UH president talks about future of KCC

UH president talks about future of KCC

PUHI, Hawaii (AP) — University of Hawaii President M.R.C. Greenwood attended a community forum in which she said she remains confident that federal funding will remain a source of support for Kauai Community College.

Many in Hawaii are worrying about the impact of Sen. Dan Inouye’s death in December on federal funding sources. However, Greenwood said she’s confident federal funding can be maintained, as well as other sources of funding for the university.

During Monday’s forum, the university president praised Kauai Community College staff and students, while pointing out that the college with 1,512 students has the largest enrollment in its history.

The university president said KCC is looking to increase lab supplies in several areas, including science and technology. Priorities also include maintenance of the school’s ceramics kiln and creating more work stations for the digital media program.

“Every campus has different needs,” Greenwood said. “We give leaders flexibility to make the best use of funding.”

She added that UH also is looking at ways to “network” programs to better serve the students.

Greenwood said students are showing an increased interest in agriculture. The university needs “to teach the business of agriculture to position us better in the market,” she said.

Kauai Community College Chancellor Helen Cox said the college is pursuing federal funds to help in these endeavors.

The UH system would like to increase the mixture of students, including adding to the number of international students, Greenwood said. But John Norton, UH’s vice president of Community Colleges, said Kauai Community College is too small to offer more classes at the moment.

“We need to get to 2,000 students to add additional classes,” he said.

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Information from: The Garden Island, http://thegardenisland.com/