Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Budget Committee Meeting

October 26, 2020

Attendees

Provost Michael Bruno, Dean Nicholas Comerford, Ania Weiczorek, Barbara Yee, Diane Masuo, Georgia Yamashita, Kamana Seymour, Laura Lyons, Michael Cheang, Rheta Kuwahara, Sothy Eng, Thao Le, Velma Kameoka

Summary of discussion

Details

The Committee wanted to highlight two points to begin the discussion:

  1. The Dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) did not suggest nor does he want the Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) program to move out of CTAHR;
  2. The Mānoa Budget Committee will not push faculty to leave the college if faculty do not wish to move or if a move will not increase the program’s ability to further program scholarship and instruction.

The Committee would like to hear from the faculty their thoughts on how best to strengthen the HDFS program.

HDFS is looking for ways to increase enrollment and meet community needs. HDFS met with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM) to explore the idea of seeking National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant funds to develop new ways to provide curriculum changes that embrace both the human services and natural resources aspects of the program.

NREM students have expressed interest in HDFS courses particularly around human development, human need assessment; HDFS provides a research methods course. HDFS offers a 380 course that is open to TPSS students, but not NREM students; HDFS will continue dialogue to open up the 380 course to NREM students.

HDFS faculty have been reimagining ways to look at issues such as hunger and natural resources. They have been exploring the impact of climate change on families, in addition to how families make decisions based on limited resources. The faculty believe that if they stay in CTAHR, they can strengthen their ability to address these issues and attract more students. The Committee expressed its appreciation and enthusiasm for the faculty’s perspective and vision on family and bringing it forward to address issues related to food security and hunger, and linking that to climate change and its impact on agriculture, island community and beyond.

Faculty have shared that the strength of HDFS is developing resilient people and families to improve the survivability and adaptation of people. The department provides a unique aspect in their teaching, on human development, resiliency and how families facilitate that resiliency in people. The Committee agrees that communities and families are key factors in community resilience.

The intent of the Committee’s suggestions were to strengthen CTAHR locally and globally as a premier college of agriculture. With regard to possible changes to organizational structure:

  • The Committee would like to dispel rumors that CTAHR would be merged with the College of Social Sciences (CSS).
  • Fashion Design and Merchandising is meeting with Shidler to determine if they might be a better fit with the Marketing or Management and Industrial Relations unit.
  • The Center on Family is meeting with the CSS to determine if they might be a better fit in the Social Sciences Research Institute.
  • A change in organizational structure would require the support from affected Deans and faculty.

Faculty discussed various options to support a graduate program.

  • Collaborative efforts and serving as cooperative graduate faculty with other colleges. It can be beneficial to work with others and build collaborative relationships across units. The faculty will discuss with NREM about whether they could potentially participate in the NREM graduate program. NREM is short on social sciences faculty and teaching so HDFS faculty may be able to help mentor students and provide additional support for NREM’s graduate program.
  • Create/support their own graduate program. Having graduate students working on program data or collecting data for the program can enhance research productivity of program faculty. In addition, students can be supported through GAships affiliated with the graduate program. Hawaiʻi and Alaska are the only two U.S. states that do not have at least a masters program in HDFS. The Committee suggests that the program keep in mind the strength of the undergraduate program and maintaining this strength going forward. Faculty indicate that developing a pipeline for undergraduate students may encourage those students to pursue their graduate degree.

Outcome

HDFS is an important part of agriculture, and HDFS faculty feel the program would be strongest under CTAHR. The Committee supports the faculty’s decision and is happy to support the department’s partnership with NREM and others at CTAHR, in addition to their vision of integration between what is happening with family and the environment and its impact on food production. HDFS will inform the CSS Dean of their intent to remain a part of CTAHR.

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