Bigger campus
cheered at
UH-West Oahu

An increase in portable classrooms
and degree programs is welcomed

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

With the University of Hawaii-West Oahu, a bigger campus is better -- especially for the mental health of teachers and students, say Charlene Luning and Bill Rollins, members of the psychology club.

For starters, they say the 19 refurbished portables the university moved into earlier this year at Leeward Community College give the 39 faculty and staff decent space to work and meet with students.

The rectangular design of portables, Rollins said, is different than the old cramped spaces of three aging portables on the community college's parking lot.

UH-West Oahu, which began its fall semester today, seems to have found its stride after humble beginnings in January 1976. The recent move to bigger temporary facilities, new degree programs, a renewed five-year accreditation and plans for its permanent campus in Kapolei have UH officials excited at the possibilities.

They will seek community feedback on West Oahu's future at a daylong town meeting Sept. 17 at the Leeward Community College theater. A second meeting is set for Sept. 30 to discuss the permanent campus' physical design, with other meetings to follow with students.

"We want the community's input on what they envision this campus should be," said Joanne E. Clark, West Oahu's interim executive vice chancellor.

By today, Clark said, movers will have delivered an extra six portables from Kapiolani Community College for future use as classrooms once they are refurbished and ready in October.

When that is done, West Oahu will no longer borrow classrooms from Leeward, she said.

The classrooms allow West Oahu to expand from its current 650 enrollment to about 1,000 students, with the number limited only by the number of classes it can hold at one time.

West Oahu's bachelor's degree in business administration is already one of the most sought after in the UH system, mainly because the campus works closely with community colleges so students can continue their education, she said.

West Oahu courses are taught to neighbor island students via distance education or by visiting instructors. Clark said the relationship benefits both the university and community colleges.

The move to a larger interim site has the nod from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which recently granted the university renewed accreditation to the year 2002. The accreditation lifts a warning placed on West Oahu in February 1989 to force the state to address the aging and limited physical facilities.

UH officials say WASC commissioners were pleased with the interim site as well as the progress toward a permanent campus. "This is significant improvement," wrote the WASC.

UH President Kenneth P. Mortimer said the action validates the steps taken with West Oahu.

Already, UH officials have drafted the first of many site plans for the permanent campus, which will be located on 200 acres on a hilltop above the H-1 freeway in Kapolei.

Allan Ah San, UH associate vice president for administration, said the UH is considering issues such as the environment, infrastructure and costs in the physical planning stage for the campus.

Clark said the new campus will likely offer multidisciplinary and technology programs geared for today's high-tech world.

"We don't believe that's going to be the wave of the future. There's going to be some that want to follow that traditional mold, but the campus will be ready to serve in a far different way than is currently envisioned," she said.