Chancellor Cox's India Pictures on KCC Facebook Page

Chancellor Helen Cox is visiting in India. Check out some of her pictures on our Facebook page.

Helen captures a flower painting just a little
while after someone walked through it.

We have posted some of the pictures that Chancellor Cox has taken in India on KCC's Facebook page. Please click on the link below and experience her journey while she is still there!

http://www.facebook.com/KauaiCC

Posted by:
Lana Spencer
Secretary to the Chancellor

New Chancellor's Corner and Other Important Information- Please Read!

Aloha Kakou!

Hope the summer is treating you well.  Find out what has been happening around here by checking out the latest Chancellor's Corner.

Also, one other important piece of information.  

KCC was awarded a VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) for 2012 - 2013.  Melissa Tangalin, from Kekaha who has also taken classes here, will begin her term of service August 10, 2012 for a full year.  This position, while being funded by Americorps, provides us with the equivalent of a full-time employee.  

August 24, 2012, Bevin Parker-Evans will have completed her year long and productive VISTA service to KCC.  She has worked with many of us to build capacity of numerous projects and initiatives.  Thank you for including her in the KCC `ohana.  And thanks, Bevin, for being such a wonderful addition to KCC!

Helen

Posted by Chancellor Helen A. Cox

Mahalo and Congratulations

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Mahalo for a very productive year. I know this was a difficult one--with pay cuts, budget cuts, fewer staff to cover the same work, high enrollment and a host of other stresses and strains. I want to thank you for making it a truly wonderful year, despite all these things. From the care taken of our physical campus to the financial stewardship activities, to the care and teaching of our students, all of you pulled together to make improve the lives of our students. In our small community each one of you makes a difference, and I appreciate each and every one of you--those who stay late to make sure things are done, those who come up with new, great ideas, those of you who put one step in front of the other to do good solid work, those of you who question what we are doing---all of you are valuable assets to our grand endeavor. For those of you who are leaving for the summer, please go safely and have a fulfilling summer whether that relaxing on a beach, climbing a mountain or playing with kids. For those of you who will still be here all summer, take a deep breath before jumping into summer tasks. For all of you, MAHALO!!

I will be on the mainland until the 25th seeing my son graduate with his Masters Degree from Arizona State and then hanging out with family for a few days. Before returning, John and I will go backpacking in the Utah desert to give our spirits and bodies new energy. I wish you all similar opportunities to enjoy family and recharge your batteries.

Aloha,
Helen

--
Helen A. Cox, Ph.D.
Chancellor
Kaua'i Community College
http://kauai.hawaii.edu/

Chancellor's Corner

Grant Work
Many of us at the College have been involved in writing grant proposals the past few weeks. A Title III Department of Education grant proposal, if successful, will support the College effort to provide effective curriculum and co-curricular support to potential and first year college students. Two Department of Labor grants proposals, if successful, will move forward courses in agriculture, business, energy, health and basic skills. It will be several months before we know proposals will be funded.

Partnerships
In the past week, we have strengthened two important partnerships with the College. First, I met with Dean Sylvia Yuen from the UH College of Tropical Agriculture to discuss ways we can provide strong pathways from KCC through the UH System. Second, the College hosted Robin Campaniano and Kay Fukunaga from the Ulupono Initiative. The Ulupono Initiative is social investment organization interested in improving the quality of life for island residents in three areas: more renewable energy, more locally produced food, and less waste. Robin and Kay spent an afternoon learning about our programs in agriculture, apiary, aquaculture, renewable energy, green construction, and more. When they left, they expressed interest in working with us on one or more projects in the future.

Performance
It’s once again time to look at our data to find out how we’ve been doing in areas such as enrollment, persistence, and granting degrees and certificates. On Wednesday April 13, at 2 pm in the Cafeteria, John Morton, Vice President for Community Colleges, will be on campus to discuss the data with us. A quick preview shows that we are doing well in some areas but not so well in others. For example, we are 66.5% above our current goal for Native Hawaiian enrollment and 85% above goal for the number of Pell financial aid recipients, but the percentage of Native Hawaiians persisting and earning degrees has dropped, as has enrollment of recent high school graduates. Analysis of this data will help us identify best practices and adopt new strategies in areas where we are weak.

