUla and ʻImiloa Astronomy Center, all of which are joined together under the umbrella of Hawaiʻi ʻImiloa Institute, a statewide consortium of schools and nonprofit organizations that supports a P-25 Hawaiian Indigenous Language Cycle that spans from preschool to doctorate.
That evening, the UH Foundation hosted more than 150 friends, donors, faculty and alumni from the community to join us for a reception welcoming President Hensel at the Hilo Yacht Club. It was a wonderful gathering and a joy to see the level of support and aloha for UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi CC; everyone was eager to meet the new president and show her their strength of commitment to our campus. Along with myself, guest speakers were Hawaiʻi Community College Chancellor Susan Kazama, Board of Regents Chair Gabe Lee, and Hawaiʻi County Regent Mike Miyahira, each of whom represents the strong sense of partnership between our campus and the Hilo community.
Overall, it was a busy but rewarding week, as we were able to demonstrate to both President Hensel and the Board of Regents how we live the vision in our new Strategic Plan, “to be a model university and community, seamlessly woven together (hilo), where higher education is inspired by our beloved Hawaiʻi Island environment — rich in Hawaiian values, language, and culture — and empowers learners from any place to discover purpose, foster well-being, and leave the world a better place.”
The Hawai‘i State Legislature is soon opening its 2025 session and University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s priorities are foremost on my mind.
At the UH System level, we join the 10-campus system in again asking state lawmakers to expand the Hawaiʻi Promise Scholarship program from the community colleges to include the system’s four-year institutions — UH Hilo, UH Mānoa, and UH West Oʻahu. The program covers qualified students with their direct costs of education that are not covered by federal grants and other scholarships. We believe this program will enable more Hawaiʻi students to complete four year degrees.
Here at our home campus, we are seeking permanent funding in two key areas that support UH Hilo’s community stewardship. We’d like to make permanent UH Hilo Athletics funding for team travel expenses, training table for athlete nutrition, and training and conditioning supplies. We are also asking for a full year of funding of the FY 25 appropriation for the bachelor of arts in educational studies and the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program.
In our quest to increase our enrollment and provide students with the support they need in an environment that’s conducive to learning, we’d like to secure several positions, including a student achievement and retention specialist, several positions dedicated to implementing a strategic enrollment management plan to address critical staffing and operational needs in enrollment services, and an internship coordinator who will work closely with local businesses on internships that support workforce development.
I think it’s important to note here that internships are one of the most valuable out-of-class experiences we can provide our students, and having more centralized support will allow us to work with our local community to create more internship opportunities and make sure that these are high quality experiences that complement our students’ classroom learning. There are also numerous compliance requirements for internships that will be much easier to track with a centralized support person.
For workforce development, we also are asking for positions and funds for the School of Nursing to increase the baccalaureate of science in nursing pre-licensure annual graduate size by 40 students to meet general Hawaiʻi island and State of Hawaiʻi nursing workforce needs. In addition, we’d like a position and funds for our Department of Administration of Justice program to support state and community needs in law enforcement and criminal justice reform.
I’d like to mention here that for an administration of justice career, students who want to go into law enforcement cannot do so straight out of high school — they have to be 21 or older. So it makes sense to pursue a university degree, giving them the needed knowledge to not only enforce the law but also understand administration of justice in the context of the communities we serve. This is also the only free-standing program for this degree in the UH system. We can thus serve other Hawaiʻi residents outside our island.
Two additional programs in need of position and funding support that are crucial for future workforce development needs are UH Hilo’s new bachelor of science in data science program, and the biocultural science program to train students in Hawaiian biocultural studies and Hawaiian conservation biocultural studies.
Our campus is also in need of more groundskeeping and maintenance workers to care for and mālama ʻāina our campus grounds to provide a beautiful and welcoming atmosphere, enhancing the overall campus experience for students, faculty, and staff.
Our primary mission at UH Hilo is to fulfill the needs of our county through challenging students to reach their highest level of academic and professional achievement. The goal is to improve the quality of life for families and communities by producing highly skilled graduates who can answer the workforce needs of our island, state, and region. With the full support of the State Legislature, we can continue to get the job done.
On UH Hilo campus Dec. 3, from left, Jeanne Kapela, Stephanie Kim, Chris Todd, Kalbert Young, Lisa Kitagawa, with Bonnie Irwin and Kalei Rapoza leading the campus tour. (Photo: University Relations/UH Hilo)
Chancellor Bonnie Irwin and Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs Kalei Rapoza hosted three state legislators on the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo campus Dec. 3, 2024.
