A panel discussion featuring University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa leadership kicked off the three-day Leading with Excellence conference on August 6. More than a hundred 东精影业 Mānoa faculty and staff packed a lecture room at Crawford Hall for the opening forum, “Meet President, Interim Provost and Vice Provosts,” providing an opportunity for them to hear from campus leaders and engage directly with key administrators on critical issues facing the university.
The panel included 东精影业 President Wendy Hensel, Interim Provost Vassilis Syrmos, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Nikki Chun, Chief Business Officer Sandy French, Vice Provost for Academic Excellence Laura Lyons and Vice Provost for Student Success Kapā Oliveira.
The discussion covered a wide range of topics pertinent to the university’s future including student recruitment, supporting faculty and staff mental health and the new budget plan for Mānoa. Hensel and Syrmos addressed the opportunities and challenges for academic leadership at 东精影业 Mānoa in the coming year.
“We need to evolve, to create a system of incentives for innovation, rewarding those who create new programs and bring in new enrollment,” said Hensel. “The corollary to rewarding innovation is accountability. We have to partner with you to develop a budget so that you have what you need, and then are held accountable for executing within that framework. This allows us as a university system to make better decisions about where we are going and how expenditures contribute to that vision.”
Questions for the panelists touched on practical advice for department leaders on topics such as navigating fiscal responsibility and supporting teams through uncertain times.
“Our research scholarships may be affected in areas where the university is on the forefront: oceanography, coral reefs, sea level rise and conservation,” said Syrmos. “These are areas of extreme excellence here at the university. How we keep on doing the good work we do and are not distracted by what is happening in the federal government will be a challenge. However, the opportunity is actually how we go about it and how we invest in these areas. We don’t back down. We keep on doing that good work…our faculty are some of the most innovative faculty ever, so funding will follow.”
As the event concluded, each panelist reflected on their desired leadership legacy. Hensel offered encouragement by reflecting on her own “why.”
“Every other day I see an article asking, ‘Why would anybody be a college president right now?’ My answer is truthfully, because it is a privilege,” said Hensel. “On its hardest day, we are in a position to touch people’s lives, to make them better, and to ensure that equity and fairness is the ethos of the place we are in. So I encourage all of you to keep remembering why you’re here and the people that you serve—that will keep you grounded in the place that you need to be.”