UH Hilo Office of Research: 2024-2030 Plan
On this page:
- Mission
- Vision
- Values
- SWOT Analysis
- Strategic Initiatives
- Strategic Initiative 1 – Operational Excellence and Stability
- Strategic Initiative 2 – Increase Funding Through Faculty Mentorship and Collaborations Across Units and Agencies
- Strategic Initiative 3 – Relevant Place-based Research with Significant Student Engagement
- Strategic Initiative 4 – Improve Research Support Services to the Campus
Mission
The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Office of Research strengthens local and tropical Pacific island communities by blending indigenous island wisdom with global sources of knowledge to support new discoveries, hands on student experiences, and outreach services.
Vision
Transforming tropical island sustainability, resilience, community, and place-based student learning through excellence in research.
Values
We value community and culturally engaged research that is inclusive and ethical.
SWOT Analysis
| External Opportunities | External Threats |
|---|---|
| Funds are available | Unstable local funding |
| Broadening cross-disciplinary efforts | UH System ORS backlog in award processing |
| Plan with respect to priority initiatives | Competition with other universities that base personnel on Hawaiʻi Island |
| Increase national and international partnerships with other institutions | Costs associated with shipping and living |
| Part of the Land, Sea, and Space Grant (via the UH System); improve awareness and inclusion | Recruitment and retention challenges relative to other opportunities and scale |
| Increase undergraduate student involvement in research and internships | Sometimes poor community perceptions regarding our contributions to local economic development |
| Federal agencies have facilities in Hilo | Frequent administrative turnover in the Dean, Director, and Vice Chancellor positions. |
| Military environmental programs | Lack of an institutional structure to support and encourage community-based research and knowledge co-production |
| Internal Strengths | Internal Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Minority serving institution designation and culturally rich | Very limited pre-award support for the past decade |
| Experience having grants | Research infrastructure is in need of R&M and modernization |
| Unique environments/location | Research space is constrained |
| EPSCoR track record | Limited research priorities and plans across units |
| Excellent library services | Lack of faculty depth and statistics expertise |
| Diversity of students, staff, and faculty | Time constraints with a heavy teaching load |
| Large potential for interdisciplinary work | Limited indirect return to faculty and their units due to research support budget crisis |
| Public-private partnerships can be enhanced | Few funds for professional development and training |
| Collaborative linkages and we know the players | Community does not understand or distinguish between UH Hilo vs other UH entities |
| Common research labs started by EPSCoR funds | Little research tied to local economic diversification, risk of irrelevance |
| Lack of grant match | |
| Silos that discourage sharing of resources or collaboration across units |
Strategic Initiatives
Strategic Initiative 1 – Operational Excellence and Stability
Goal:
To provide appropriate levels of quality support to obtain and manage grants and contracts.
Objective:
To have a campus community competently engaged in writing and successfully submitting
competitive grants with an average campus success rate of 30% or better.
Action 1:
Hire an APT Band A Pre-Award Contracts and Grants Specialist to assist in faculty mentoring
with guidance from the Research Council.
Action 2:
Establish a regular grant writing and submission training program in cooperation with UH
System ORS to increase faculty actively involved in grant funded research.
Action 3:
Improve the grant opportunity alert system for the campus.
Action 4:
Ensure the timely replacement hiring of the UH Hilo Research Office FA upon her retirement.
This should include some employee overlap for onboarding and a smooth transition.
Action 5:
Ensure that the Research Office staff have the professional development opportunities to
progress and sustain the mission and goals of the unit.
Strategic Initiative 2 – Increase Funding Through Faculty Mentorship and Collaborations Across Units and Agencies
Goal:
Provide appropriate faculty incentives for generating extramural awards and mentoring new PIs.
Objective:
Increase indirect funds (RTRF) to Support Research by Growing Extramural Funding from $17 M to $25 M per year.
Action 1:
Prioritize spending RTRF on generating more major grants.
Action 2:
Leverage the track record of funding success in areas of expertise (e.g., tropical conservation biology, rural environmental and health sciences, tropical agriculture and aquaculture, Native Hawaiian culture and language, geographic information systems and data science) to expand and increase the impact of extramurally funded research and associated collaborations statewide and beyond.
Action 3:
Utilize the assets available through Hawaiʻi Island based Federal institutions such as the USDA Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center (PBARC), US Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry (IPIF), US Fish & Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, etc.
Action 4:
Incentivize faculty grant activity and mentorship through seed grant funds for research, facility/unit resource revitalization, and professional development. Note: this is key in preparing faculty to cooperate on the current needs of the aforementioned Federal agencies.
Strategic Initiative 3 – Relevant Place-based Research with Significant Student Engagement
Goal:
To be recognized as a leader in Pacific tropical island-based research and sustainability science.
Objective:
Showcase our subject matter expertise and research capacity while improving student success through applied field and laboratory experiences.
Action 1:
Foster and test innovations that support Hawaiʻi Island sustainability.
Action 2:
Create, renew, and expand student-applied research and learning through basic science, environmental, and cultural laboratory experiences, which will equip and prepare students for the workforce and advanced graduate studies.
Action 3:
Assist faculty in building relationships with community groups through the Directors of Research & Community Partnerships and the Center for Community Engagement
Action 4:
Train faculty on Kūlana Noiʻi (research standards) to provide guidance for building and sustaining not just working partnerships, but long-term relationships between communities and researchers.
Action 5:
Work with County R&D and local NGOs to develop a local needs-based research agenda.
Action 6:
Update campus research info websites to increase visibility.
Action 7:
Determine faculty research interests and professional development plans.
Action 8:
Facilitate unit and faculty cooperation to pursue interdisciplinary funding opportunities directly tied to locally relevant research, community benefit, and applied learning experiences for students.
Strategic Initiative 4 – Improve Research Support Services to the Campus
Goal:
To have up-to-date research space, associated infrastructure, and seed funding to jump start
preliminary research initiatives as a basis for future grant applications.
Objective:
To know faculty research needs and aspirations while increasing capacity.
Action 1:
Survey faculty research support issues and identify priority needs for informed decision making.
Action 2
Ensure that seed funding is more readily available than it has been in the past particularly for
projects facilitating undergraduate student participation in cross disciplinary research and community relationship building.