Mahalo
Finally, a few thank yous. First, thank you for all the ongoing work being done on assessment and the accreditation self-study. This work provides us with a good picture of where we are and where we need to be. Second, thank you Kimo Perry and all those who worked so hard to make the Wai’ale’ale Project such a success its first year. Designed for students not considering college due to financial constraints, Wai’ale’ale students had a 71% success rate their first semester (overall GPA => 2.0), and 68% persisted to the next
semester. Given the background of these students this compares favorably to the success and persistence rate of the general student population. The success and persistence rate was even higher for Wai’ale’ale students who attended the Summer Bridge program or Introduction to College course. Finally, I want to offer a sincere mahalo to the students in Paul Hemmerla’s web design class, who took the time to evaluate our college website and provide constructive criticism on how to make it more dynamic and effective. I hope we will be able to implement some of their suggestions.

Posted by Chancellor Helen Cox

http://info.kauai.hawaii.edu/admin/chanc/index.htm

Chancellor's Corner

A Very Large Mahalo
On this bright and beautiful Friday morning in March, I want to take this opportunity to say a tremendous thank you to several of our campus community members that shepherded our campus through last night’s tsunami warning. My sincere and deep mahalo goes out to Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services Gary Nitta who came to campus about 10 pm and stayed until about 8 am today to make sure evacuees who came
here were safe and secure. Assisting him were Pat Watase and campus security. Pat came in to assist Gary and stayed until morning. I apologize for not knowing who from security was on duty but that makes my thanks no less sincere! Also, Vice Chancellor for Student Services Earl Nishiguchi sent an email to all of our students and posted signs on campus informing them of the campus closure today. Faculty members Brian Yamamoto and Dennis Chun made sure that all of our exchange students from Toyama, Japan were evacuated quickly and effectively. Dennis hosted them in his home until they could return to their hotel rooms this morning.

We were fortunate that this event did not have any dire consequences for us here on Kaua‘i, but it could have, and the way in which our team worked together was outstanding. Interestingly enough, just yesterday we had a tabletalk exercise to practice how we would handle a campus emergency. It was gratifying both then and in the situation last night to see how KCC employees are willing to pull together, remain calm and do what needs to be done. Our response, coupled with the work done at the county and state level was effective.

I look forward to having the campus open again tomorrow, and I encourage us all to keep in our thoughts and prayers all those in Japan whose lives have been impacted.

Chancellor's Corner

Congratulations to all staff and faculty of Kauai Community College on an excellent start to the semester. The parking lots were full, students and faculty were excited about their classes, and the Natural Sciences Building was ready to go! This term we have several new employees, so be sure to take an extra minute to say hello and help them get settled in our ‘ohana. Despite all the good news, our enrollment is not as strong as we would like it. As of this morning, January 18, our enrollment is down just over 1% from last spring. Please do all you can to accommodate our students and help them feel welcome.

This week the UH System had our hearing with the SenateWays and Means Committee. President Greenwood made the presentation, and all the Chancellors and Vice Presidents were there to answer questions. The presentation went well but, of course, it is too early to know how UH will fare this year in the legislature. Next week, on January 21, we will be presenting the UH testimony to the House Finance Committee.

This past weekend, KCC hosted two important events on campus. First, I invited about 40 stakeholders in agriculture on Kauai to a 1½ day planning session facilitated by Donna Ching from the College of Tropical Agriculture at Manoa. It was an exciting and intense two days, designed to help KCC understand the vision the community has for our role to support the agricultural sector. Those of us from KCC who attended heard loudly and clearly that the community wants us to step up and provide additional resources to support agriculture, including certificates, degrees and demonstration projects. Once we have had a chance to look over the notes from the meeting, we’ll be moving forward. If you’d like to be involved in this effort and have not been contacted, please let me know.

The second event on campus was the Science Olympiad competition for middle and high school students. Students participating have the opportunity to go on to the statewide competition at Leeward Community College in March. The event was cosponsored by the American Association of UniversityWomen, KCC and the Science Olympiad program, now in its 27th year. Events such as these not only help these students develop STEM skills, but also introduce them to KCC.

Office of the Chancellor: http://info.kauai.hawaii.edu/admin/chanc/index.htm

Chancellor's Corner

Hau`oli Makahiki Hou!

Thank you for your good work in 2010. I hope you had a wonderful, well‐earned holiday break and are now refreshed and ready to dive in again. As we leave the old year behind and greet 2011, let us remember why we are here and recommit to working together to serve our students and our island community. We have serious and difficult work ahead of us, but it is also joyful work that we can engage in with a great deal of fun and high spirits.

