More than 950 faculty and staff from the University of 麻豆传媒 Community Colleges gathered at the Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort on March 6 for the annual (HISSI). This year’s theme, “Embracing Change, Shaping the Future,” focused on how campuses can adapt and innovate in a rapidly evolving higher education landscape.
Participants attended breakout sessions featuring practical strategies, innovative teaching approaches and leadership ideas designed to support student success across UH’s seven community colleges.
Keynote speaker Guy Kawasaki, entrepreneur, former chief evangelist of Apple and UH advisor, presented “The Future of AI and Human Creativity,” encouraging participants to embrace artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance creativity, learning and problem-solving. He shared practical advice on how faculty, staff and students can become “remarkable” by pursuing their interests, staying curious and using AI to create unique and valuable contributions.
“This event is a call to action for our faculty and staff to embrace change and shape the future of learning,” said Lui Hokoana, interim vice president for the UH Community Colleges.
Change agents, community builders
The event also highlighted the achievements of faculty and staff through the UH Community Colleges , an initiative that supports professional development across UH’s two-year institutions.
The Change Agent Award, which recognizes innovation in teaching and service delivery, was presented to the first-place team of Vincent Kimura (Leeward CC), Stephanie Furuta and Waynele Yu (UH Mānoa College of Education); Juli Chun (UH Community Colleges); Kalani Lum (TheBus); Hahn Fuata (Teamsters); and Julie Saldania (City and County of Honolulu, Department of Facility Maintenance) for addressing 贬补飞补颈ʻ颈’蝉 CDL (commercial drivers license) driver and examiner shortage by developing master trainers, expanding training capacity, standardizing curriculum and strengthening a culturally grounded workforce pipeline.
The Community Building Award honors initiatives that strengthen connections across campuses, the UH Community Colleges system and local communities. This year, two first-place awards were presented.
The first went to Leeward CC Professor Lexer Chou and the IM LeeGaming student assistants—Azriel Burcham, Bryce Alexander, Tyler Hudson, Lee Kobashigawa, Zachary Gray, Chester Ceredon and Kainoa Kaeha—for creating a welcoming, student-centered gaming space at Leeward CC that fosters belonging, well-being and student retention.
The second award went to Kapiʻolani CC Professor Mary Ann Esteban-Geil for building a culturally grounded STEM learning community that connects Kapiʻolani CC students with local elementary schools through kaʻao (story)–framed, hands-on service learning that integrates Indigenous knowledge and strengthens community partnerships.