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.

Remarks by Chancellor Rose Tseng
Ho‘oulu Terrace

Aloha and Welcome to the Spring 2008 semester!

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us today.

Before I start, I’d like thank faculty and staff for advising our students this semester. I appreciate your dedication and commitment. Your Spirit of Aloha makes UH Hilo a very special place!

Today, I’d like to share some highlights of the university with you.

As background, when I came to UH Hilo in 1998, I surveyed our faculty and staff and the community. Together, we established three major goals: academic excellence, enrollment growth, and resource development.

The most important highlight today is UH Hilo’s commitment to excellence. It’s a commitment to high-quality programs and the best education possible. It’s a commitment to build strong communities, a thriving economy and professional workforce for the 21st century.

Thanks to your vision and hard work, UH Hilo has transformed into a comprehensive university with 36 baccalaureate, six master, and two doctoral degree programs.

Our six master programs are in response to our state’s social, economic and cultural needs. Thanks to your dedication, the programs were approved so we can bring dynamic education to our students.

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Photo courtesy of UH Hilo.

Front page story in today’s Hawaii Tribune Herald (outside news source determines link expiration).

Summary:

New plans for the China-U.S. Center at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo call for the construction of 200 student apartments — not dormitories — as the first phase of the project.

Plans are for four buildings, each four stories high with about 50 apartments each. The 1,000-square-foot apartments would have three bedrooms, with two students sharing each bedroom, plus a kitchen and living area. Proposed rent is $780 per month per student.

The estimated cost for the four buildings and supporting infrastructure is $71 million.

Testimony by Rose Tseng
Chancellor of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo

Presented before the Senate Committee on Education and
The House Committee on Higher Education
January 14, 2008
Hawai‘i State Legislature
Honolulu, Hawai‘i

Aloha. Chair Sakamoto, Chair Chang, Members of the Senate Committee on Education and of the House Committee on Higher Education, I thank you for the opportunity to testify regarding the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

On behalf of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, I would like, first of all, to express my sincere appreciation to you for your investment in UH Hilo last year. Your support enables us to meet our commitment to offer our students excellent academic opportunities while making significant contributions to the economy and professional workforce on the island of Hawai‘i and throughout the state.

UH Hilo has evolved into a comprehensive university, with 36 baccalaureate and six master degree programs in liberal arts and professional areas. Yet UH Hilo preserves the ambiance of a small private college.

The positive difference is that UH Hilo is committed to being accessible to students of many varied and diverse backgrounds. Many of our students are the first in their families to attend college; many are holding down full-time jobs and raising children at the same time that they are pursuing college degrees; and many are from underserved rural communities of our island and state.

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Chancellor Tseng announced the appointment of Michael P. Crosby (at left) as UH Hilo’s interim vice chancellor for research.

The appointment is funded by the National Science Board for one year with an option to renew for an additional year. During this period, Crosby will be on a leave of absence from his current position as executive director of the NSB, which sets policies for the National Science Foundation and serves as an independent advisory body to the U.S. president and Congress on science and engineering research and education.

Dr. Crosby will be responsible for strengthening science and engineering research at UH Hilo, as well as developing the university’s research competitiveness.

Full press release here .

Chancellor Rose Tseng welcomed Mr. Barry Taniguchi (above left), president and CEO of KTA Super Stores, to the campus today where they signed the papers to launch new endowed faculty funds at UH Hilo. Photo by John Oshima.

Through KTA Super Stores and K. Taniguchi, Ltd, Mr. Taniguchi established five funds of $10K each, for a total of $50K, one for each of UH Hilo’s academic colleges: College of Arts and Sciences; College of Business and Economics; College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management; College of Hawaiian Language; and College of Pharmacy. The purpose of the endowments is to provide the dean or director of each college with a permanent source of funds to enhance their college’s recruitment and retention of faculty.

The gift is in honor of Koichi and Taniyo Taniguchi, founders of the company and Barry Taniguchi’s grandparents.

