UH Hilo’s Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) hosts teams from the around the country to test robotic instruments that will be used in upcoming missions to the moon.

Scientists and engineers, assisted by PISCES staff and Hilo students will conduct a full mission simulation featuring three NASA developed robotics, including the Selectively Compliant Articulated Robot Arm Rover. The tests are designed to provide participants hands-on experience with specific technical challenges to be anticipated when humans return to the moon by 2020, explore the lunar surface and set up outposts.

“It’s one thing to test an instrument in the laboratory. But that really doesn’t tell you how it will perform during a lunar mission,” says John Hamilton, research operations manager. “Our challenge is to replicate those conditions as closely as possible to ensure that the test results will be a true reflection of how these instruments will perform on the Moon.”

Link

Link to PISCES

UH Hilo presents A Global Dialogue: Women in Higher Education

For the first time in UH Hilo’s history, an international gathering of women university presidents & chancellors will convene to share their perspectives on the role of women’s leadership in higher education. This historic presentation will serve as an empowering and inspiring message and will offer networking and mentoring opportunities.

Join honored guests for an International Reception, a unique culinary experience on the theatre lanai immediately following the program.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

UH Hilo Performing Arts Center

PLEASE RSVP BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

For information call: 974-7555 or email: uhhconferencecenter@gmail.com

Click here for flyer: flyer-for-a-global-dialogue.

UPDATE: RSVP DEADLINE EXTENDED TO WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17

Former Hilo educator and administrator Audrey Furukawa established the Audrey S. Furukawa Study Abroad Scholarship Endowment. Furukawa made the lead gift upon her retirement from Hilo, and then enlisted the community to raise additional funds.

To be eligible, students must be enrolled fulltime as an undergraduate at Hilo and show academic merit as demonstrated with a minimum 3.2 GPA. The study experience will be at least one semester and reserved for students who have not studied, traveled or lived abroad for more than a month. Preference will be given to Hawai‘i high school graduates.

A lifelong resident of Hilo, Furukawa attended Hilo College, the predecessor of UH Hilo, and then went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Manoa. She spent over 30 years as a faculty member and administrator at Hilo, retiring in 2008 from dual positions as executive assistant to the chancellor, and director of the Center for Global Education and Exchange.

“I wish to extend a very special thank you to my family and the many friends who joined me in creating this endowment,” says Furukawa. “Your gift will enable eligible Hawai’i students to begin their global education journey and open infinite doors of opportunity.”

Link

UPDATE 8/31/08: Story in today’s Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Mauna Kea’s summit is short one telescope: its first. The first telescope to be placed atop the volcano, in 1968, has been retired and removed, to make way for a new, larger telescope for UH-Hilo astronomy faculty and students. AP photo.

Associated Press

August 24, 2008

KAILUA-KONA » The first telescope to be placed atop Mauna Kea has been retired and removed.

Scientists used the 24-inch telescope, built in 1968, to conduct pioneering observations on asteroids, outer planets and other objects in the solar system.

“This telescope had a lot of history,” UH-Hilo Astronomy Professor William Heacox said. “Even though the years of wear and tear had eroded its capabilities, we were still sad to see it go.”

Many University of Hawaii astronomy students learned the craft using the instrument. UH-Hilo faculty and students used it to collect data for more than 13 published research projects since 1995.

“It is fair to say that most, perhaps all, of our astronomy graduates have learned how to ‘do astronomy’ with the old 24-inch telescope in its unheated dome,” Heacox said.

“I have probably spent more than 100 nights using that instrument, and did most of my Ph.D. thesis research with it in the mid-1970s.”

The recent removal of the old telescope and installation of the new dome clears the way for a larger telescope for UH-Hilo astronomy faculty and students.

The new telescope is being funded by a $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. University repair and maintenance funds will pay for the building reconstruction.

The new telescope is being built by Equinox Interscience, Inc. of Golden, Colo. It will be shipped to Hilo in October and, once installed, will be remotely operated from the new Science and Technology Building on the Hilo campus.

