  {"id":191985,"date":"2024-02-13T19:37:58","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T05:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=191985"},"modified":"2024-02-13T20:01:54","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T06:01:54","slug":"uh-hilo-chancellor-invests-in-student-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/13\/uh-hilo-chancellor-invests-in-student-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"<abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo chancellor invests in fund to enhance student experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><figure id=\"attachment_191994\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-191994\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hilo-irwin-scholarship-ferreira-s.jpg\" alt=\"diver with camera underwater\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-191994\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hilo-irwin-scholarship-ferreira-s.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hilo-irwin-scholarship-ferreira-s-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hilo-irwin-scholarship-ferreira-s-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-191994\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo student Sofia Ferreira collects coral reef data using photogrammetry techniques.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The head of the <a href=\"https:\/\/hilo.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Âé¶¹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo<\/a>, Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin, is launching a new fund to help students access important opportunities outside the classroom. The fund, called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uhfoundation.org\/impact\/research\/uh-hilo-chancellor-envisions-greater-access-all-students#donate\">Chancellor\u2019s Fund for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity<\/a>, will support undergrads with expenses like travel for conferences or materials needed for their research.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_191996\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-191996\" style=\"width: 214px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hilo-irwin-scholarship-irwin-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"Irwin headshot\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-191996\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hilo-irwin-scholarship-irwin-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hilo-irwin-scholarship-irwin-93x130.jpg 93w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hilo-irwin-scholarship-irwin.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-191996\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bonnie D. Irwin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;My dream for <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> Hilo is that every student will be able to do something meaningful outside of class, whether it is research, studying abroad, an internship, or community service,&rdquo; said Irwin. &ldquo;A student told me that studying abroad at another university opened a door of opportunity she did not even know was there. This is what I see happening at <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Access to these opportunities for as many students as possible is a high priority for <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo. Behind every support fund or scholarship is a person or company committed to making higher education available to all students, Irwin added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Members of the local community who give their support to <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo see it as an investment in the future.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Building bonds<\/h2>\n<p>Irwin recounted how a past experience served as the inspiration behind the creation of the fund. Reflecting on her time at another university, she vividly recalls accompanying 17 students and four faculty members to a conference, traveling across many states by plane and car, and having their meals together.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The rapport we established among the students and with their faculty created lasting memories and instilled in the students confidence in what they learned,&rdquo; said Irwin. &ldquo;I still tell stories from that trip, and I am still in touch with those students, watching them grow in their careers. I want students and faculty at <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo to have these same experiences, assuring students that they are ready to join the leagues of professionals in their fields.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>A vision for changed lives&#8212;and transformed communities<\/h2>\n<p>Increased student engagement in research, guided by the exceptional faculty at <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo, is expected to result in a higher number of graduates pursuing post-baccalaureate degrees. Irwin hopes this long-term vision will change lives and the <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Âé¶¹´«Ã½<\/span> Island community.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Some students have the resources and knowledge to seek opportunities, but others find them beyond their reach\u2026and I think funds like the one I am establishing help create more of these opportunities. <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo is a hidden gem, a place where cool things are happening all the time. Our challenge is to make more people aware of our excellence, our dedication, and our aloha,&rdquo; Irwin said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uhfoundation.org\/impact\/research\/uh-hilo-chancellor-envisions-greater-access-all-students\">For more go to the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Foundation website.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<em>From the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Foundation<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bonnie D. Irwin establishes a fund to support undergrads with expenses like travel for conferences or materials needed for research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[572,14],"class_list":["post-191985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-scholarship","tag-uh-hilo","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191985"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192005,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191985\/revisions\/192005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}