Chancellor Tseng and Barry Taniguchi are joined by son Toby Tanigichi (left front) and (left to right in back row) Kalena Silva, director of College of Hawaiian Language; Bill Steiner, dean of College of Agriculture; Robert Borris, associate dean of research at College of Pharmacy; Randy Hirokawa, dean of College of Arts & Sciences; and Marcia Sakai, dean of College of Business & Economics.

Barry Taniguchi was UH Hilo Alumni & Friends 2005 Distinguished Service Awardee. Learn more about him on the Alumni & Friends website (scroll down to Mr. Taniguchi’s bio), or continue reading here… Read the rest of this entry »

Left to right, UH Hilo Director of University Relations Gerald DeMello, Rep. Dwight Takamine, Chancellor Rose Tseng, Rep. Jerry Chang and Sen. Lorraine Inouye.

State lawmakers visited UH Hilo yesterday to learn from university officials about priority funding requests.

Tops on the list are:

• $20 million for a Hawaiian Language and Cultural Center

• $5.5 million for a permanent building for the new College of Pharmacy

• $3.7 million for student housing

• $2.7 million for a covered basketball court for the new Student Life Center

• $1 million for Long Range Development Plan

Also attending were County Council Members Bob Jacobson (far left), J Yoshimoto (center) and Donald Ikeda (second from right). Photos by John Oshima.

Story on the front page of today’s Hawaii Tribune-Herald here.

Chancellor Tseng at center surrounded by volunteers at the 2006 alumni golf tourney. Photo courtesy of UH Hilo’s Office of Marketing and Alumni Affairs.

UH Hilo’s Alumni & Friends Association will host its 4^th Annual Golf Tournament on Oct. 13. The event, held at the Hapuna Golf Course at Kawaihae on the island of Hawai‘i, is open to anyone with an established handicap. The fee is $175.

The one-day tournament, chaired by Dale Tokuuke, begins at 8:00 in the morning, followed by what organizers call “a scrumptious lunch” at Arnie’s .

Participants will also receive a gift bag full of quality merchandise, in addition to green fees, cart and mulligans.

The annual tournament began in 2004 to raise scholarship funds for students attending UH Hilo. Recipients are selected based on academic merit and financial need. Scholarship applicants must be or have an immediate family member who is a UH Hilo alumnus, in addition to a required GPA. To date, nine scholarships have been awarded.

Special room rates starting from $155 at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel are secured for the weekend of the tournament. Those interested in being a golfer or sponsor can call 808-974-7643 or 808-974-7501 for more info, or visit the alumni golf website at http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/alumni/golf .

Wainaku Executive Center, Hilo

Those of you here tonight represent several generations of Big Islanders, so I don’t have to tell you how far UH Hilo has come since our founding 60 years ago. A few of you even helped get us started, and you can probably tell our history better than I can.

Some of you remember the tiny two-year extension program in the Hilo Boarding School, which grew into a small undergraduate liberal arts college, which evolved into the multi-faceted university we are today.

You’ve watched us take advantage of our island’s unique geographical setting to develop signature programs in marine science, astronomy, and conservation biology. You’ve seen us add six master’s programs and two doctoral programs. You’ve seen us double our enrollment, and burst at the seams!

Some of you may have joined your children or grandchildren for exciting adventures at our ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. Or you may have hired our graduates and experienced firsthand the powerful economic impact of UH Hilo.

I wonder, however, how many of you have had an opportunity to look beyond these achievements and see some of the critical problems that the university is working to solve.

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Governor Lingle announces release of $11.9 million for UH Hilo, which will be used for the renovation of laboratories, fencing the soccer field, reroofing the business office, accessibility and signage improvements throughout the campus, traffic light improvements at the main entrance to the campus and sewer connection upgrades.

Also included are temporary facilities that will house programs displaced by repairs and maintenance projects, such as the Edith Kanaka‘ole Hall, which is undergoing a major replacement of the air conditioning system.

Full UH press release here.