Left to right: Rose Tseng, Michael Crosby, Luoluo Hong and William Carter. Photo by John Oshima.

Chancellor Tseng hosted a reception this evening in honor of three newcomers to UH Hilo: Luoluo Hong, vice chancellor for student affairs; Michael Crosby, vice chancellor for research; and William Carter, state director of the UH Hilo Small Business Development Center. All three joined UH Hilo last month.

Hong‘s most recent administrative position was serving as the dean of students at Arizona State University-West. She holds a PhD from Louisiana State University in educational leadership.

Crosby‘s appointment is funded by the National Science Board. He is on a leave of absence from his current position as executive director of the NSB. He holds a PhD from the University of Maryland.

Carter was previously the state SBDC director in Oregon. He holds a PhD from Oregon State University, where he was an instructor in the College of Business.

Aloha and Welcome to all three!

Chancellor Rose Tseng (left) and UH Hilo Director of Financial Aid Jeff Scofield (right) stand with John & Linda Tolmie, who have established an endowed scholarship at the university. Photo by Walter Dudoit.

Longtime community and UH Hilo supporters Linda and John Tolmie have established a $50,000 endowed scholarship in the names of their parents, John and Mary Tolmie & James and Fulvia Bailey.

The Tolmies, who operate Tolmie Properties Ltd., a commercial real estate firm in Hilo, have lived in Hawai‘i since the mid 1970s and have been active in a number of community organizations. John, a former Marine Corps officer, is a longstanding member of the UH Hilo Chancellor’s Advisory Board. Linda, a former teacher, served as Vice Chair of the UH Hilo Performing Arts Center Advisory Committee from its inception in 2003 until 2007.

“UH Hilo has the highest percentage of students receiving financial aid of any of the 10 campuses in the University of Hawai‘i system,” said Chancellor Rose Tseng. “We would never be able to assist so many students with only government aid at our disposal. We are indebted to the Tolmies for making a critical difference.”

Full story here .

Photo by Marcia Heller.

Chancellor Tseng saddled up yesterday to welcome guests to a fundraiser held at UH Hilo’s Agricultural Farm at Pana‘ewa. “Cowboy Up 2008: A Blue Jeans and Black Tie Barbecue” was held to raise funds to equip the new UH Hilo Equestrian Center with interior panels, pens, bleacher seating and equipment.

Everybody had tons of fun with live country music, great BBQ and auctions.

Plans for the facility include equine and livestock shows, 4-H and other community events.

UH Hilo’s 2008 Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards banquet will be held on Friday, Feb. 29 at the Campus Center Dining Room. The event begins at 5 p.m. with no-host cocktails and a silent auction to raise scholarship funds.

This year’s Distinguished Alumni Awards recipients are (left to right): Robert Dircks, Hilo High principal; Gay Porter, Hilo branch manager of Business Insurance Services and president of General Insurance Association of Hilo and Hilo Rotary Club; and Hansen Tsang, owner of Mauna Kea Electric and pioneer in renewable energy technology.

This year’s Distinguished Service Award recipients are: (left to right top) Don Hemmes, UH Hilo professor of biology and president of the Mycological Society of America; John Farias, former member of the UH Board of Regents; George Martin (shown here in 1977), former Hawai‘i Division director and international vice president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union; (and left to right above) the late Eddie De Mello (shown here in 1973), ILWU member, labor organizer and lobbyist; and Stanley I. Hara, former state senator and chair of senate education committee.

Martin, De Mello and Hara played instrumental roles in transforming the UH Hilo campus from a two-year institution to a four-year University of Hawai‘i at Hilo in 1971.

Tickets are $50 per person and $350 for a table of eight. RSVP deadline is Feb. 19. For more information, call 974-7643 or 974-7501.

Chancellor Tseng
Chamber Connection
February 2008

Mahalo for Chamber’s advocacy at State Legislature

Thank you, members of the Chamber and business community, for your ongoing support for UH Hilo. This support is especially appreciated during State Legislature sessions. I know our Big Island delegation appreciates your participation and feedback as they champion UH Hilo as a comprehensive university.

