Sunday, June 8, 2008

Our View

Thorns and all, we love Rose

The University of Hawaii at Hilo will lose its best-ever chancellor next year.

Rose Tseng, a tireless champion of UHH, will step down in December 2009 after 11 years at the helm. It will be a loss for the university and for Hilo.

Under Tseng’s bulldog leadership, UHH blossomed from a small, unappreciated satellite school into a respected liberal arts institution.

During her tenure, enrollment grew 34 percent, research and grant funding soared, and new degree programs were created. In addition, UHH added several impressive facilities — including the University Classroom Building, the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center and the just-finished Student Life Center.

But most importantly, Tseng helped drag UHH out from under the oppressive thumb of UH-Manoa by being a unrelenting advocate for Hilo. She made it clear from Day One that UHH didn’t need to be the red-headed stepchild of the University of Hawaii system, and she conveyed that message with the determination and stubbornness that became her trademarks.

Strong leaders often draw fire, of course, and Tseng’s approach wasn’t always appreciated. She had her share of detractors in Honolulu, where she frequently stole headlines and attention from the larger school.

Even in Hilo town, Tseng was sometimes criticized for being outspoken and pushy, and some professors and staff quietly questioned her administrative skills.

While those criticisms might contain some truth, we wouldn’t change a thing. In Tseng, UHH got exactly what it needed: a tireless leader with the ability to get things done.

In fact, Tseng delivered on the top priorities she identified early in her tenure.

In a column published in this newspaper in 1999, she said UHH needed to improve in three areas if it hoped to escape the shadow of Manoa: image, enrollment and infrastructure.

At the time, she said shortcomings in all three areas were barriers to UHH’s success, and she made it a goal to bolster all three. A decade later, the university’s image, enrollment and infrastructure have — without question — dramatically improved under Tseng.

For all her success, however, Tseng has had her share of disappointments. Although enrollment has grown steadily since she became chancellor, UHH failed in 2007 to reach its longtime goal of 5,000 students. And the U.S.-China Center — a cornerstone project of her administration — spent a decade in limbo before finally moving forward this year.

That said, Tseng’s legacy will still be outstanding, and the next chancellor — whomever it is — will have mighty big shoes to fill.

“A rose is a rose is a rose,” author Gertrude Stein famously wrote. Not so, in this case.

This Rose is one in a million, and she will be missed.

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