Posted on: Saturday, September 4, 2004

UH picks three finalists for campus in Kapolei

Advertiser Staff

The University of Hawai'i announced yesterday it has identified three finalists for UH-West O'ahu chancellor, and will begin interviews next week. The candidates also will participate in public meetings.

The finalists are Gene Awakuni, vice provost for student affairs at Stanford University; Betsy Bose, dean of the School of Business and professor of marketing at the University of Texas-Brownsville; and flo wiger, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs at UH-West-O'ahu.

UH-West O'ahu is a two-year upper-division campus that attracts many nontraditional students and specializes in humanities, social sciences and selected professional programs. It has about 800 students.

"We are delighted with the caliber of candidates who indicated their interest in leading UHWO into the future," said Linda Johnsrud, the school's acting chancellor and head of the search committee, in a statement.

Awakuni earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in clinical and social work at UH-Manoa. He has been vice provost for student affairs at Stanford since 2001. Before that, he was vice president for student services at Columbia University.

Boze has been in her current job since 1994. Previously she was chairwoman of the business administration department at the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

wiger has served as UH-West O'ahu interim vice chancellor for academic affairs since February. Previous experience includes Maui Community College vice chancellor, acting provost and dean of instruction.

The public can meet the candidates at the UH-West O'ahu campus lanai: wiger on Tuesday, 4 to 5 p.m.; Boze Sept. 14, 4 to 5 p.m.; and Awakuni Sept. 17, 10 to 11 a.m.