I’m extremely grateful for your hard work at last year’s session. Your support helped us achieve major milestones this past year. Some of the highlights are:

• Our headcount enrollment of 3,600 students is the highest in the history of UH Hilo. The student body has grown nearly 40 percent since 1997.
• The College of Pharmacy’s inaugural class of 91 students began working toward their degrees last fall.
• We’ve added a bachelor of business administration in accounting and a bachelor of science degree in marine science.
• With positions the legislature granted us last year, we hired six new faculty in Nursing and four faculty in Education. With this added capacity, we are able to help address workforce shortages in these areas.
• Teaching and research grants increase every year and now nearing $20 million, a dramatic increase from about $3 million in 1998.
• Our new Student Life Center is scheduled to open in April of this year. We’ll finally be able to provide the fitness and health activities that our students so badly need.

We celebrate each new success. But we also still face challenges in our operations and services, primarily because funding has not kept pace with enrollment growth. In addition, our campus infrastructure needs improvements for the safety of our students and the public who use our facilities.

Because of these shortfalls in important areas, this year we are requesting of the legislature the following:

• Funding for construction of the College of Hawaiian Language building.
• Improvements to utility grid
• Covered basketball court in the Student Life & Events Center
• Creation of soccer and softball fields
• Reinstatement of funds to pay the five rangers on Mauna Kea. The rangers are essential to ensuring public safety and protecting natural and cultural resources of the mountain. Staff to provide campus security and emergency response.
• Staff and equipment to provide field study safety, environmental health, and safety education.
• Staff for health and mental health services, health education, and substance abuse prevention.
• Funds for new agricultural equipment and one position to improve safety at our Pana’ewa instructional farm.

We are also requesting funding for six faculty positions in our Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Sciences master’s program. These positions were previously funded by EPSCoR grants through the National Science Foundation.

The support of Chamber members and the local business community helps us greatly during each legislative session. I thank you for the work you do on behalf of the university. Your enthusiastic advocacy for UH Hilo at events such as the annual State Capitol Walk Around helps us create exciting educational, cultural, and economic opportunities for our students and our communities.

I will keep you posted of our progress at the capitol.  Mahalo again for your support. Great things happen when everyone works together to move UH Hilo forward!

Aloha

Story in Pacific Business News on UH Hilo’s new director of research, link here (outside news source determines link expiration). Story below:

UH Hilo gets help in developing scientific research

Michael Crosby was recently named to a one-year post as vice chancellor for research at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

He is on leave from his position as executive officer of the National Science Board, a Virginia-based group hand-picked by President Bush to advise Congress on policy issues related to science and engineering research and education.

UH Hilo created the research position to help expand its scientific research capabilities and funding. The National Science Board is funding Crosby’s Hilo appointment.

Crosby, who holds a master’s degree in biology and a doctorate degree in marine estuarine-environmental sciences, has more than 30 years of experience as a scientific researcher. He spoke with PBN’s Nanea Kalani about his new role at UH Hilo.

How did your appointment with UH Hilo come about?

Members of the scientific research community have an obligation to play a more active role in the national policy and administrative aspects of our country’s science programs during some portion of their career. During the recent years, I have been proud to have made a contribution to our community’s obligation at the federal government level. While this has been an extremely rewarding period, I feel a desire to make a more direct contribution through a science administration position that will bring me closer to the front line for research and science education.

In many conversations with [UH Hilo] Chancellor Rose Tseng, leaders in the UH system and colleagues in Hawaii, it became clear that UH Hilo would greatly benefit in moving to the next step in its research enterprise if it could fill a position it didn’t have: vice chancellor for research. It became clear that a temporary assignment for me to serve UH Hilo would facilitate cooperation, address mutual goals and benefit all our institutions.

What research experience do you bring to the table?

National and international success in building and managing both marine research programs and science-driven resource management efforts as well as my experience teaching at the university level. I will be pleased to serve as a UH Hilo focal point and catalyst for stimulating sustainable improvements in UH research and competitiveness with a principal focus on development of a vibrant interdisciplinary and applied research enterprise at UH Hilo. Success will depend on a team effort for mixing together essential ingredients, which I believe already exist.

What are your priorities and goals for the university?

The more important goal for me is to build a strong strategic foundation for long-term success that will be realized after my assignment. One specific goal is to identify a clear and unique niche for a UH Hilo science research enterprise for 2010 and beyond that emphasizes research excellence and linkages to undergraduate education, and takes full advantage of the natural environment and cultural diversity afforded by its island setting.

What potential do you see for the university’s research capabilities?

I see the potential for UH Hilo to serve as a nexus institution where future generations of scientists and a scientifically literate citizenry are educated and launch their careers. I hope to work closely with UH Hilo faculty, staff and students, as well as the broader UH system family and the local science and technology business community to identify a clear and unique niche for a UH Hilo science research enterprise.