{"id":228028,"date":"2026-01-08T16:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T02:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=228028"},"modified":"2026-01-09T14:06:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:06:00","slug":"penaloza-new-era-for-west-oahu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/01\/08\/penaloza-new-era-for-west-oahu\/","title":{"rendered":"One vision, two campuses: Pe\u00f1aloza launches new era for West O&#699;ahu"},"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><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-5.jpg\" alt=\"Chancellor Carlos Pe\u00f1aloza talking to U H West Oahu\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-228071\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-5.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-5-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-5-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Carlos Pe\u00f1aloza kicked off the spring 2026 semester by addressing the faculty and staff of both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leeward.hawaii.edu\/\">Leeward Community College<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/westoahu.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>&#8211;West <span lang=\"haw\">O&#699;ahu<\/span><\/a> during their respective convocations on January 7 and 8. Appointed by <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> President Wendy Hensel, Pe\u00f1aloza is serving in a groundbreaking dual role as the chancellor of Leeward <abbr title=\"Community College\">CC<\/abbr> and the interim chancellor of <abbr>UH<\/abbr> West <span lang=\"haw\">O&#699;ahu<\/span>. This unique leadership structure was designed to launch a strategic exploration of a unified vision for higher education in the region.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-3-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Chancellor Carlos Pe\u00f1aloza talking to campus \" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-228035\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-3-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-3.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Related <em><abbr>UH<\/abbr> News<\/em> story: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/09\/18\/penaloza-interim-uh-west-oahu-chancellor\/\">Pe\u00f1aloza to serve as interim chancellor of <abbr>UH<\/abbr> West <span lang=\"haw\">O&#699;ahu<\/span>, lead collaboration with Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>During his addresses, Pe\u00f1aloza, who has led Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr> since 2019, introduced a framework for co-creating a &ldquo;Regional Comprehensive Educational Ecosystem.&rdquo; He emphasized that while he is committed to preserving the distinct missions of both institutions, he wants to work together to tear down the barriers that hinder student progress. This includes optimizing curriculum to ensure seamless credit transfers and exploring academic innovations, such as three-year degree programs, to meet workforce needs.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I\u2019m very excited about the opportunities for both colleges and our community,&rdquo; Pe\u00f1aloza said. &ldquo;It\u2019s an opportunity for both students and our community to explore both the community college and a regional comprehensive four-year model.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Chancellor Carlos Pe\u00f1aloza talking to Leeward C C \" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-228034\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-2-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/leeward-uh-west-oahu-convocation-2.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Pe\u00f1aloza\u2019s priorities are innovation, efficiency and student success. He aims to strengthen the use of regional facilities, such as the Academy for Creative Media, <span lang=\"haw\">Wai&#699;anae<\/span> Moku and the Wahiaw\u0101 Value Added Product Development Center, to benefit students from both campuses. By leveraging his experience at Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr>, Pe\u00f1aloza hopes to create a model for 21st-century education that blends high-tech skills with ancestral wisdom.<\/p>\n<p>To ensure a transparent and consultative process, a Joint Advisory Group will be formed to lead this inquiry. Pe\u00f1aloza noted that the two colleges already share deep community ties and a history of colocation. He expressed his honor in leading this path of discovery to better serve the families of West and Central <span lang=\"haw\">O&#699;ahu<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dual chancellor begins work on a new regional education ecosystem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1193],"tags":[65,59],"class_list":["post-228028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administrative","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-uh-west-oahu","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228028","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=228028"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228077,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228028\/revisions\/228077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}