Campus Community

Twelve students in Dr. Helena Hannonen’s Organizational Change class recently created training material that is now in use at schools on all of the Hawaiian islands. The training is for facilitators of Oihana, a program that helps Hawaiian students with career development and college preparation. The students coordinated with Gaylene Nikora, a Laie community member, who had developed Ka La Hiki Ola (“the dawning of a new day”), which is a series of four booklets that are a part of Oihana.

Construction on campus continues as the foundation for new dormitories was poured on Wednesday, August 8, behind the existing Hales. ‎But there’s something special about this foundation – it includes names of thousands of people who signed their name to rocks, allowing anyone who wanted to 'Be Part of the Foundation’ and participate in building the future of campus.

“It was hard work, but in the end, the results were very rewarding,” said Dr. Georgi Lukov, assistant professor in the department of Biochemistry and Physical Science, who co-authored an article which was published in the most recent Nature Immunology. Lukov has been a professor at BYU–Hawaii since July 2010, and before teaching here, he researched at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, which is where the research for the article was conducted with main author Dr. Fabian Zohren, a hematologist-oncologist from the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Germany, and under the leadership of Dr. Margaret Goodell, Director of the Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center at Baylor College of Medicine.

Beginning Fall Semester 2012, BYU–Hawaii students will be expected to have access to a portable computing device for use in class, if required by the professor, and in their study and preparation for class. With technology advancing and more easily accessible, students bringing their own device will bless both faculty and students in two key ways: Having technology in the classroom will promote computer literacy among all students, and it will set a standard expectation for professors of what access all students will have.

Beginning Monday, August 6, through Sunday, August 12, the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding is hosting a project comprised of activities and events supporting and celebrating womanhood. The purpose of the project is to drive understanding, peace, and the general well being of women to students and members of the broader community. It will also give the opportunity for wholesome social interaction between women from diverse backgrounds.

Among the twenty-four BYU–Hawaii Students of business management, accounting, and information systems who recently took the SAP test, twenty passed the examination and became certified professionals in systems, applications, and products in data processing. After a two-week course that lasted ten hours a day from June 11-22, their hard work ultimately paid off.

Dr. Roger Goodwill, professor in the Biology department, led 10 students to Saipan for field study from June 9 to July 2, 2012. The trip was made with the purpose of exposing students to practical experience, to gain an understanding of what field biologists do, and to gain research experience for their resumes.

The Hawaii Women’s Conference, hosted by BYU–Hawaii’s Educational Outreach, was held June 15-16 and featured keynote speakers Julie B. Beck, Ardeth G. Kapp , and Margret S. Wheelwright. The purpose of the conference is to uplift, enlighten, and unite the sisters of the Church. Over 400 women were in attendance at the conference and came from across the islands of Hawaii, U.S. Mainland, and Canada.

Dr. Colleen Tano, assistant professor of Literacy Education in the School of Education, was recently elected to the position of President-Elect of the Organization of Teacher Educators in Reading (OTER), which is a special interest group of the International Reading Association. The association is an acclaimed leader in promoting literacy not only in the United States but throughout the world. OTER has been an active and influential special interest group of the International Reading Association since the early 1970s. One of the largest special interest groups in the association, OTER publishes an international refereed journal, Journal of Reading Education, and the membership contributes widely to literacy education, nationally and beyond. Dr. Tano served as Secretary of OTER during 2011-2012 and will succeed to the position of President at the next annual meeting, to be held in San Antonio, Texas, in April 2013.

Eleven students from BYU–Hawaii’s psychology department were accompanied by professors to the prestigious Association for Psychological Science (APS) annual convention in Chicago, Il to present their findings on a variety of research projects.

Dr. William Clayton Hubner Jr., BYU–Hawaii professor of business management, passed away Sunday, June 17, 2012, in a tragic automobile accident.

According to BYU–Hawaii Institutional Research, there are more than 2,000 students enrolled in this year’s Summer semester, 400 more than the summer term last year.

Eleven BYU-Hawaii students from places such as Australia, American Samoa, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and the U.S. went to Washington D.C., from May 16 to 23. The students, alongside Political Science professors Troy Smith and Jennifer Kajiyama, spent seven busy days in D.C. networking with government and non-government officials and learning about national politics from an inside perspective.

Fifteen BYU–Hawaii students recently visited Hong Kong for a jumpstart to their professional networks, meeting with 12 different companies through the university’s Career Connect program. Career Connect, organized by BYU–Hawaii Career Services, is a program that invites students to experience a snapshot of employment by visiting companies and organizations in various parts of the world, meeting with their officials, and observing their day-to-day operations.

The BYU–Hawaii Biochemistry and Physical Science Department readied their telescopes to capture the transit of Venus on Tuesday, June 5, 2012. As Venus passed between the Earth and the Sun, professors from the department helped visitors in using telescopes and answering questions about the once-in-a-lifetime natural event. Since the next transit of Venus will not be until 2117, it was a unique experience to witness Venus pass in the Sun’s light. While the cloud cover periodically obstructed the view of Venus, it did not deter would-be astronomers from trying their hardest to see the event.

The Departments of Fine Arts and International Cultural Studies will be hosting a showing of the classic silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with live piano accompaniment by Wendy Hiscocks, a renowned pianist, on Friday June 8, 2012. Scott McCarrey, Associate Professor of Fine Arts, said “We wanted to give students and the community the rare opportunity of experiencing a classic silent film for themselves, an opportunity which most have not had.”

A team of students earned a top honor at a conference for one of the nation's largest student service and leadership organizations. BYU-Hawaii's Students In Free Enterprise was recognized as the second runner up at the SIFE 2012 National Expo held in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 24, 2012.

Professor Lenard Huff’s Winter Semester Market Research (2012) class conducted research on the visitors of the North Shore of Oahu. The results of their research were then presented at the North Shore Chamber of Commerce Business Expo at the Turtle Bay Resort on Thursday, May 17, 2012.