Posted on: Monday, August 27, 2001

UH-Hilo enrollment may hit 3,000 this year

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — Chancellor Rose Tseng sees an upbeat picture and a growing enrollment for the University of Hawai'i-Hilo.

Citing a record number of student applications and admissions at her annual address Friday, Tseng challenged her faculty to help members of the incoming freshman class adjust to college life and complete their degrees.

She called student retention during the next two weeks critical for UH-Hilo's goal of attracting 5,000 students by 2007.

University officials are hoping for an enrollment of 3,000 for the academic year that starts today. Final enrollment figures will not be available until September.

Hilo has been the only unit in the UH system to report successive growth in student numbers during the past six semesters.

Based on the recently concluded orientation sessions, Tseng predicted there will be more students from the Mainland — who will be paying higher tuition fees — and more international students.

She also announced that UH-Hilo and two large Hilo apartment operators — the Waiakea Lagoon View and the Waiakea Villas Hotel — will provide student housing this year. The college will offer a shuttle service and assign live-in staff to assist the students.

Tseng also announced four faculty awards that were delayed last spring because of the university faculty strike.

The winners are: librarian Junko Nowaki, who manages UH-Hilo's 33,000-volume Hawaiiana collection; Carole Kuba, secretary of the humanities division; Michael Parsons, the adviser-mentor honoree; and anthropologist Dan Brown, for scholarly and creative activities.