Mauna Kea, one of five volcanoes that form the Big island, is the highest point in the state at 13,796 feet. It houses 12 of the world’s leading observatories for optical, infrared and submillimeter astronomy.

Link

August 18, 2008

3:00 p.m.

Campus Center Dining Hall

Thank you, Jim. Let me say thank you, Jim, for involving students in hands-on learning in the Geography Department and for your work in faculty governance.

Did you know that a scholarship was endowed in honor of the founders of the Geography Department last spring by a former student, Ron Terry? The scholarship honors Jim Juvik, Sonia Juvik, Jim Kelly, and Jack Healy. Jim and Sonia, your dedication is greatly appreciated.

Aloha!

I’d like to extend a special welcome to Regent Marlene Hapai. Thank you for all you have done for UH Hilo. Marlene was a faculty member here for many years. Many people don’t know she helped us get the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center started. And now, she’s serving on the UH Board of Regents.

I’d also like to welcome Mr. Eugene Nishimura, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and president/regional manager of Hawaii National Bank.

In addition, Catheran Hashimoto is here. She is Education Committee Chair of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and East Hawaii Executive Director of the American Cancer Society.

Welcome!

Today is the beginning of a new academic year. It’s exciting to welcome newcomers, and reunite with all of you, our university ‘ohana.

This week is busy with Orientation. Thank you for your time helping students and new faculty and staff.

Today, we’ll be introducing over 70 newcomers, more than ever before. So we “old-timers” will need to reach out more than ever to welcome and integrate new students, faculty and staff into the life of the university.

Your spirit of aloha has made it all possible. I’d like to thank everyone who served on the many search committees we had in the past year.

For the benefit of the new members of our ‘ohana, I’d like to give a brief overview of our university and share a few recent highlights.

Since I came to UH Hilo in 1998, we have been developing from a liberal arts institution into a “comprehensive university” with a more diverse mix of professional and liberal arts programs as well as graduate programs.

We are now much better able to meet the expectations of students as well as the workforce needs of the state of Hawai‘i.

We are trying to boost services and infrastructure to support our students and make this a true comprehensive university. It’s a very exciting time for UH Hilo.

But with it comes growing pains. Change is always hard. I want to sincerely thank you all for bearing the inconvenience. Your patience and understanding will benefit our students in the long run. Thank you!

Academic excellence is our foundation. You are the best teachers, and your aloha spirit creates a very special learning environment.

Our island inspires the spirit of discovery, and many of our programs make the most of our living laboratory: culture, the sciences, geography, business, and more. There is hardly a field of study that isn’t enriched by our unique island environment.

At the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, we have exciting programs that are helping local and international business and economy: aquaculture, horticulture, animal science and more. Last semester, a fundraiser was held at the new covered livestock pavilion and raised about $30,000. The college is moving into studies of food security and sustainable energy.

The College of Arts and Sciences is our largest college and offers degree programs in many, many areas in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. With our campus emphasis on using the island as a learning laboratory, our STEM programs have really come into their own. Our programs are educating increasing numbers of students from underserved groups and encouraging them to pursue graduate studies.

At the College Of Business And Economics, I’m very pleased to say that students can now declare a new major in Accounting. The college has also entered into articulation agreements with Hawai‘i Community College and Kapi‘olani Community College. These “Degree Pathways” are crucial efforts to reach out underserved populations and enable student success. Watch for the college’s speaker series in entrepreneurship and economics.

The College of Hawaiian Language offers programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level. They’re also deeply involved in language revitalization and immersion education at the K through 12 level. They have their own teacher education program to serve Hawaiian immersion schools.

The College of Pharmacy is rapidly establishing itself. They welcomed their inaugural class of 90 students last fall. And, for this fall’s class, they received over 1,200 applications. We plan to break ground this October for Phase I of their new temporary facilities.

Let me tell you about enrollment. From 1997 to 2007, we’ve had an overall increase in students of 35.4%. Growth was more or less slow and steady. The Fall 2007 headcount of 3,573 was the highest enrollment in the history of our campus. This year, we’re experiencing a spike in enrollment, we don’t know by how much yet. So we should see a record number again. The increase will be mostly in Hawai‘i residents.

