President Wendy Hensel visits her last neighbor island UH education center

VIDEO NEWS RELEASE

Link to video and sound (details below): https://go.hawaii.edu/Dh8

WHAT:  University of Hawaiʻi President Wendy Hensel visited the UH Māui College Molokaʻi Education Center today, Tuesday, April 8, in the last stop of her statewide tour of 10 UH campuses and six education centers in her first 100 days on the job.

WHO:  UH President Wendy Hensel, UH Maui Molokaʻi Education Center Coordinator Kelley Dudoit, UH Maui College Chancellor Lui Hokoana, UH Interim Vice President for Community Colleges Della Teraoka

WHERE: UH Maui College Molokaʻi Education Center, Molokaʻi High School, Kaunakakai Elementary and the Molokaʻi Farm

WHEN: Tuesday, April 8, 2025

OTHER FACTS:

• Hensel toured Molokaʻi High School and met with UH Early College students; toured the UH Molokaʻi Farm and met with former Molokaʻi Education Center administrators; toured the Molokaʻi Education Center and met with current students, graduates and administrators; and met with community members at a reception.
• Hensel says she will use the insights gathered during her statewide tour of UH campuses and education centers to develop a strategic plan outlining goals and priorities, which she will present to the Board of Regents.
• UH Maui College Molokaʻi Education Center serves about 150 credit students, 100 non-credit students and about 60 Early College students, high school students who take UH classes and earn college and high school credits.

• The center provides both credit and non-credit instruction, with a focus on associate degrees, certificates and workforce development programs tailored to local needs.
• Programs are delivered in-person, via interactive video conferencing, and online.
• A special commencement ceremony is held every four years at the center. Between 2021 and 2024, the center awarded 47 associate degrees and 52 certificates. Forty-two of the graduates participated in the May 10, 2024 commencement ceremony, which honors Molokaʻi residents who earned degrees at the center or online at a UH campus.

VIDEO: 

BROLL:

• Tour of Molokaʻi High School
• Meeting with retired UH Maui Molokaʻi Education Center administrators
• Talk story session with students and alumni

SOUND:

Wendy Hensel - UH President ( :17 seconds)

“You know it was a day of inspiring stories that really moved me about the power of education and the importance of having access on every island in the Hawaii state so that we meet the needs and goals of our entire community and it was really inspiring.”

Kelley Dudoit - UH Maui Molokaʻi Education Center Coordinator (:08 seconds)

“I hope the president understands how important higher education is on this island. How it has made such a tremendous difference.”