PUHI — “It’s been pretty busy,” Kaua‘i Community College Chancellor Peggy Cha said of the first day of classes yesterday. Spring enrollment figures are down from last year’s numbers, said Earl Nishiguchi, KCC’s dean of student services. But he is
PUHI — “It’s been pretty busy,” Kaua‘i Community College Chancellor Peggy Cha said of the first day of classes yesterday.
Spring enrollment figures are down from last year’s numbers, said Earl Nishiguchi, KCC’s dean of student services. But he is optimistic about gaining an additional number of students this week as students go through the late-registration process.
Cha described the Puhi campus population as workers, and the lower enrollment is an indication of low unemployment on the island.
“We were down (enrollment) in the fall, and so we expected to be down in the spring,” Cha said. “But, this happens when the employment market is strong, as many of our students are working people.”
Nishiguchi echoed Cha’s observations, noting that official enrollment figures need to be released through the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s public relations office, but KCC started out as one of six community colleges that opened the fall semester with lower enrollment numbers.
Only Honolulu Community College showed a gain in student enrollment out of the seven community colleges in the University of Hawai‘i system, Nishiguchi said.
“But, I don’t know what’s going on out there,” Nishiguchi said, indicating the activity that was taking place in the campus center’s Student Services office as students made changes and registered for classes yesterday.
“We might gain between 50 to 70 students, and after they go through the process, our net gain may be around 40 students,” Nishiguchi said.
Nishiguchi said that students are encouraged to register early to minimize the workload placed on the staff of Student Services on the first day of school.
Continuing students had the opportunity to register as early as November, and new students could register starting from December, he explained. “If they come in on the last two, or three days (before classes begin), it really taxes us.”
Despite the lower enrollment, Cha is excited about the offerings at KCC.
She points out the annual American Culinary Federation (ACF) brunch that will take place during the President’s Day weekend in February.
This popular event will couple with the highly successful Tech Fair again this year in the college’s Electronics and Technology Building, Cha said. She is in discussions with the state Workforce Development people about the possibility of a program from them this year.
Additionally, Cha is excited about their upcoming “parent meeting,” where parents and high-school students will have an opportunity to learn more about the college’s “Running Start,” program where high-school students can earn college credits and high-school credits at the same time.
Cammie Matsumoto, the college’s outreach officer, is in charge of this program.
The Running Start meeting is designed to make parents and high-school students more aware of what is available to them as they prepare for higher education following high-school graduation.
Cha explained that Running Start is different from the Early Admit program in that high-school students can satisfy credit requirements for high school while earning college credits. The Early Admit program, familiar to nursing students, allows students to earn college credits only, while still in high school.
This Running Start meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 25, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the college’s dining room.
“There are still a few seats left,” Cha said as she noted that the popular Hawaiian healing herbs class is again being offered this semester. Levon Ohai makes special trips here from the UH-Manoa campus to lead this class.
Student traffic was also heavy at the KCC Bookstore, as students picked up supplies and books for their courses.
Jolynne Uyesono, bookstore manager, said they were busy starting from last week, as students anticipated the first-day-of-school rush and made their purchases early.
“It’s not as busy today, since a lot of them came early,” she said.
In the meantime, hot-meal service resumed at the campus dining facility, with Chef Clarence Nishi explaining that the fine-dining program will resume starting next week, Wednesday and Thursday.
Fine dining service is available Tuesdays through Thursdays, and reservations are recommended.
Also new on campus this term is a Forest TEAM (Tropical Ecosystem & Agroforestry Management) Program in partnership with leaders at KCC and Hawai‘i Community College on the Big Island.
The forest surveying class allows students to utilize a wide range of tools and instruments to acquire some of the knowledge and skills that would be required in a variety of jobs available with resource managers on the island. The use of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and Geographical Information Systems (GIS, or computer-mapping) programs, are introduced in this class.
The silviculture and plant propagation class emphasizes learning to propagate, cultivate and out-plant both tree and understory species that can be utilized in both commercial and native forests.
The management and restoration of native forests will also be addressed. Visits to both native forests and commercial tree plantings will provide a wide variety of learning opportunities, instructors said.
The Forest TEAM Program has been designed to meet the needs of local resource managers who need to hire well-trained technicians and future managers who will take care of the island’s natural and cultivated resources, instructors said.
The program is supported in part by an Advanced Technological Education grant from the National Science Foundation.
Late registration continues at KCC all this week. For more information about registration, please call 245-8225. For more information about the new forestry offerings, please call 245-8223.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