Now to the budget. The bad news is, because of economic forces, the entire state of Hawai‘i is subject to budget reductions. We have already received reductions in the amount of $845,000. We’ve been told another reduction is coming, we don’t know how much. At the same time, utility costs have gone way up. This week, the campus-wide Long Range Budget Planning Committee will meet. This committee includes faculty and will help Administrative Affairs with a transparent process. For now, we are drastically slowing down spending. As we get more information, we will let the campus know.

On a happier note, I wanted to share with you the progress on our Student Recreation Center, opening early this Fall semester. It will really improve student life on campus. The facility is state-of-the-art and has received LEED gold-standard certification. There are indoor recreation rooms, an outdoor swimming pool, a snack bar and a lounge. The Board of Regents approved a student fee of $78 per semester to support student wellness programs, intramural events, and other activities. A faculty/staff member plan will be introduced later in the fall.

Many building projects will go forward this year. We really need the space! The Science and Technology Building, Student Services Building, temporary facilities for the College of Pharmacy, and we’re renovating a small astronomical observatory on Mauna Kea to use for instruction. There will also be a number of renovations and upgrades on and around campus.

I ask for your patience with the noise and inconvenience. We are working hard to provide you with adequate space and up-to-date facilities. To address the current space crunch, we’re exploring some off-campus leases.

On accreditation, our last review with WASC a few years ago was very good, and we were accredited for a full 10 years. The WASC team commended us for transforming from liberal arts college to a comprehensive university. We received a special visit from a WASC site team last spring. They were looking at a number of areas: budget and finance, governance and decision making, diversity, assessment of student learning, and the doctoral programs. I want to thank April Komenaka for engaging the whole campus to prepare for this visit and participate in the meetings.

The WASC site team had many commendations for UH Hilo but also a number of concerns and recommendations. The WASC Commission sent us an “action letter” with a set of requirements we must meet. These are reasonable and do-able. WASC will follow up with another special visit in Fall of 2009 to look at our governance structure and the PhD in the College of Hawaiian Language. We have not been censured by WASC, but we have been informed that we are now out of compliance in a number of areas. WASC standards have been steadily growing more rigorous over the past decade. It’s our challenge to develop as a university along with the standards. A lot of people, faculty and administration, will need to work together to meet all requirements set by WASC. I know we will be fully prepared by the time the site team arrives for the next visit.

We have a lot of exciting academic initiatives moving forward this year. New faculty, be sure to attend the New Faculty Orientation sessions Wednesday and Thursday in UCB 127. The Faculty Congress will be laying the groundwork to roll out the new General Education program in Fall of 2009. The new program has been many years in the making, and I’d like to thank the General Education Committee once again for championing this improved program.

A full service Academic Support Center is being developed. To be located downstairs in the library, it will provide supplemental instruction for all students and should open its doors in Fall 2009. The Office of Student Affairs is deeply involved in the planning and implementation of many academic initiatives. Academic Affairs and Student Affairs work closely together for the betterment of our university.

We’ve finally got dual enrollment for Hawai‘i Community College students. This will help them make a seamless transition to UH Hilo.

Student Affairs and Academic Affairs are working closely this year to improve the First Year Experience. We hope the expanded programs will help students feel connected to peers, the faculty, their studies, and the university.

We’ve also requested funds for this for the next biennium, but in the meantime, we’re trying to make improvements with the resources we have.

I want to recognize our athletes’ and their stellar achievements last year. We were thrilled last spring when our UH Hilo athletes won the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup for the Pacific West Conference. I couldn’t be more proud of them! System President David McClain has declared that the first Friday of each month during the academic year will be “UH Athletics Pride Days.”

So we’re encouraging everyone to show their pride by wearing UH Hilo athletics colors (red and white) or logo attire on the first Friday of every month.

And I’m also extremely proud of our faculty. Thank you for all your hard work with grants and research. Faculty are working on major grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, NASA, USDA, and others.

