Looking back on this academic year, I am pleased with our progress, both inside the University and with our community outreach projects. Thank you, everyone, for your hard work and dedication every day throughout the year. This has been a very productive year:

• We are offering our students more educational opportunities with newly developed programs, student research, and community service-learning activities
• We are building strong community partnerships with county, state, and federal agencies
• We are creating strong ties with local business and industry, and helping to strengthen our island’s economy
• Our grant funding and research activity continue to grow
• Our student enrollment continues to increase
• We are completing the revision of UH Hilo’s strategic plan
• And we are participating in the development of the UH system strategic plan

Yes, it’s been a busy and productive year as we strive to offer the best teaching and learning environment for our students.

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Thank you to the UH Hilo Lambda Psi chapter of Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity for the honor of being initiated into the chapter April 14. I was so impressed with the level of professionalism of these fine students during the initiation ceremonies and celebration banquet.

UH Hilo’s Lambda Psi is the first and only chapter of Delta Sigma Pi in the state of Hawai‘i, and the faculty of the School of Business are doing a wonderful job of mentoring these students, both inside and outside of the classroom.

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The Board of Regents held its monthly meeting at UH Hilo last week, and it was a pleasure to welcome the regents along with UH President Evan Dobelle, Vice Presidents Paul Costello and Wick Sloane, Chief of Staff Walter Kirimitsu, and other system staff. UH-West O‘ahu Chancellor Bill Pearman and Hawai‘i Community College Provost Sandra Sakaguchi also joined us. It was great having everyone here, and gave us an excellent opportunity to share UH Hilo with them.

The three days of the visit were packed with activities. Gerald DeMello, director of University Relations, arranged a tour of our three colleges, which our guests thoroughly enjoyed. Several regents and UH system staff, along with our new Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Chris Lu, also toured the summit of Mauna Kea, hosted by Bill Stormont, director of the Office of Mauna Kea Management. Thank you to the faculty and staff for making these tours a memorable educational experience for our visitors.

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Welcome to the Spring 2002 semester!

The year 2002 will bring us many challenges, and at the same time, many opportunities. I am pleased to see that in response to changing economics and international events, our University ‘ohana is working together to secure our future by responding quickly and successfully to the needs of students, the community, and the entire region. By staying focused on our primary mission of providing excellent undergraduate liberal arts and professional programs, select master’s degrees, and opportunities for students and faculty to engage in research activities, we will remain true to our commitment of improving the economic, cultural and social development of our community. I applaud the entire University community for pitching in to make UH Hilo the best it can be!

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Season’s Greetings!

With the holidays approaching, it is my pleasure to give thanks to the students, faculty, and staff for their hard work and dedication this year. This semester has been a challenge as we cope with the uncertainty caused by the events of September 11. The way our University ‘ohana pulled together to see us through has been a comfort to us all. I appreciate the way everyone rallied and remained focused on our primary mission of providing an excellent education to our students. A job well done!

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Aloha Everyone,

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

As we enter into the home stretch of the semester, I’d like to update you on some new initiatives and developments that support our teaching, research and community service goals.

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Welcome to Fall 2001!

Aloha and welcome to the start of the 2001-2002 academic year. We start the Fall 2001 semester with an entering class of 1200 including first year, transfer, continuing and returning students. This is approximately 200 more students than last year. We also have 12 new tenure-track faculty on campus in addition to 11 new non-tenure track faculty.

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Welcome to Fall 2000!

For the third year in a row, UH Hilo is ranked 3rd among Western Region Public Liberal Arts Institutions by U.S.News & World Report. The congratulations goes to the University Community for your diligence in getting the good word out on the excellence and quality of UH Hilo. Thanks to all of you, we are increasing our image and academic reputation in the state of Hawai`i and with our national and international neighbors.

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Happy New Year and Welcome to Spring 2000!

Beginning a new semester is exciting and energizing for students, faculty and staff–the blend of the new faces with the familiar ones, adds to a dynamic teaching and learning environment. Special thanks to all of you who worked so diligently to carry-out the myriad of activities during orientation and advising to make the opening of spring semester a successful one. Let us continue to meaningfully touch and give our very best to our students throughout the semester. Everyone’s I Care attitude has a positive and magnifying impact.

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“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched—they must be felt with the heart.” — Helen Keller

I do not know how to begin to thank everyone for the many, many hours of hard work to showcase our University. From exhibits to symposia, to tree planting and luau, the week clearly demonstrated everyone’s ability to pull-together with dignity and true aloha spirit. People from near and far, and from within our University and in our community were impressed with University of Hawaii at Hilo. Our community-at-large expressed to me their pleasure and sense of pride in having a University like ours on this island of Hawaii. Although the celebratory events are over, I hope we will continue forward with the spirit of working together in promoting the theme of uniting the world through education, technology and culture.

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