After 35 years working in higher education in Hawaiʻi — across five campuses statewide — Susan Kazama is calling Hawai‘i Island home again. Kazama, born and raised in Hilo, returned in July 2023 to serve as Hawai‘i Community College’s interim chancellor. One year later, she takes the helm officially, effective July 19, 2024. Among Kazama’s top priorities for the college are workforce development, student success, indigenous values, sustainability, and campus safety.

Aloha,

Hawai‘i Community College is proud to educate the workforce of Hawai‘i Island, training the future nurses, teachers, auto mechanics, carpenters and many others who make our communities vibrant, healthy and strong.

NOTE: This column appeared in the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaii (JCCIH) monthly newsletter.

Aloha,

Aloha,

The Spring 2022 semester at Hawai‘i Community College is well under way. We kicked off our semester in January with our “All-College Meeting,” which focused on sustainability and in particular climate change and carbon sequestration. 

Aloha, 

Happiest of holidays to the Hawai‘i Community College alumni ‘ohana. 

We are very close to the end of the fall 2021 semester, and I’m happy to report that our students and the College as a whole continue to learn, grow and succeed amid the challenges of the pandemic. 

Hawai‘i Community College students, faculty, and staff who want to receive a COVID-19 vaccination can do so at the Manono Campus in Hilo August 25 and 26. 

Hawai‘i CC is partnering with the KTA Super Store Pharmacy to host the vaccination clinics, which take place Wednesday, August 25 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Thursday, August 26 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. 

The clinic will be located in Building 379, Room 1 (Kaneikeao). 

Note: This column appeared as part of the Kauhale News section in West Hawaii Today on April 8, 2021. 

Aloha, 

Hawai‘i Community College – Pālamanui and the University Center, West Hawai‘i have been at the current location in North Kona for almost six years after moving from Kealakekua. It’s been such a blessing to watch the connections  members of our community are making with our campus, sometimes in unique and unexpected ways. 

Construction projects at the Hawai‘i Community College – Pālamanui campus will significantly boost the student experience, academic programs and the ability to host campus and community events. 

The projects include renovating space to create a physics lab; adding an overflow parking area that is also a place for construction apprenticeship programs; and adding a large new covered outdoor space that will benefit the Culinary Arts program and give students a better place to congregate.

Students, staff and faculty at Hawai‘i Community College will soon benefit from a new scholarship and professional development opportunities thanks to an anonymous $1 million gift. 

Hawai‘i CC Chancellor Rachel Solemsaas said, “We are eternally grateful to the generous donor who is forever shaping the life trajectory of so many of our Hawai‘i Island residents by making a quality higher education affordable.”

Note: This column appears in the Oshirase, the newsletter of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawai'i.

Aloha,

It’s been almost a year since the COVID-19 pandemic really began to hit us, and we’ve certainly had our ups and downs.