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.

With aloha,

Bonnie D. Irwin

One of the issues around student success that has gotten a lot of attention in the last few years is “belongingness.” Students flourish when they believe they belong in college and are comfortable being there. If they feel like outsiders, they will repeatedly question their competence, their future, and any number of other things. In that regard, students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo are no different than other people in other communities. We all feel better about ourselves and our chances for success if we believe we are meant to be in a place and have good relationships with the people who surround us.

Belongingness efforts at a university begin long before students apply for admissions. It is important that we have keiki and families visiting our campus to be more comfortable in our spaces and see what role we can play in their futures. Our faculty and staff often visit local high schools to connect with students and help them find the best pathway into college life.

The pandemic made belonging a challenge. While we can create community online, it is certainly more challenging, and certain events just had to be suspended or changed. For the last two years, however, we have brought back in-person classes, student-led campus events that address social issues such as domestic violence and civic engagement, theater performances that bring together people of different cultures, outreach activities that strengthen our ties to the community, internships connecting our students to local organizations, seminars and forums covering local topics that encourage dialogue and the sharing of manaʻo and ideas.

This semester we’ve also opened a new outdoor eating area conducive to interaction, are holding a series of mini concerts on the library lanai for people to connect through music, and launched volunteer campus beautification activities grounded in the Native Hawaiian values of kōkua in the spirit of laulima (many hands working together).

Our longstanding community programs have also relaunched post-pandemic, all of which engender a sense of connection and belonging.

Returning last year after a two-year hiatus is a summer tradition for nearly 50 years that connects us with the keiki of the Hilo community. The annual Coach Jimmy Yagi Vulcan Basketball Camp, named for late UH Hilo Hall of Fame Coach Yagi, is a four-day camp for boys and girls aged 9-17 to inspire team spirit through drills, games, contests and a host of motivational speakers. The camps also strengthen youth basketball on Hawaiʻi Island, an important activity for keiki health, building character and a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves, preparing next generations for their place in our island communities.

Magnificent Me is sponsored by the Zonta Club of Hilo to help adolescent girls build their confidence. The half-day conference brings about 100 middle-school girls from East Hawaiʻi to UH Hilo for workshops that teach the importance of developing a strong sense of self and inspire participants to build their confidence “tool box.”

Our annual Barrio Fiesta, just held on Oct. 26, celebrates Filipino American History Month and features music, dance, Filipino attire, and an array of engaging activities that showcase the richness of Filipino culture. Attended by a wide range of people from the university and our local community, the event is hosted by several academic programs and Filipino cultural groups from throughout Hawaiʻi Island. Itʻs a wonderful annual celebration to bring together the local Filipino-American community in Hilo.

In October, we also hosted the 11th Annual Pacific Youth Empowerment for Success (PacYES) conference. The event welcomes a large group of local high school students of Pacific Islander heritage and offers a day of workshops, speakers, and break out sessions on vocational opportunities, financial aid for college, and more. The activities motivate, inspire, and prepare the students for college and career opportunities and also foster their cultural connections within their own communities.

In my remarks at the PacYES event, I encouraged the students to listen with intention, think and dream about what their voyage will be, letting them know that there are teams of people ready and waiting to help them realize their dreams. This is basically the sentiment of all our events, both internal and external: UH Hilo is a place to connect with others, a place to belong and flourish, and we welcome all into our university ʻohana.

With aloha,

Bonnie D. Irwin