As BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright draws near the completion of his first year of service, a faculty member in the May 2008 question-and-answer forum asked what "report card" grade he would give himself for his accomplishments at the university to this point.
Chuckling, President Wheelwright first asked his wife, Margaret, to respond: "The one thing we feel like we've really made some wonderful strides on recently is in the community," she said of their efforts to get to know more community members. "We feel they understand us, and we understand them. We love them, and I think they're starting to like us."
"That would clearly be one that I would also mention," President Wheelwright confirmed. "A second is I think our approach in our travels of going to the [Latter-day Saint] Area Presidencies, the stake presidents and priesthood leaders first, has made a huge difference."
"It's hard to explain how much support for BYU-Hawaii there is among the ecclesiastical leaders: It's 110%," he said. "They know that they're part of our target area — they always knew that; but now they know we care about what they care about with their young men and women. I think we've made great progress there. In turn, it's going to take time, but I think we'll see that in the number, quality and expectations of the students."
"Now that we've made the Area Presidencies and stake presidencies our partners, we've got to make sure we don't surprise them," President Wheelwright continued. "We need to make sure they get a chance to make input. They're fabulous, and they don't want to run the university; but they would love to tell us what they know about these young people and about what their lives need."
The president said he feels he's made "real progress" organizationally with the work of the Design Team, the Steering Committee, and the inputs and support of so many people. "We're making progress on the budget side. I'm obviously an optimist, but I actually think it's working quite well."
"I also think the work that Larry Litster, Human Resources and many others have done to move all of our student employment under HR, to establish standards for student jobs, to create a set of guidelines for student pay, and to initiate a student employment training program is beginning to have an impact. Similarly, the work of Judd Whetten, Elder Steve Peterson and some of our consultants working on a long-range campus plan is exciting and making good progress."
"We love it, and hope we're not causing too much pain and worry for other people," he continued, "and the students are terrific."
"I've also got lots of little goals that I don't broadcast, but now that we've made some progress, I'll mention one of them: It is that we want to get more General Authorities on our campus. We also want more Area Presidency members and Area Seventies from our target area to be devotional speakers. Whenever I see them, or somebody introduces me, I always extend an invitation for them to stop when in Hawaii. Then I'll send them a letter about our devotionals, firesides and other possible venues."
"I think all of this helps connect our students to their homes and regions, and to their priesthood leaders, and I think that's all beneficial," President Wheelwright added.
He also mentioned he's pleased with the increased emphasis on integrating secular and spiritual education. "We have students over to our home frequently and they always mention this. The other thing they always mention is prayer: When you ask them what they think of some of the changes on campus, they'll always say, ‘I love having prayer in my classes.' While that's a little thing, they note it."
President Wheelwright said he would like to see more people participating in campus devotionals. "We need to get them really thinking of this as kind of a ‘recharge' during the week, in terms of their own spiritual progress."
"There are lots of things going on like that, and I think we're making good progress, and I feel very good about it," he said.
"I love the excitement I see in both administrative and faculty regarding the university. It's certainly noticeable to me that people are excited about the way we're changing things and how they can be a part of it; and I would hope we can continue to expand that."
"I appreciate very much all the help and support. As my wife says, I never seem to run out of energy, but I also recognize it requires more energy on other people's parts because of some of the things I've started. I'm grateful for all the things people are doing to make those things happen."