BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright [pictured at left] and members of his executive council tackled the latest round of questions submitted by email and in person during the April 2 question-and-answer forum in the Little Theater, including:
Q: What is the difference between BYU-Hawaii and other universities in general?
A: "We have two huge differences that are immediately apparent to everybody here: One is, we're a Church-owned school with all the implications that go with that... The other way in which we're obviously very different is our international students, and the fact that our target area is international," President Wheelwright answered.
In addition, he said the mission of BYU-Hawaii is "clearly unique," although some elements overlap with the other CES universities. "We're also, obviously, just an undergraduate school."
Asked if there are any plans to offer graduate programs, President Wheelwright replied, no. He added that CES Commissioner Elder W. Rolfe Kerr had earlier indicated that BYU Provo is the only Church university that will offer graduate programs.
Q: What measures is BYU-Hawaii taking to ensure the returnability of international students, especially those in the International Work Experience Scholarship (IWES) program?
A: President Wheelwright listed several things the university is already doing, including "internships back in their home country between their junior and senior year. A second thing is, we need to better tune the majors to the jobs in their countries."
He said BYU-Hawaii is also working with Church Area Presidencies throughout the target area, encouraging someone from each presidency to visit their respective BYU-Hawaii students once a year "to reinforce the need for them"; and pointed out that the university has gotten "much more stringent on OPT rules — the fifth-year option for students who are on an international student visa — to make sure it's something that actually does have relevance to their country and major, as opposed to just a chance to stay here a little longer."
Kimbrelyn Austin, Director of BYU-Hawaii Career Services, noted that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service recently began requiring all universities to report the location of where international students are fulfilling OPT programs.
President Wheelwright also added that BYUH is considering a "forgivable loan" policy where a certain percentage of IWES student loans might be "forgiven for each year you're back in your home country, or otherwise you'll owe us the money, just like you would if you borrowed the money from somebody else."
Q: How will BYUH follow up on the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) visiting accreditation team recommendation to encourage more research and scholarship among the faculty?
A: "I think we need to do two things," President Wheelwright responded. "Given who we are and our mission, that instead of defining research the way most of the world does, which is published articles in top-tier journals, we define scholarship development...to make sure faculty are keeping up and learning new things, being creative and innovative. That will then influence their teaching and their ability to do their work."
"When I think of scholarship, I think about teaching, learning and research," he said. "We ought to recognize, as part of that scholarly activity, people who do creative things on the teaching side, who do creative learning things on how to engage students, as well as those who do things on the published research side."
Referring to "continuing faculty status," President Wheelwright added that BYU-Hawaii needs to align criteria with a plan, "with a lot of faculty input to make sure it all works that way it's supposed to." Likewise, the president thinks faculty who have already achieved "continuing" status should undergo "five-year reviews... This is actually a very common thing, increasingly, in leading universities in the U.S."
Q: How important is culture at our university?
A: "Culture means lots of different things to different people," President Wheelwright answered. "In our community the key elements of culture would include the fact that we're multinational, intercultural in terms of our classrooms and all of our activities.... Everything is structured to integrate our students. A second aspect is clearly the gospel and the Church."
Asked what he's doing to learn about the Asian and Pacific island cultures that are so prevalent here, he added he has done lots of reading about "all of our target area." He's also invited community residents and students into his home, and visited in some of their homes; and he's in the process of meeting with Church leaders throughout the target area, including those on the other Hawaiian islands.
"We've truly grown to love the students," added his wife, Margaret Wheelwright, "and are hearts are very touched."
Another series of questions centered on temporary fulltime staff not being allowed use the fitness center, "cage" and weight training room on campus. A similar concern was raised over the tennis courts on the Big Circle being locked, even though a sign indicates the courts are open during certain hours; while a sign for the courts between the men and women's dormitories has been missing for some time. President Wheelwright responded he was unaware of these situations, and added the President's Council would review all pertinent policies.
:: To submit a question online
:: Review the compilation of previous questions and answers