I certainly am here to stay and assist the campus in reaching its goals.

Maria: UH has decided to go ahead with the UARC, now called the Applied Research Laboratory, despite the recommendation of the past interim chancellor against it. It's being presented now as a UH system, not Manoa campus, initiative, but it seems clear most of the research will involve Manoa faculty. What assurances can you make to address the concerns of the UH community that took part in the Manoa review process?

Hinshaw: The research that will be performed under the ARL is the same type of research that we have performed over 60 years at Manoa; however, we will continually monitor the activities, as we do with all research at this university.

Chris: The accreditation of the Division of Speech Pathology and Audiology (a division of the School of Medicine) has been put on probation. It will lose its accreditation if the following major violations are not corrected: 1) The ongoing mold problem in the Lower Campus Clinic poses a health hazard, 2)The division lacks adequate funding from the university. The Council on Academic Accreditation found that outside agencies provided the majority of the division's funding.

These violations were only two of numerous citations given by the CAA. What are your plans to save the division's accreditation?

Hinshaw: Accreditation of this program is certainly a high priority. In reviewing the information, I found it reassuring that the concerns were not about the academic program itself, but focused on other issues, such as mold, types of funding support and others. I am working with Vice Chancellor Gary Ostrander in addressing the concerns brought forward by the accreditation team. For example, the air system is being placed on a more appropriate cleaning schedule in an effort to control the mold problem (a challenge in our type of climate). The health and safety folks have not yet identified any health risk at this time in this facility; however, the air handling system was already on the plans for replacement to improve the situation. Our campus certainly plans to work hard to address the concerns and move out of probation. I should mention that all students currently in the program will graduate from an accredited program, so that will not be an issue. Other issues relate to clerical, bookkeeping and fiscal that we are addressing.

SusaninKailua: Everyone is talking about the biomedical facilities in Kaka'ako, but undergraduate science education takes place on the Manoa campus. What are your plans to improve the science buildings, and labs on the Manoa campus that have been falling into disrepair for years? Edmondson Hall, Snyder Hall, St. John.

Hinshaw: Repairs and maintenance for our buildings and facilities is at the top of my priority list. UH-Manoa is a jewel in so many ways, but all of us at UH-Manoa recognize that this jewel is badly tarnished physically so we must address this issue. There are long-term problems in this area — we are addressing that by trying to generate more resources for that purpose from the Legislature and private sources, to organize ourselves in the most effective, efficient manner, to equip our facilities folks with the tools to do their jobs well and to hopefully secure greater flexibility from the state regarding our procurement process so that we can move forward more quickly and nimbly in getting this addressed. A goal of our campus is to be a destination of choice for students, faculty and staff and the citizens of Hawai'i and beyond, so our ability to accomplish that goal and serve Hawai'i does depend on a having suitable facilities.

ConcernedStudent: Regarding the accreditation of the Division of Speech Pathology and Audiology's Graduate Program, the majority of the accreditation violations were based on funding by the university. A few more citations were lack of permanent clerical staff to support the faculty and a deficiency of doctoral-level faculty. Dean Ostrander stated that he put a hold on hiring faculty last school year because the School of Medicine had no money. What are your plans to acquire enough funding to resolve the accreditation crisis of the SPA Division?

FYI, the Lower Campus Clinic provides speech therapy services to children. The public may not look too kindly on exposing their children to the mold in the facilities.

Hinshaw: Dr. Ostrander is currently evaluating the hiring procedures as appropriate and he is well aware of the need for improvement in this area, though it was not an area of noncompliance in the accreditation review. As I mentioned before, the mold is being addressed and does not constitute a health risk — this is a problem associated with our climate and older buildings here. We care deeply about the children we see and that is a high priority.

Joe M.: What effect will the new Shidler College of Business have on the University of Hawai'i? Will we see an increase in business students, an increase in credibility worldwide and maybe and increase in foreign students?

Hinshaw: The Shidler College of Business has been here for a good while, but watching the impact of the transformational gift by Jay Shidler is wonderful. It is truly having a tremendous impact on the intellectual and physical environment in that college. I do anticipate an increase in our visibility and status across the world and I think it will be a great advance for our campus and our state.

Koauka: Since your arrival this summer, what are the five things you would like to see improved, changed or developed on the Manoa campus.

Hinshaw: Well, I am still listening and learning, but I do see areas that we need to address — repairs and maintenance of our facilities, our undergraduate student graduation rate, a seamless transfer of students from the community colleges, coordination of activities among our different units on campus to increase our impact within our limited resources, improved communication inside and outside the university so folks will appreciate the value UH-Manoa adds. Those are a few that I can see pretty clearly.

Lisa: With all the coverage in the news about crime at UH, what is being done to protect the students who reside in the dorms as well as those who take evening classes?

Hinshaw: We surely want our students to have a safe learning environment and are taking a number of actions in that area. We are working with the Honolulu Police Department and Public Safety to enhance our security presence on campus. While these discussions are going on, HPD will provide additional security to our campus and we appreciate their cooperation.

Overall crime statistics at the UH-Manoa campus reflect those of our community — ongoing petty theft problems but very low incidence of violent crime. The stats are available online at our campus security Web site.

We're a safe campus but always looking for ways to make it safer.

Among the security improvements implemented this year, there are several efforts under way, including:

Brian: I have been involved with two searches for new faculty in the last 3 months. Candidates for these positions were universally concerned with the cost of housing on O'ahu. I also have tenured colleagues who have been with UH more than 5-7 years and cannot purchase a home for their family. Some of those colleagues are internationally renowned scientists who might leave UH if they cannot buy suitable housing.

What is the UH-Manoa administration doing to address faculty housing? Please provide details of any plans that address faculty housing.

Hinshaw: Housing is definitely a challenge for everyone here. Affordable housing for our faculty and staff is a continuing problem as well — we are exploring options for building more housing and also working with UH System on possible mortgage assistance programs. We are currently doing a needs assessment for new faculty housing and going to reinstate the mortgage assistance program. I am also seeking partnerships in the community to provide more housing around the campus to increase availability. This is one that we all need to help address.