Connecting Learning, Life and Aloha
‘O ka ‘imi na‘auao, ke ola a me ke aloha kā kākou e huliāmahi ai

UH Hilo Strategic Planning

Meeting Notes - March 21, 2022

Relationships Committee Meeting: Monday, March 21 at 11:30am

Present: Justina Mattos, Jennifer Stotter, Julie Mowrer, and Kathleen Baumgardner

Meeting purpose: Action Plan work continues

Wailau update

The idea: The purpose of Wailau events is to build connections across campus and with the wider community that go deeper than the roles we hold while honoring our complex, fragile and brave selves. In keeping with the meaning of Wailau, we will showcase five storytellers at each event - a UH faculty member, staff member, student, alum and a community member.

Our topic expert for Spring is set - Juie Mitchell, Executive Director of Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center. The storyteller lineup has been set and at least one storyteller has connected with our coaches. Storyteller will have their onstage meetings with Justina this week.

We have new hosts for the fall - students Tori Matsumoto and Dane Dupre. Our new hosts will have a semester to shadow our current hosts, learning the ropes, and will then fully take the reins in Fall 2022. Their bios and introduction is on the Wailau website.

Our current host Kuʻuhiapo Jeong was selected as a winner for the Overall Award for the 2022 Ka Lama Ku Awards. This is a prestigious recognition of his achievements this year and the award has only been given out four other times since 2007 when the program was founded.The recognition award recognizes the contributions Ku`uhiapo has made in his leadership roles on campus and in the community.

Dayva and Kuʻuhiapo have received or will shortly receive stipends for their work on Wailau. This was part of the event budget for the event and the first step toward institutionalizing the event. In a recent meeting with the Chancellor Kathleen asked if this would continue and she said she thought it might. Positive feedback, but not definitive. However, she did bring up the idea of a Wailau Live event in the Fall - a sign of our campus reopening. The theme could potentially center on reengaging, reconnecting, starting anew.

We discussed whether the live format would be intimidating for applicants. It could be that it would open interest to new potential storytellers. Outreach would be key to getting a strong lineup of storytellers who would be comfortable taking on this challenge.

We also discussed the venue for the event. It could be the Performing Arts Center, but we might consider an outdoor space. This may provide a more casual atmosphere, similar to a Shaekespeare in the Park event. Campus Center, the library lanai, the space on the 3rd floor of Campus Center, and Haleʻōlelo. The biggest issue may be acoustics. There is a space outside of the theater that is a possibility.

Action items for Wailau:

  • Kathleen will complete a press release announcing the lineup and event details.
  • During the on stage meetings, Justina will confirm story titles.
  • Kathleen will update the Wailau website to include bios.

Employee Resource Groups (Affinity Groups)

4.1.1. Strategy 4: Improve interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts to ensure student success. Action 1: Develop affinity groups across campus in order to bring people together whose paths might not normally cross. Deliverable: Established affinity groups.

Jennifer reported that meetings have been set. It will be critical to ensure stakeholder engagement, seed monies, and to secure majority opinion on some details. DEI has a subcommittee to support employee recruitment and retention and the employee resource groups are a piece of that effort.

Other Relevant Efforts

We briefly discussed the message that was recently sent regarding a potential UH Hilo Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Book Club. There has been a lot of response, with dozens of book suggestions. There could be several groups formed. These book clubs may start a dialogue for UH Hilo’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) effort. We discussed whether one book club might focus on relevant work other than books - podcast episodes, plays, short stories, moʻolelo, etc.

We also talked about the upcoming mentoring workshop in April - Re-thinking Mentoring: How to Build Communities of Inclusion, Support, and Accountability. This virtual workshop is designed to start a new type of discussion about mentoring and to provide resources regarding mentorship. Julie is currently meeting with people involved with good internship programs. Excellence is not just about the quality of the internship work, but also about the environment and mentoring available, and if the intern mentors have had good mentoring.

Online Recognition System

7.1.1. Strategy 7: Nurture and strengthen campus relationships and campus culture. Action 1: Increase opportunities to express gratitude and celebrate success in large and small ways across campus. Deliverable 1: Communicated the work of campus groups/committees recognizing that the work was meaningful and acknowledging the impact or efforts that came to fruition.

University Relations is the sponsor for 7.1.1. Kathleen had a meeting with Aly and she shared that she formed a UR working group. They are happy to have us work on an online system. At the same time, they will be pursuing another effort. They believe that one of the best ways to increase opportunities to express gratitude and celebrate success across campus is to first boost morale and encourage collaboration. They would like to see people reconnecting and restoring everyday contact and communication with one another. They have sent a survey to people across campus, polling interest and interest areas.

We discussed the difference between ERGs and these efforts. The ERGs are more mission driven and aligned with UH Hilo’s strategic goals. The work of the UR work group is focused on social relationships. However, we could see some of those social groups becoming ERGs if they are strongly aligned with a strategic issue.

For the online recognition system, do we build it or buy it? There is no use in reinventing the wheel if an appropriate solution already exists. Plus, there are numerous examples of projects that fell by the wayside because the person who was supporting the project was no longer available to do so. We’re not sure there is internal capacity.

We discussed accessibility to the system. Are there groups of employees that do not have ready access to computers. Once available, the system should be promoted through the Chancellor’s blog, Ha‘ilono o UH Hilo, social media, etc.

Action items for the online recognition system:

  • Kathleen will reach out to Brennan to ask about packages and see if he has thoughts/recommendations.
  • Kathleen will do some research on what other universities are using and make a few inquiries.

We then discussed committee membership and the need for more staff and community members to join the committee. Kathleen will reach out to Lei to see if we might be able to access the list of community members in consideration for the Chancellor’s Community Advisory Board.

Our time elapsed and the meeting was adjourned.