Classes began for Hawaii Community College students Monday at the new Palamanui campus in Kona.
Students, faculty and staff largely left behind the rented office space in Kealakekua. There, they shared space with a post office, the health department and bar, said Kenneth “Marty” Fletcher, executive director of the campus.
The new campus is more than fresh buildings, he said, as “it will provide an educational landmark.”
The shift nearly is complete, to the point desks and chairs for the laboratory space were packed and ready to send to the new location.
It turned out, however, the lab space will remain behind for a semester while specialty work is completed. As a result, lab classes such as microbiology will remain at the Kealakekua campus for now. So, the tables and chairs made their way back.
The new campus has nine classrooms, all of which can be used for distance learning. Three of them are set up expressly for interactive video.
This includes microphones on each desk for students to communicate with instructors. There are monitors on the front and back walls to show the different rooms, which can be used similarly to a whiteboard or as a display for instructors.
One of the first courses in those classrooms was a pre-calculus course taught by Denise D’Haenens-Luker while she was in Hilo. Her class was split between a group in her classroom and eight at the Palamanui campus.
Like any first day, there was a flow of students entering before the class started, discovering math was not Hawaiian Studies or English and heading back out to seek directions with the on-hand faculty and staff.
As the course started, D’Haenens-Luker had to remind the Palamanui students to raise their hands, as it could be difficult to see more subtle gestures via the monitors.
The technology acted up at times, as when a student caused the swiveling camera to wildly scan the room.
Technical staff described the launch as a “series of fires,” but that things were moving more and more smoothly.
The campus also will house 12 faculty members, who brought their office furniture and other contents from the previous spaces.
“We thank everyone who was responsible for Palamanui for their support,” said John Morton, vice president for community colleges in a press release. “UH is committed to increasing the opportunity for higher education in West Hawaii, not just with programs from Hawaii Community College but also by continuing to serve as a university center to deliver programs from UH-Hilo, UH-West Oahu and UH-Manoa, as well.”
Some of those are online and, in the future, instructors might come to the Big Island on certain days, Fletcher said.
The complex was built as part of an agreement with the area’s developers and was dogged with adjustments, cost overruns and other troubles throughout a decadelong planning and construction cycle.
Construction is ongoing and leads some to confusion.
The road that connects to Queen Kaahumanu Highway still only is open to construction vehicles.
Directions to students occasionally were washed out by the beeps of heavy equipment backing up.
Currently, the only road access to the campus is along Ane Keohokalole Highway. There is bus service available, however.
Email Graham Milldrum at gmilldrum@westhawaiitoday.com.
