As an anchor institution of the Hawaiʻi Island community, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is first and foremost a trainer of the workforce. The term “anchor institution” was coined 25 years ago by the Aspen Institute, a global convener of changemakers seeking to build a better world. The term is now widely accepted and used within the United States to understand and describe the role of place-based institutions, particularly institutions of higher education, as a driving force behind the development of successful communities, and in our case, Hawaiʻi Island as a whole.
We take seriously our kuleana as an anchor institution, and in fulfilling our part – in partnership with many private and public organizations and agencies – in developing academic and community-based programs geared toward building a diversified economy, a well-trained workforce, and vibrant island communities.
On May 6 I attended a workforce summit headed by the county’s Project Pilina, convened by Mayor Kimo Alameda with the goal to unite economic and workforce development across the board. I spoke to the group about how the current pace of change in the workforce is mind boggling, and it’s not just here in Hawaiʻi – it’s a global shift in workforce development.
This was brought home starkly during the recent presentations by UH Mānoa chancellor candidates. One candidate, who currently serves as a university president in Taiwan, cited some research that should give us pause: 50 years ago, a college education provided most of the skills and knowledge to see a person through their entire career. Now the knowledge of new student graduates will become outdated within three years!
So, while UH Hilo currently provides skilled labor for eight of the 10 sectors identified in the County of Hawaiʻi Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, all of these sectors will be changing and evolving in the lifetime of our current students, and we owe it to them to prepare them as best we can.
One way for us to achieve this is through understanding that a university education now must also include the soft skills, but in this context, I prefer the new term of durable skills. These are the skills that should transcend the rapidly changing world of work: problem-solving, communication (both oral and written), ability to work in teams, and perhaps most importantly, the ability and willingness to learn new things. Because we are a university, a lot of this learning happens in class, but it is also important to recognize all the out-of-class learning where knowledge is applied and durable skills honed.
Programs addressing this at UH Hilo are our Bonner Program, a privately funded program that coordinates paid positions for students in local organizations; our Study Abroad program that provides international education for our students, assuring they can be successful future leaders in an increasingly global society; collaborative research projects that include students, giving them a hands-on boost into scientifically-based inquiry whether they decide to further their education or enter the workforce after graduation; and community-based internships that develop real-life skills and give our students the jump at networking into our local workforce.
When I ask in the community about economic development, a lot of people pin their hopes on the university, and that is a kuleana I take very seriously. Universities are generators of knowledge and research, and of the people who can provide those life-affirming necessities of benefit to local communities. We use the term anchor institution, not because we weigh the community down but because we provide stability through our work.
But stability in and of itself does not take us into the future. We need a stable core to build upon (and that has been a lot of my focus), but we also need to reach outside our comfort zone. We need to look to our past and current strengths but also dream about our shared future.
UH Hilo stands ready to work with all our stakeholders to co-create that future.
I mua!
Bonnie D. Irwin
Chancellor