The delegation included State House Representatives Lisa Kitagawa, Chris Todd, and Jeanné Kapela. Also with the group was University of Hawaiʻi System Vice President for Budget and Finance Kalbert Young, and UH Director of Government Relations Stephanie Kim.
Rep. Kitagawa is House Majority Whip and serves as Capital Improvement Projects manager for the House Finance Committee. Rep. Todd is the Minority Caucus Leader. Rep. Kapela is Vice Chair of the Higher Education and Technology Committee.
The representatives toured a residence hall room, the main campus, and the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory in Panaʻewa.
“Rep. Kitagawa was particularly interested in some of the capital improvements for which UH Hilo is seeking support,” says Chancellor Irwin. “It always helps to see things in person, so that our legislators understand the particular needs of our campus and our community.”
The group was welcomed on campus with Native Hawaiian protocols led by Pele Harman, UH Hilo’s Director of Native Hawaiian Engagement, and Kekoa Harman, Associate Professor of Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language. (Photo: University Relations/UH Hilo)Kalei Rapoza talks to the group during a tour of the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory in Panaʻewa. (Photo: University Relations/UH Hilo)
With the many sister cities that Hilo has, this is truly not only a diverse community, but also an international one. The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo plays a big part in that, through our academic programs, the opportunities our students have to study abroad, and through the international guests, students, and scholars we welcome here on campus.
UH Hilo has 40 international exchange partners, and international universities and communities are often coming to us to foster additional partnerships. We are all enriched through these international relationships, which are a key element in UH Hilo being the diverse campus it is.
Our campus celebrates our international community through events and exchange programs year round.
Each October we celebrate United Nations Day with a Parade of Nations featuring delegations of students wearing their traditional attire and holding high the flags of their countries. The students also share song, dance, arts, crafts, and information from their homelands. UH Hilo has about 250 international students this year from nearly 40 different countries around the world, and this year’s event highlighted their presence on campus and brought everyone together — participants and the larger campus population — as one university community living in peace and dignity.
Another annual event is International Education Week, held in November. This year, international books and food were celebrated and shared; students held a photo contest with images brought back from their international exchange experiences; a workshop taught Chinese calligraphy; a block party shared music, games and crafts; a panel of National Student Exchange and Study Abroad alumni shared their experiences on exchange; and an International Night Market celebrated an array of cultures through food sampling, crafts, fashion and performances (including UH Hilo’s Jazz Orchestra!).
Our Host Family Program matches our international students with families in the local community who help the newcomers acclimate to our island and culture. Hosts provide home-cooked meals and supportive conversations, sightseeing and shopping trips, meet-ups and talk-throughs, all cultivating a feeling of ʻohana (family) for both hosts and students. Nearly 100 new international students from 19 countries have enrolled at UH Hilo this year, and each one is met with aloha, welcomed and supported throughout their time with us.
International students also contribute to our island and communities through their research and internships. Recently, marine science major Manuela Cortes, who hails from Columbia, interned and conducted research with the National Park Service here on Hawaiʻi Island. Two student-athletes in men’s tennis, Agustin Gentile from Argentina and Filippo DiPerna from Italy, interned with the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on Hawaiʻi Island. Three international students at the College of Business and Economics — Jing Feng from China, Ginate Mahuru from Papua New Guinea, and Basil Tavake from Solomon Islands — completed a program funded by the National Science Foundation that focused on developing highly successful artificial intelligence chatbots for UH Hilo business students seeking academic advising or career advice.
Our campus also welcomes international visiting scholars: for example, political scientist Maria Armoudian from the University of Aukland, New Zealand, was on campus for the month of October sharing with students and the public her expertise on human rights and environmental policy. Innovative artist Hung Keung, based in Hong Kong, has worked with students and welcomed the public to his exhibition on 3D videos and lectures.
This international community at UH Hilo adds to the rich diversity on campus and primes all our students to thrive here in Hawaiʻi while preparing them to be global citizens.
Further, several of our Hawaiʻi and other U.S. resident students are currently scholarship recipients traveling abroad to expand their own education. Kyson Kaneko (Business), Brooklyn Geiger (Japanese Studies), and Dominic Hilman (Linguistics) are studying respectively at Tokyo Gakugei University, Nanzen University, and Hokkaido University in Japan; Leiya Margareth Torrano (Business) is at the University of Birmingham in England; and Whitney Taylor (English) is studying at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korea.
We take pride in the diversity at UH Hilo and in preparing our students for a productive life in a global society.
This message was shared with the UH Hilo ʻohana on March 3, 2025.
