UH sees surge The University of Hawaii-Manoa has seen a 23 percent spike in applications for the fall semester, which the administration credits to positive changes at the university and an aggressive recruiting campaign.
in students applying
Administrative changes, aggressive
recruiting and winning teams
get credit for the 23% hikeBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.comWinning volleyball, football and basketball teams this past year haven't hurt either, said Karl Kim, UH-Manoa interim vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Almost 9,200 first-time and transfer students applied for admission by the Monday deadline, compared with about 7,400 last year. As of Monday, 3,051 had accepted offers of admission and paid deposits on their tuition -- 6.9 percent more than at the same time last year.
Kim said a number of changes contributed to the increase in applicants, but he thought the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were not much of a factor. University officials have not decided yet whether to continue offering tuition waivers to Hawaii residents who lost their jobs during the economic slump that followed the attacks.
"We're seeing the results of a much more aggressive student recruitment campaign coupled with very big changes that have occurred at the Manoa campus," Kim said. According to Jan Taniguchi, interim director of School and College Services, this year, for the first time, potential students could file their applications over the Internet, whereas previously they could only download and print out applications.
A separate Web site also was set up for students to arrange campus visits, and the university stepped up its recruiting on the mainland, staging day programs in Northern and Southern California regions to attract transfer students and holding college nights at high schools.
The university also established an aggressive "tele-counseling" program that targeted anyone who expressed even a casual interest in applying.
Kim said the university has more to offer prospective students, such as a revamped general education core that makes it easier for students to graduate within four years. Allowing students to complete the core requirements in a variety of disciplines has opened up six times as many seats.
The university also has made transferring to Manoa easier, particularly from the community colleges, he said.
New leadership has invigorated the university, Kim said.
"There is a much more evident can-do attitude, and we're trying to address problems really quickly," he said.
"It's been a good year for the university," he added, pointing out that research grants were up to about $216 million in fiscal 2001 compared with $180 million the previous year.
Overall undergraduate enrollment increased 2.6 percent at UH-Manoa in the 2001-2002 school year over the previous year, with new and transfer students increasing by 8 percent. Interim Chancellor Deane Neubauer said he expects the trend to continue this year.
The 3.9 percent increase in enrollment during the last academic year reversed a downward trend in enrollment that began in the mid-1990s. However, Manoa's 45,994 students in 2001 fell far short of the enrollment high of 51,677 in 1994 and still lagged behind 1999 enrollment by 485 students; 1999 is when the university changed its system to count continuing-education credit students.
University of Hawaii
