Rose Tseng, chancellor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, says she’s got plenty of things on her to-do list before she steps down from her current position in December 2009. Since Tseng became chancellor in 1998, outside grants for scientific research at UHH have increased from $3 million a year to about $20 million. - Photos By William Ing/Hawaii Tribune-Herald

UHH chancellor Tseng has projects to finish before departing post

by John Burnett
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer

Published: Monday, July 28, 2008 9:15 AM HST

It’s been nearly two months since Rose Tseng informed the University of Hawaii regents that she would step down as chancellor of UH-Hilo in December 2009.

Tseng, who has presided over a decade of unprecedented growth at UHH, talked to the Tribune-Herald last week, discussing her plans and hopes for the 17 months she has remaining in the school’s top spot. Attired in a tasteful black dress and long-sleeved red jacket and impeccably coiffed in her trademark semi-wedge, Tseng radiated the energy of a woman half her age and carried herself like the long-time institutional CEO she is.

“Whatever you do, please don’t describe me as a lame duck,” said Tseng, who is in her mid-60s. “I’m too young and there’s too much still to be done.”

Tseng said she gave the regents more than a year-and-a-half notice “so they can take their time and find a good permanent replacement,” adding that she will probably not have a role in the search for her successor. She’ll take a sabbatical for the entire 2010 calendar year, then return to UH-Hilo in a still-to-be-determined capacity for two years before retiring.

“I was a (United Nations) consultant,” she said. “I could use my international connections for the university. I could do fundraising. I’m very big on grants, getting foundation money — and I would have more free time to do that. I could do (technological consulting). I have a lot of connections in Silicon Valley. … There are a lot of possibilities. Then, there’s teaching. There’s nothing wrong with that. I love to teach, too. There are just too many options (laughs). … There are still 21/2 years before I have to decide.

“There’s also what the new chancellor wants, how he or she thinks I can best help.”

If Tseng returns to the lecture hall or the lab — which seems unlikely — she is a full professor with a Ph.D. in nutritional science who minored in biochemistry and physiology. She has spoken extensively on leadership and said it’s possible she could teach leadership at the school’s College of Business and Economics.

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In yesterday’s Hawaii Tribune-Herald:

The University of Hawaii at Hilo will use a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to build a campus resource center for Pacific Islanders.

The two-year project will turn a third-floor Campus Center lanai into an enclosed 2,700-square-foot facility where multicultural training and workshops can be conducted. The Center for Pacific Islander Education and Retention will also house a library of cultural education material, with an overall aim of increasing success and retention of the university’s approximately 200 Pacific Islander students.

Students will be able to use the center for peer mentoring, tutoring, networking or to relax.

“We seemed to be lacking a gathering place for these students to call their own, and where visiting scholars and performers can use the space — something less stuffy than a classroom,” said Jim Mellon, UH-Hilo’s director of student development.

The lanai being eyed for the space has been under-used and isn’t a functional space, Mellon said. The grant specified that the money must be used to renovate an existing facility. But it does also allow $10,000 to be used on art, Mellon said.

“I think there’s room in the grant to furnish the place, buy some electronic equipment and some art to put on the wall,” Mellon said.

The project is in line with UHH goals of bolstering the study of Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and indigenous cultures and a system-wide goal of being a “training hub of Oceania,” Mellon said.

“One of the things that our graduates say is that they learned a lot about people from other parts of the world,” Mellon said. “I would envision this as a place for all students.”

Congresswoman Mazie Hirono announced the first installment of the two-year grant on Monday. Planning and design will begin in the fall, with the center opening in 2010.

Link

In yesterday’s Honolulu Advertiser:

Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai’i) has announced that a $682,982 U.S. Department of Education grant has been presented to the Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Program at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo.

The money will be used for the planning and design of the proposed Center for Pacific Islander Education and Retention, according to a news release from Hirono’s office. The University of Hawai’i at Hilo will renovate an existing campus facility to establish the center.

It will be used for peer monitoring, tutoring and learning communities; for multicultural training and workshops; and for a library of relevant education, leadership, and cultural materials and resources — all in an effort to increase Pacific Islander student success and retention, according to the news release.

The total cost of the two-year project is $1,994,557. The bulk of the cost is for the the actual conversion and renovation of the campus facility to create the center.

Link

Farrah-Marie Gomes has been named director at UH Hilo’s North Hawai‘i Education and Research Center in Honoka‘a.

Gomes has been interim director at the center since January 2006, presiding over a period of rapid growth for the educational outreach facility, which offers credit and non-credit courses from UH Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College. The center also serves as a community meeting place.

“People in North Hawai‘i have been waiting for the educational service that NHERC provides for a long time,” said Gomes, a Pa‘auilo native who lives in Waimea. “The rising price of fuel plus the distance to Hilo have made our mission to bring higher education to North Hawai‘i even more important.”