{"id":233163,"date":"2026-04-28T10:42:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=233163"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:54:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:54:59","slug":"president-hensel-systemwide-alignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/28\/president-hensel-systemwide-alignment\/","title":{"rendered":"President Hensel outlines systemwide alignment strategy"},"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><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_42152\"  width=\"676\" height=\"380\"  data-origwidth=\"676\" data-origheight=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/155poNQfZ58?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Wendy Hensel   Strategic alignment plan Â鶹´«Ã½News:Web\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> President Wendy Hensel presented a coordinated effort to better align strategy and budgeting across the 10-campus system to the <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> Board of Regents on April 16.<\/p>\n<p>Hensel framed alignment as a core governance issue, emphasizing that strategic priorities must be consistently reflected in how resources are allocated in the budget, how campuses are evaluated and how leaders are reviewed.<\/p>\n<h2>A structured approach<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/system-hensel-676-gnrc-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"President Wendy Hensel\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-228280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/system-hensel-676-gnrc-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/system-hensel-676-gnrc-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/system-hensel-676-gnrc.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hensel highlighted challenges that are common in multi-campus systems, where individual campuses tend to operate separately. When alignment is weak, she said, strategic plans often sit on the shelf.<\/p>\n<p>The result can be a system that underperforms despite strong individual efforts. Leadership, she noted, must regularly navigate tensions between aligning the 10 campuses while still allowing for individual campus missions to be pursued.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We want an aligned system where we\u2019re all moving in the same direction, but there are differentiated missions on each campus and specific priorities on each campus,&rdquo; Hensel said. &ldquo;We, as a group of 10 [campuses], have agreed on the major objectives that have let us have significant impact over time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>To address those issues, the university is implementing a coordinated process centered on key areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strategic action plans: annual plans tied directly to system and campus priorities, with defined outcomes, teams and resources.<\/li>\n<li>Budget transparency: a clearer, multi-year budgeting process aligned with strategic goals rather than historical funding patterns.<\/li>\n<li>Incentives: performance-based funding and stipends to encourage innovation, collaboration and student success.<\/li>\n<li>Accountability: a standardized set of performance metrics and regular campus reviews to track progress and inform leadership evaluations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The system also plans to expand leadership evaluations for officers, chancellors and administrators, including potential 360-degree reviews, and increase transparency through regular performance reporting.<\/p>\n<h2>Continuous improvement<\/h2>\n<p>Hensel concluded by emphasizing that alignment is not a one-time effort but an ongoing cycle of planning, measurement and adjustment.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In order to move from a very decentralized approach to strategy across the 10 [campuses]; by setting alignment as a goal up front, it really enables the entire strategic plan to be executed,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>The goal, she noted, is a more cohesive system that better serves students and the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The strategy aims to create a more cohesive and effective university that better serves students and the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":228280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1193,12],"tags":[691,72,61,62,63,64,65,394,71,14,9,60,947,59,56,1664,66],"class_list":["post-233163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administrative","category-video","tag-administration","tag-board-of-regents","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-honolulu-community-college","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-kauai-community-college","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-presidents-office","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-manoa","tag-maui-college","tag-uh-system","tag-uh-west-oahu","tag-video-2","tag-hensel","tag-windward-community-college","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/system-hensel-676-gnrc.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233163","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=233163"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233178,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233163\/revisions\/233178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}