The following three questions should direct our work.

• How does KCC make sure that all students have access to and opportunity for success in higher education? 
• How does KCC get Kaua‘i back to work now and create a workforce prepared to support tomorrow’s economy?
• How does KCC lead Kaua‘i move into a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable future?

To address these questions we need to examine our current practices. After analysis of what works and what doesn’t, what we do well and what we need to do that we aren’t currently doing, we can then move forward. We can strengthen what works and innovatively seek new solutions where needed. Our assessment and APRU processes help guide us in this work. This spring we will be sharing our APRUs with one another and making decisions about future directions based on that information. We will also be working on an institutional self‐evaluation in preparation for aWASC accreditation visit.

This will be an exciting semester, for sure! Mahalo for your part in making it a successful one.

Great American Smokeout Event and Important Information

Kauai Community College in partnership with the Tobacco Free Kauai (TFK) Coalition will take part in the 35th American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout to encourage smokers to make a plan to quit and to provide resources for smokers to know where to go for help on and off-campus. KCC and TFK representatives will be providing free quit kits and tobacco free and second hand smoke information to faculty, students, staff and campus visitors on Tuesday, November 23, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Cafeteria courtyard. For help to quit, contact the Wellness Center at 245-8307 to schedule an appointment. To learn more about the 35th Great American Smokeout, visit http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/StayAwayfromTobacco/GreatAmericanSmokeout/index.

- Other cessation services available on Kauai and in the State:
The Hawaii Tobacco Quitline 1-800-QUIT-NOW for FREE, confidential, phone based cessation services or visit their website at http://www.callitquitshawaii.org

HMSA Ready Set Quit, Telephone counseling, case management, tobacco cessation classes and NRT, Neighbor Islands Call 1 (800) 225-4122

Ho`ola La Hui Hawaii Native Hawaiian Healthcare System, Pau Tobacco, (for registered users of Ho`ola La Hui Hawaii Kauai Community Health Center only) 240-0107

Kauai Family Center, Tobacco Cessation Program, Two Locations: Nanas House, Waimea 338-0252, and Hale Ho`omalu, Kapaa 841-2520.

In an effort to improve the working and learning environment of the university and to protect faculty, staff, students, and visitors from secondhand smoke exposure while on the Kauai Community College campus, we kindly ask for your compliance with the existing UH System Tobacco Products Policy. Smoking is prohibited in the following areas: building courtyards, breezeways, terraces, exterior stairways, access ramps, outdoor dining patios, terraces, lanais; within 20 feet of building entrances, exits; within 50 feet of designated pick-up and drop-off points for campus and public bus transportation; within performing arts stadiums and arenas, including walkways, corridors, and seating areas. For the complete policy, visit http://www.hawaii.edu/smokingpolicy/. This policy applies to the entire university community, including faculty, staff, students and visitors. We need your help to make our campus cleaner and our lives healthier. Mahalo.

Helen

Posted by:
Helen Cox, Chancellor

Share Walks with Helen

KCC Family,

Chancellor Helen Cox invites you to take walks with her around the campus to exercise, to get outside for some fresh air, to express any thoughts or concerns with her, to talk story, but mainly fun.

A schedule of walks will be as follows:

September 2, September 16, September 30, October 21, November 4, and December 2. All walks will be on Thursdays at noon.

Please meet Helen at the entrance of the One Stop Center and I promise she’ll be pleased to see you.

Posted by:
Vinny Itoga
Private Secretary to the Chancellor

Chancellor's Corner: Welcome Back Week Schedule

Aloha Colleagues,

I hope you have all had a pleasant summer, whether on or off campus! It's hard to believe, but it is already time to begin a new academic year. It is with great enthusiasm that I ask you to join me for the Welcome Back Week activities outlined in the attached schedule. I realize that this is a busy time for all of you, but these activities are important to getting us off to a good start, and I would like all of you present. Since we are doing things a little differently, I want to explain the new features in this year's agenda.

1. After an all-campus morning session on Monday the 16th, you will then have the choice of two times to attend a session to review our mission.
2. On Wednesday morning, all faculty will meet with our new Vice Chancellor for Academic Services, Jim Dire.
   
