University of Hawaii neighbor island students want more learning through computer, television and videoconferencing. Faculty want higher salaries. One dorm resident wants soap and paper towels in the restroom. Hundreds responding
to UH’s call for suggestionsCommunity members are invited
to an idea session this weekBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com
These are a small sampling of the hundreds of ideas UH-Manoa has received since putting out a call for suggestions on how to improve the system's flagship campus.
Tomorrow, the university will solicit even more comments as the university and community are invited to help shape UH-Manoa's destiny from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Campus Center ballroom.
The planning meeting will let anyone come up with an agenda item before the group breaks up into smaller groups to discuss the issues.
Ideas generated during the meeting could become part of the new Manoa strategic plan, said Denise Konan, UH-Manoa's interim vice chancellor for academic affairs.
The strategic plan was drafted by the previous administration and based on the financial reality that the university, undergoing deep budget cuts, needed to operate within constraints.
The new vision for the university will be developed from the bottom up, without budgetary restrictions, Konan said.
"We're not focusing on budget, we're focusing on 'What do we want to become?'"
Student and faculty government groups, professional and technical specialists, clerical staff, grounds and maintenance workers, and administrators in the interim Manoa Chancellor's Office will be involved in the strategic planning.
"The university is such a complicated place; we have so many units. You can't really administer it from above," Konan said. "It really has to be changes that are made at all the levels."
Through community meetings and a Listening Project survey available on the Internet, more than 500 respondents have provided the group with a wide array of suggestions.
"We're getting inundated with tons of ideas," Konan said.
On the Listening Project Web site, some of the more frequent suggestions involve improvements to the university's physical plant, from repairing buildings and air conditioning to cleaning windows and bleaching toilets.
Many suggestions referred to streamlining the administration, enticing older professors to retire, recruiting better and more culturally diverse instructors, raising academic standards and preventing graduate assistants from teaching classes.
Individuals who want to post an agenda item should arrive promptly at 9 a.m.
The event is wireless, so participants are encouraged to bring their laptops. Parking will be validated.
For more information on the UH-Manoa strategic planning process or the Listening Project, visit www.uhm.hawaii.edu/vision.
University of Hawaii