UH Hilo also has a college responsible for outreach and community service, the College Of Continuing Education And Community Service. It offers non-credit courses and serves the entire Big Island. At this time, I’d like to call upon April Komenaka to talk briefly about an important initiative in CCECS.

[…]

HONORING TENURE AND PROMOTION

The awarding of tenure and promotion is the university’s recognition of excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. We honor these faculty members on their past achievements. We also look forward to the future, when we will see how they help shape our university for the better. Please come up and assemble on stage as your names are called. I’d appreciate the audience holding the applause until the end.

For tenure and promotion:

• Todd Belt, Associate Professor of Political Science
• Michele Ebersole, Associate Professor of Education
• Bryan Kim, Professor of Psychology
• The following faculty members have been awarded promotion:
• Kathryn Besio, Associate Professor of Geography
• Peter Mills, Professor of Anthropology
• Cheryl Ramos, Associate Professor of Psychology
• Philippe Binder was also promoted to Professor of Physics. He is on sabbatical in Texas.

The following faculty members have been awarded tenure:

• Philip Castille, our Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, was received tenure as Professor of English
• Edward Fisher, the College of Pharmacy’s Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Drew Martin, Associate Professor of Marketing
• Mark Okamoto, Professor of Pharmacy Practice

A round of applause for everyone receiving tenure and promotion!

Thank you all. You may take your seats.

INTRODUCTION OF NEWCOMERS

Today we are pleased to introduce our newcomers. I’m truly thrilled to say that there are over 70, more than twice as many as last year.

We were successful in arguing for new positions during the last budget round. The campus also worked hard on search committees all last year.

May I ask that the introductions be brief so we have time for everyone?

In the interest of time, I’m asking that each introducer bring their newcomers up to the stage in a group. Each newcomer should step forward to be introduced as his or her name is called.

I will now call upon Debra Fitzsimons, vice chancellor for Administrative Affairs, to make the introductions for her unit.

[…]

Dean Bill Steiner will introduce for the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management.

[…]

And now, the College of Arts and Sciences. Division Chair, David Miller, will make the introductions for the Humanities Division.

[…]

Rick Castberg, who is the Division Chair for Social Sciences, will introduce the newcomers in his division.

[…]

I’ll now call upon Leon Hallacher, Division Chair for Natural Sciences, to introduce his newcomers.

Moving on to the College of Business and Economics … I’d like to call up Hank Hennesey for Business Administration and Tam Vu for Economics.

[…]

Kalena Silva will make the introductions for the College of Hawaiian Language.

[…]

Dean John Pezzuto will introduce the newcomers from the College of Pharmacy.

[…]

Dean April Komenaka will make the introductions for the College of Continuing Education and Community Service.

[…]

Kathleen Stacey will introduce new Library staff.

[…]

Vice Chancellor Luoluo Hong will introduce for the Office of Student Affairs.

[…]

I’d now like to call upon Ka‘iu Kimura, Associate Director of the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii, to make her introductions.

[…]

This should conclude our introduction of newcomers. Please speak up if I’ve overlooked anyone.

If not, I’ll move on to the last segment of the program, which recognizes our volunteers.

Our university is fortunate to have volunteers to add a special touch to our campus. Our gardens are beautiful because of the hard work of our retired senior volunteers known as RSVP volunteers. Please join me in recognizing and thanking them.

• Ramon Abong
• Robert Koga
• Harue Kaneshiro
• Carolina Madrid
• George Matsubara
• Philomena Rabago
• Sueno Saruwatari
• Jean Funai

Other volunteers help with many projects. We want to thank you for giving of your time and expertise:

• Chiyono Kinoshita. Chiyono does many different things
• Junko Nowaki also helps in many different areas
• Lynne Shimazu makes our beautiful flower arrangements!

Thank you to all our volunteers!

CLOSING

We have many achievements to celebrate, and we have many challenges ahead. But for now, let’s get to know one another over refreshments.

Please take the time to reach out newcomers and help them integrate into the life of the campus.

Thank you, everyone, for working together to build the best university that truly benefits our diverse students and the entire community. When we all work together, great things can happen!

Have a great fall semester!

Aloha!