3. On Thursday afternoon, there is an optional service learning opportunity. This is a time for us to get to know each other while we engage in service to our community. I've listed the opportunities below. If you would like to participate, check with your supervisor to make sure that you can be away from campus and then sign up on Monday at Convocation. Cammie will try to arrange for carpooling. For each site, wear long pants, long sleeves, covered shoes, gloves, sunscreen, water, sunglasses, rain gear, and optional snacks.

Thursday Service Learning Options:

• KCC Community Garden Project – weed, plant, clean, prepare for Kaua'i Community Market, and other tasks as needed. Meet at The Farm on KCC campus.
  
  A federally funded KCC project, which includes classes and numerous partnerships with the community. The heart of its purpose is to promote a creative, healthy and sustainable lifestyle on Kaua'i, where we grow our own food as a business and for ourselves and our family.
  
• Lawai International Center in Lawai – plant orchids, weed, and clear/clean area - Mark Hubbard, KCC Fund Board member and Susan Uchida, KCC faculty will join us for this project. Meet at Lawai – map will be provided August 16.
  
  An archaeological and cultural treasure in a valley that has long been recognized as a healing sanctuary. In 1904 the first generation of Japanese immigrants built 88 shrines replicating an ancient pilgrimage of 88 temples in Shikoku, Japan. Volunteers are bringing these shrines and this valley back to prominence as an international center for compassion and peace, education and cultural understanding.
  
  
• Kokee Resource Conservation Program (KRCP) in Kokee – pull/treat non-native invasive weeds. Tools and training provided. Meet at Kokee CCC Camp (call KRCP at 335-0045)
  
  A collaborative project in vegetarian management for the Kokee region, sponsored by the non-profit Garden Island Resource, Conservation & Development, Inc., in cooperation with the State of Hawai'i DLNR Division of State Parks and Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

I look forward to seeing you all next week!

Mahalo for your service to the College,
Helen

Chancellor's Corner: Mahalo!

A big mahalo to all of you! We've made it through another year and what a year it was! Despite record enrollments and lower funding, you managed to make it an incredibly successful year thanks to your dedication and hard work.

For those of you leaving for the summer, please enjoy your time off and take time for yourself! For those of you who will still be here, let's take a collective deep breath before we plunge in again!

KCC is truly an amazing place, and all of you are a huge part of what makes it amazing! Mahalo!

Helen

Chancellor's Corner

Welcome Back

Our spring break closure went smoothly, and I hope you all had some well-deserved rest and relaxation!   I have several exciting things to share this week.

Successful Accreditation Visit for our Culinary Program

Please join me in saying congratulations to the Culinary Program for a very successful accreditation visit!  At the exit interview, the ACF accreditation team listed numerous strengths of the program, a few small suggestions and told us that there are NO areas of noncompliance!!!  Some, but not all, of the strengths they noted are:

• the attentiveness of our students
• the support of the community
• the quality of student-instructor interaction
• the professional demeanor of our 2nd year students
• the summer high school culinary institute
• the strong culinary team

So thanks to all of you in the Culinary Program for our hard work and dedication to your students, your profession and KCC.  And Hip, Hip Hurray to you all!!!!!!

PV Panels now generate electricity!

During spring break we were able to flip and switch and begin to generate our own power.  Our OSC panels can generate over 6% of our total power needs when conditions are optimal.  Right now we are trying to set up a display in the One Stop Center and on our website so that everyone can see just how much power we are generating real time. So soon when you come to get your mail, you can also check out our power production!

Follow-up on the Sustainable Living Institute

I want to thank you all for your great brainstorming on March 5 on our Sustainable Living Center.  I have now compiled what you all came up with and will be sending it out to you  today and put it on the website under the Chancellor's Office.  There are some really great ideas in the list!  Those of you who wanted to be on advisory team for this initiative will be meeting with me before the end of semester, so we can make sense of the brainstormed list and suggest some directions for the initiative.  At that point we'll share with the campus where we are and pull in external members to be on the team who can help us move forward in the directions we have targeted.  From having spoken to those in community, I can tell you that there is real excitement about this initiative and even the American Culinary Federation accreditation team noted that their standards are changing in the future to make sure students know about sustainability issues and learn sustainable practice.  We can be at the forefront of making Kauai economically, environmentally and socially sustainable and at the same time train our students for future employment!

New Happenings at the One Stop CenterNext time you come to get your mail at the OSC, you'll notice some improvements.

