{"id":200944,"date":"2024-07-23T15:32:32","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T01:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=200944"},"modified":"2024-07-23T16:18:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T02:18:09","slug":"kazama-returns-home-to-lead-hawaii-cc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/07\/23\/kazama-returns-home-to-lead-hawaii-cc\/","title":{"rendered":"Susan Kazama returns home to lead Hawai\u02bbi CC<\/abbr>"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

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After 35 years working in higher education in Hawaiʻi<\/span>\u2014across five campuses statewide\u2014Susan Kazama is calling Hawaiʻi<\/span> Island home, again. Kazama, born and raised in Hilo and a member of the first graduating class of Wai\u0101kea High School, returned in July 2023 to serve as Hawaiʻi<\/span> Community College\u2019s<\/a> interim chancellor.<\/p>\n

On July 19, 2024, she took the helm officially. Among Kazama\u2019s top priorities for the college are workforce development, student success, Indigenous values, sustainability and campus safety.<\/p>\n

“The year I spent as interim chancellor gave me an invaluable opportunity to listen, learn and look for solutions,” said Kazama. “I was able to really view the campus through the lens of the students we serve by immersing myself as a student.”<\/p>\n

Incorporating Native Hawaiian values<\/h2>\n
\"hula
Susan Kazama (fourth from left) performing with Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr>\u2019s Kūkūʻena<\/span> (cohort of Unukupukpu consisting of staff, faculty, and administrators from Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> and 东精影业<\/abbr> Hilo, along with community members) at the opening of the 2024 Merrie Monarch Festival week.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As interim chancellor, Kazama immediately joined classes with Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr>\u2019s I Ola Hāloa Center for Hawaiʻi<\/span> Lifestyles, which allowed her to learn protocol, leadership strategies, history and ʻōlelo<\/span> (language). Noʻel<\/span> Tagab-Cruz, coordinator for I Ola Hāloa Center for Hawaiʻi<\/span> Life Styles, said Kazama was unafraid to jump in, but was cautious and aware of where to step.<\/p>\n

“She has participated in numerous k\u012bpaepae (a ceremony for the introduction and transition into new spaces). Susan continues to be supportive of our Haʻakūmalae<\/span> Protocols program, which makes Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> a leader in the 东精影业<\/abbr> system\u02bbs strategic initiative to transform into an Indigenous-serving institution,” Tagab-Cruz said.<\/p>\n

Kazama said she would like more of the campus to understand how to incorporate Native Hawaiian values into the curriculum.<\/p>\n

“I want us to be the premier Native Hawaiian-serving institution of choice for the island\u2014a place where all of our students feel welcomed, valued and supported,” she said. “Seventy-eight percent of our Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> students from the Big Island stay on island to live and work. We need to find ways to create opportunities for them to earn a living wage to afford the high costs here.”<\/p>\n

Expanding opportunities<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> is a unique part of the 东精影业<\/abbr> System, Kazama said. “We have three sites across the island, as well as online classes, which makes learning much more accessible to our students. Not only that, but we have several educational opportunities like a hula certificate, agroforestry and our apprenticeship and non-credit programs found nowhere else.”<\/p>\n

She aims to expand apprenticeship and internship opportunities for students through community organizations. Kazama would like to include more Early College and dual enrollment pathways for career technical education where high school students can earn a college credential before they graduate from high school, giving them a step up into employment.<\/p>\n

Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr>\u2019s agricultural program\u2019s partnership with The Food Basket (Hawaiʻi<\/span> Island\u2019s Food Bank) creates an “amazing” opportunity to build sustainability for the college and the community, according to Kazama.<\/p>\n

She said,“It\u2019s important that we teach our young people how to feed themselves and their families. Our new 15 acres of additional land is going to be really big for this cause.”<\/p>\n

Library studies<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kazama earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology as well as a master\u2019s in library studies from 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa. She started with 东精影业<\/abbr> in 1987 as a librarian at 东精影业<\/abbr> Maui College then at Honolulu CC<\/abbr>. She spent 12 years at 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s Hamilton Library before accepting the library director position at Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr> in 2001. She served as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs at Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr> and Honolulu CC<\/abbr> until 2021, when she became a program coordinator for continuing education at Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

She said her background as a librarian lends itself to leading a college campus, and decades of work on Maui, Oʻahu<\/span> and now Hawaiʻi<\/span> Island have given her a large network of relationships and resources to draw on.<\/p>\n

“Librarians are organized, detail-oriented, budget-conscious and collaborative,” Kazama said. “We like beauty and order, but above all, we are solution driven, and we usually know where to look for answers.”<\/p>\n

—By Katie Young Yamanaka<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hilo native and Wai\u0101kea High School graduate Susan Kazama is Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr>\u2019s new chancellor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[691,90,61,63,71,60],"class_list":["post-200944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-administration","tag-alumni","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-maui-college","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200944"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200978,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200944\/revisions\/200978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}