UH expands to downtown

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

The University of Hawai'i will launch its first downtown Honolulu site this month, joining Hawai'i Pacific University and the University of Phoenix in what is quickly becoming a "learning corridor" in the Fort Street Mall area and giving UH a foothold that could foreshadow future expansion.

University of Hawai'i Outreach College administrators Ann Brandman, left, and Rona Anduha post the school's sign at its downtown campus. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The center is located in the lower lobby of Pioneer Plaza at 900 Fort Street Mall, and will be a site for Outreach College classes in business and professional development, both credit and noncredit.

"We're the first presence for UH and we're hoping other UH colleges will follow," said Susan Horowitz, director of Pacific New Media, the program in Outreach College that launched the idea two years ago under former UH President Kenneth Mortimer, but has seen it fast-tracked under the administration of President Evan Dobelle.

"They can use our space and try it out and see if it makes sense to be down there," said Horowitz. "The College of Business Administration for instance, we think they might be interested in downtown. There are so many possibilities."

While the new site will accommodate just 70 students daily in the beginning, it's the first step in what could be an expanding UH presence downtown. Dobelle called it an opportunity for "serving various public constituencies which we have failed to do historically."

It also offers potential competition for HPU and the University of Phoenix, both of which have expansive Fort Street Mall locations.

"We certainly don't consider it a threat and we welcome them to the neighborhood," said Debra Jonsson, director of admissions for the University of Phoenix. "Whenever people come into the marketplace with any new product it exposes people to what's available throughout the community."

At HPU, vice president for administration E. Rick Stepien wondered if the UH offerings could present anything beyond their own. "Our computer program is off the page as far as its success," he said. "Will that offer anything above and beyond? I don't think so."

Stepien said HPU stopped a similar-sounding program of seminars several years ago because there was a greater demand for regular classes, both day and evening. "We've relegated all our classrooms to the core programs," he said. "If there's more demand for us to put more classes on, we'll lease the space and do it."

Horowitz believes that the growing learning corridor downtown will be good for business, and will continue to help revitalize the area, especially in the evening. HPU takes credit for much of that current vitality, with Stepien pointing out that about 1,000 students attend HPU night classes now, filling 47 classrooms.

Dobelle said he's been encouraged by businesses and corporations to have a larger presence downtown.

Horowitz said it was business people downtown requesting these kinds of seminar offerings that encouraged the Outreach College to pursue this new option. Both the governor's office and the mayor's office were also encouraging, she said.

It's costing $150,000 to set up the space, said Horowitz. The money was loaned by the UH administration to Outreach College and must be repaid, she said. The Outreach College hopes to raise an additional $75,000 to $100,000 for other costs.

"This whole program downtown will be a self-supporting unit," Horowitz said. "We'll have to bring in enough money to cover our expenses. We're not profit-motivated, so we'll keep things as low as we can."