We now have a greeter at the One Stop Center one hour a week to welcome guests and help them find their way. Please welcome Joshua Iloreta who joins us from the Kapaa High School. Joshua will be greeting people on Wednesdays from 10-11 at least through the end of the DOE school year.

We have a wonderful new painting, "The Gathering Place," on permanent loan from our very own Kyungsoo Lee! It has added lots of color and light to the OSC lobby and created a warm, inviting atmosphere. Please come take a look and thank Kyungsoo when you have a chance.

Chancellor's Corner

There are always lots of praise to go around at KCC, and I know that I don't get to all the events and acts that should be mentioned. For that I apologize. For this week, I have three items I'd like to mention.

• First, belatedly I'd like to thank our student leadership for the incredible job they did with the event they put on several weeks ago on the future of Kauai. This, coupled with the KIUC Candidate Forum they just hosted at KCC, show ASKCC to be dedicated and hard-working students who care deeply about Kauai.
• Second, I want to thank Brian Yamamoto and the entire OCET staff for their hard work to make our recent hosting of students from Okinawa Christian University a great success. The hosting doesn't stop at the end of the day, but pretty much is non-stop the entire weeks that the group is here. Brian even took the entire group in at his home when the tsunami forced them to evacuate from their hotel. Mahalo!
• Third, thanks to Gary Nitta and Cheryl Fujii and others on campus on Saturday who helped tourists who showed up on campus during the tsunami warning. They opened up buildings, talked story and generally made them comfortable. Now that's the KCC Aloha spirit!

Chancellor's Corner

Mahalo to all of those who helped with the Culinary Program's Breakfast and the Used Book Sale this past weekend! Our culinary program is awesome--students, faculty and staff. And so are all of you who volunteered to help in so many ways--organizing, setting up, cooking, selling things, cleaning up, etc. I had a chance to not only eat way too much ono food, but also check out the Used Book Sale in its new location, and peek my head into the film about bees. Some days I am simply amazed at the generous spirit of this place and the variety of things going on. Sunday was definitely one of those days! I had two colleagues from Salt Lake Community College come with John and me to the breakfast. They were here as facilitators of a Community College Leadership Champions Retreat held at the Waimea Plantation Cottages. They were simply amazed both by those at the retreat and by what they saw at the Breakfast. They couldn't believe the relationship we have with our community and the spirit of volunteerism we have on our own campus. They left quite envious, and full too!

Helen Cox, Chancellor
Kaua'i Community College
808 245-8210
helencox@hawaii.edu

Chancellor's Corner

It's been another exciting week for KCC.  Some highlights:

1. We've been joined by our new Electronics instructor, Shirong Du.  Shirong comes to us from China via Mississippi.  Please help welcome him, his wife and young child to our ohana.
2. We had a visit from Masahiro Sugimoto, Teacher and First Engineer of the training ship Oshima-maru from Oshima National College of Maritime Technology, who is working with us to set up a partnership. We already have two student group visits from other Japanese institutions planned--one in February from Okinawan Christian University and the other in March from Toyama Maritime Institute.
3. Glenn Hontz's Community Garden Program received a donation of $900 from the Rotary Club.

And these are just a few of the great things going on around here this week!

Chancellor's Corner

What an amazing job I have? I show up at work each day and incredible opportunities walk through the door! And I work with people dedicated to our students and to making this a better place! How could anybody ask for more!

Here are a few highlights of this past week.

• I’m sure you’ve noticed the PV panels on the One Stop Center, but did you know that our electronics faculty have negotiated getting a telemetry station in our Technology Building in collaboration with the Hawai‘i Space Flight Laboratory?
  
• You may have heard my monthly radio spot on KONG, but did you know that our own Hawaiian Studies Program now broadcasts from campus as an affiliate of KKCR?
  
• And you’ve undoubtedly noticed the crowded parking lots, but did you know that our enrollment this spring is 1346! This place is alive with activity and positive energy thanks to all of you!

Helen Cox, Chancellor

Kaua'i Community College

808 245-8210

helencox@hawaii.edu

Chancellor's Corner

This week the College has been involved in two exciting events that speak directly to two areas on which we've chosen to focus.

