An inside Look into HPU

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Our students are at the center of everything we do at Hawai‘i Pacific University. This year, we are enhancing the student experience in transformative ways — in the classroom, throughout our campus, and across our community. Our vision of a unified downtown campus is close to being a reality. We’re moving all of our colleges to downtown Honolulu, which means closer proximity between colleges that will result in more interdisciplinary collaboration and hands-on experiences. Close proximity to many of the state’s largest hospitals, clinics, businesses and government offices improves internship and post-collegiate job opportunities for our students - and informs marketreadiness of our programs. Downtown Honolulu is not just where our campus is located, it’s our classroom. Our faculty and staff - from our accounting department to our professors - are uniting to propel HPU forward. In the classroom, our faculty are helping students to engage deeply with curricula and understand how it fits into their future careers. On our campuses, staff are HPU ambassadors who support our students throughout their academic journeys. Our diverse learning community actively fosters an entrepreneurial mindset, one that is ready to address the challenges and take full advantage of the opportunities the future holds, within the context of a global perspective. My goal with this report is to give you an inside look from the eyes of a student at the innovative evolution happening at HPU and its effect on our future alumni, and the world.

With aloha, John Y. Gotanda 

A UNIVERSITY ON THE MOVE

CREATING A STUDENT-CENTRIC UNIVERSITY

HPU is moving forward to provide a world-class urban campus, where our students will live, learn and pursue their life passions while engaging more with our community. Central to our vision is delivering on the promise to provide a hub of student life at Aloha Tower Marketplace with centers for student learning in close proximity at Pioneer and Waterfront Plazas.

“Securing new facilities at Waterfront Plaza and Pioneer Plaza is a monumental step in fulfilling HPU’s vision of a world-class urban campus,” said John Y. Gotanda, president of Hawai‘i Pacific University. “Our buildout will focus on student-centric enhancements, further delivering HPU’s promise of hands-on, innovative programming for market-ready education.”

New state-of-the-art facilities will include over 30 classrooms promoting active, personalized education, enriched distance learning and a one-stop student center with registrar, financial aid, academic advising, career and other services centralized for convenience. Dedicated science and nursing labs will offer hands-on learning and first-class research space, and the new library will provide research, study and meeting spaces for both students and faculty.

“As one of the largest leaseholders in downtown, HPU draws thousands of students and faculty members into the neighborhood,” said Steve Metter, CEO and Principal of MW Group, Ltd. “By diversifying use and driving economic activity, HPU will greatly influence the commercial and residential future of downtown Honolulu.” “Since the beginning, HPU has been a vital part of the city’s center, working together to groom the next generation of global leaders,” said Richard Hunter, chairman of the board of trustees for HPU. “This move will be a poweful integration of resources for business development and diversity in our state.”

HPU expects to move into the majority of new classrooms, labs and offices at Waterfront Plaza and Pioneer Plaza as early as July 1, 2019 with the full move completed in 2022.

A MARINE LABORATORY

OFFERING UNDERGRADUATES, GRADUATE STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS AN UNPARALLELED ENVIRONMENT FOR MARINE SCIENCES

Located at Makapu‘u Point on the windward coast of O‘ahu, Oceanic Institute of HPU (OI), is dedicated to marine aquaculture, biotechnology and coastal resource management. As of Spring 2019, the College of Natural and Computational Sciences offers two upper division oceanography courses for marine biology and oceanography undergraduates. With the objective to afford undergraduates more time to engage in research projects at OI, the college intends to increase the number of upper division, undergraduate marine biology courses held at the Makapu‘u campus.

LEADING ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION RESEARCH

ASSESSING THE INGESTION OF PLASTIC DEBRIS BY SEABIRDS AND OTHER MARINE VERTEBRATES

Associate Professor of Oceanography David Hyrenbach, Ph.D., focuses his research on the ecology and conservation of large marine vertebrates — seabirds, turtles, cetaceans, tunas — and collaborates with scientists at governmental and non-profit organizations including the Bishop Museum, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Oikonos, and NOAA. Additionally, he embraces involving students — graduate and undergraduate — in his research projects. More specifically, five undergraduate students are part of the 2018-19 academic year research team, conducting research to document the diet and the plastic ingested by Hawaiian seabirds and predatory fishes. Since Hyrenbach’s arrival at HPU in 2008, three undergraduates have co-authored research articles with him.

EDUCATING COMPETENT AND CARING PROFESSIONALS

OFFERING REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCES IN THE FIELDS OF NURSING, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND SOCIAL WORK THROUGH HANDS-ON LEARNING IN APPLIED PRACTICE SETTINGS

DISTANCE LEARNING FOR DOCTORAL CANDIDATES

The way we live and work has changed. At Hawai‘i Pacific University, the way our students learn has evolved, too. In Fall 2017, we introduced a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program for master’s-prepared nurses who are seeking a doctoral degree. The online program - approved by the WASC Senior College and University Commission - is a practice-based doctoral program that prepares expert clinicians to develop, implement, and evaluate nursing practice using research knowledge and methods to improve patient and population-based care. Students attend a one-week, mandatory, face-to-face intensive on the HPU campus and complete all other courses online in eight-week sessions, which allows nurse practitioners to continue working while earning their doctoral degree. Candidates graduate as highly qualified, certified practitioners specialized in advanced nursing practice.

GRADUATING THE PROFESSIONALS OUR COMMUNITIES NEED MOST

Social work is one of the fastest growing professions with demand for social workers projected to grow 15 percent from 2016 to 2026. To address this growing demand, HPU has expanded its Master of Social Work program to West O‘ahu. Designed to meet the needs of working adults, the program offers flexible scheduling options and delivers courses on the westside of O‘ahu. Students proceed through the program in cohorts and are led through courses by committed faculty in the MSW program, who are veteran practitioners. As a result of learning in the most diverse nonprofit private university in the country, students graduate with a focus on culturally relevant practice, having experienced providing services to diverse populations.