More students specializing in multiple fields

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

There's been a steady increase in students earning multiple degrees at universities across the country, and the University of Hawai'i is no exception.

In an attempt to arm themselves with education in a difficult, rapidly changing job market, more college graduates are specializing in two, three, even four areas of study.

A decade ago, 228 multiple degrees were awarded at UH-Manoa. Last year, there were 372 — a small fraction of total graduates, but an increase that educators expect to see more of.

"More and more people realize they need more education to be successful in the Hawai'i workplace, and are availing themselves of that," said Mike Rota, vice chancellor for academic affairs for the community college system. "They realize they need to have a more enhanced set of skills to be competitive."

At Hawai'i Pacific University, where dual degrees are fairly rare, many students have double majors, especially in areas such as advertising and public relations. Some even choose a program that lets them take undergraduate and graduate courses simultaneously.

As Hawai'i struggles through a decade-long recession and the fallout from Sept. 11, flexibility and multiple specialities are the watchwords for students hoping to get ahead and stay there. As a result, more students are designing their own programs to meet individual goals. And changes at UH-Manoa that reduce the number of requirements in the core curriculum are helping them do that more easily.

"People are getting more than one occupational specialty — maybe a combination of business and one of the technical specialties," said Rota. "We've seen more people become more entrepreneurial to operate their own businesses, so they feel they need a certificate in business, accounting and then some technical skills like computer networking technologies."

Reducing the required core education credits from 55 to fewer than 40 also has given students time. "Students are being freed up from required credit hours, so they have more to play with," said Ron Cambra, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Manoa. And that's leading to minors, double majors and double degrees.

Seth Kamemoto, a 22-year-old UH senior, is finishing up a degree in engineering this year with a minor in Information and Computer Science. He felt the diversity would give him an edge.

"It looks a little better (on the resume)," said the Roosevelt High School grad. "You have a little bit more, maybe, than the next person."

Kamemoto has been interviewing for internships and jobs, and when he tells prospective employers about his double tracks, "they're kind of impressed," he said. "They think it's good."

He also likes the extra dimension of understanding how to build a computer and then program it. "The topics are the same," he said, "but you get to see them from two different ways."

While most double-dippers are getting two degrees, some are earning three and four. That's also happening at community colleges, where students are starting out with associate of arts degrees, adding specialized certificate training and a baccalaureate degree. Then they add computer expertise to any number of fields.

"The combinations are all over the lot," said Cambra, "and some are very creative — music and physics, for instance.

"And many in the creative arts area have realized there's a business aspect they need. This trend has also been particularly attractive to students seeking degrees that have a natural connection, such as business combined with a foreign language, for international business."

When 22-year-old Melissa Rota graduates next year, she will be part of the trend, earning a degree in business administration and one in computer science. It's her way of positioning herself for the industry.

"I thought they were both complementary enough that I could find a job later where I would need the skills from both degrees," she said. "I was interested in both areas and I wanted to learn both."

But it was an interview with an IBM recruiter that made her decide to pursue both fields, when she had been leaning toward a single degree in business.

"He said if I want to be an applications programmer, they want ICS (information and computer science)," she said. "They were more interested in someone with a programming background. I went back to ICS and kept taking one business course per semester. I need only a handful more to finish business, too."

Other forces also work to encourage diversification. Increasingly, students are hoping to prepare themselves more broadly to fit into unique niches.

"More and more students are looking across colleges," said Cambra. "Business people are pursuing degrees in arts and sciences. Across the country, the trend is toward giving students more options. You can't just be one-dimensional. You have to start thinking of complexity."

Building on this trend, a whole new program is emerging at UH that will wed cultural awareness with science: Hawaiian studies and botany will marry in Hui Konohiki, which formalizes what many students were pursuing on their own.

"This is one of the most exciting things that has happened on campus in a number of years," said Kim Bridges, associate professor of botany. "Hui Konohiki strongly recognizes the close relationship between Hawaiian studies and the Botany Department, and makes use of two underused facilities, the Waikiki Aquarium and Lyon Arboretum."

The program entails a new kind of cooperation that allows students to customize their education and supports double majors in a field that lacks experts.

"We educate people in the best of Hawaiian culture and the best of the sciences," said Bridges. "What we're trying to do is build something called culturally based resource management. All too often, there will be something going on in the environment where the scientists will stand on one side and say, 'This is what's going on,' and the Hawaiian community will stand on the other and say, 'No, this is what's going on, and you don't understand at all.' And it's hard to find common ground."

The hope is to create a new coterie of experts who can help bridge the ground between opposing factions. Such advisers were common in the kingdom of Hawai'i, where they encouraged the understanding that multiple perspectives can be valid, Bridges said. "Those people were able to keep the conflict from happening by getting involved early."

The program's first classes begin in the fall, with students drawn equally from Hawaiian studies and the sciences. Five new faculty will be required to speak Hawaiian — or take courses to learn — and will team-teach with science faculty.

"Then a dialogue develops, where the two experts play off on their knowledge and come up with something that hasn't been heard before," Bridges said. "That synthesis will leave our students in a very different place. We want the understanding to go right to their core."

That depth of knowledge is exactly what students are after in double degrees or majors. They're no longer content to know just part of the story. They want more.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.