Internationalization

On October 12, 2009, Toyama National College of Maritime Technology and Kaua'i Community College signed an educational agreement to work together in ways that will be beneficial to both institutions. As the first project in this agreement, Toyama maritime students will come to Kaua'i CC to study Polynesian Navigation, Hawaiian culture, and English. A part of Toyama College's curriculum is studying modern navigation techniques. Intrigued by how Polynesians were able to navigate vast distances throughout the Pacific without the aide of modern navigation equipment, Toyama College students are eager to learn the treasured art of Polynesian navigation and voyaging. Dennis Chun (Instructor, Kaua'i CC) and Tomoki Oku (Associate Professor of Maritime Technology, Toyama College) are developing a program of study.

Sustainability

In partnership with the Kaua'i County Farm Bureau, KCC launched a new Community Market that includes Garden Island-grown fruits and vegetables, plus prepared foods and products made from local ingredients. Beginning this past Saturday, the 10th, the market will run weekly on the campus from 10-1. The market will also feature demonstrations and information about KCC programs. The market is envisioned as a central gathering place where neighbors can shop for food from the garden, enjoy delicious local foods, "talk story," learn more ways to cook and grow local ingredients, and connect directly with farmers from around the island on a regular basis.

Although the market launch was soggy, the turnout was good, and the Culinary students, along with Steve Nakata and Mark Oyama, did a terrific demonstration of cooking with local ingredients! Glenn Hontz and Kelly Ball were also on hand to give KCC garden tours and sell starts and garden produce. Other vendors included Hanalei Taro & Juice Co., fried green tomatoes and foods from the garden from Kaua'i Fruit & Flower Co., and a selection of fresh produce, cut flowers, plant starts, and value-added farm based products such as Moloa'a Bay Coffee and Kunana goat cheese.

We hope this weekend will be drier, but regardless, the market will go on!

Opportunity to Show Off Our Stuff

As you all know, KCC, in partnership with the Kauai Farm Bureau, is launching a Community Market beginning this Saturday, October 10th from 10-1 on the front parking lot. Part of the idea of this market is to support local agriculture and highlight our involvement in agricultural training and sustainability. However, another reason we are partnering with the Farm Bureau to have the Market on our property is to give us an opportunity to show off our programs. And we want to involve as many of you as possible! There are several ways to be involved. You could sign up for a Saturday when you would give a tour of your program, or demonstrate some aspect of it. This could be a field experience for your students! Another way you can be involved is simply to have your materials available at the educational booth at the Market, so that those at the Market can find out about your program. For the Launch of the Market this Saturday our Culinary Dept will be giving a demonstration, and our Garden Training Program will be giving tours. How and when do you want to be involved? Let me know!

International Opportunities for Students

Each year the UH System offers students an amazing opportunity to study in Japan or Korea through the Freeman Scholarship. Selected students are fully funded for a year-long program, and they do not have to be students of Japanese or Korean. The first semester of their year-long experience is devoted to learning the language at UH Manoa. The second semester of the experience is in-country, either Japan or Korea.

In the past, KCC has not had many applicants for this, but we'd like to change this because it truly is a life-changing opportunity. Therefore, we'd like your help! Students must be degree-seeking U.S. Citizens and have a 3. GPA or better and be willing to give a year of their lives to this amazing experience. If you are aware of students in your classes or that you've worked with as counselors or in any other capacity that you believe would be good candidates for this, please talk to them about this opportunity and encourage them to apply. You can direct them to the application and information on "Opportunities Abroad" webpage. The deadline for the Japan program is October 23; for Korea the deadline is in March 19. If they decide to apply, they will also need a recommendation letter from you.

Word of mouth is the best way to get this information into the right students' hands, and by you approaching them you are acknowledging their abilities. Even if they don't apply, you've given them a boost. And if they do apply, they just may be selected for a chance of a lifetime!

Mahalo!

Helen

Mahalo to All!

Mahalo to all of you who made our first day of the 2009-2010 year such a success. And an additional thanks to all who chipped in to respond to our library disaster. I was amazed at how you all just jumped in and did what you could. The library looked SOO much better at the end of the day than it did at the beginning!

Unofficially, we are at 1250 headcount as of this morning, up 20% headcount and 22% SSH. That puts us second for the CCs, with Maui the only college with a higher growth rate. Now let's make sure we deliver what we are capable of: quality and compassionate education!

Mahalo!
Helen

Editor's note: You can check http://www.hawaii.edu/iro/ for up-to-date enrollment numbers.