We often use the words college and university interchangeably. In American English, we talk about “going to college” even when a student is actually university-bound, unlike in other places where the phrase is “going to university.” We talk about “college degrees” whether the degree comes from a college or a university. University systems typically leave the “system” piece out of their name; hence, the University of Hawaii refers to all 10 campuses. Are we one university or 10? Actually, we are a university system with three universities and seven colleges. The confusion gets compounded by the fact that universities are subdivided into colleges, so what, then, do these terms mean, and what difference does it make?
Typically, what makes a university is a greater focus on research and the presence of masters and doctoral programs on top of its undergraduate programs. Because universities are often larger than colleges, they may be subdivided in colleges, which are arranged by subject matter. New students often struggle to navigate these complex places laden with jargon, and people outside of higher education often question the importance of research in the life of the university and wonder how it benefits students, our primary responsibility.
UH-Hilo is small, but with a significant proportion of its students in masters and doctoral programs, it is definitely a university, which means our faculty engage in research in addition to teaching. Research is essential for graduate programs. The greater depth of analysis and study required for graduate programs is supported by the research the faculty in those programs are doing. The graduate students apprentice on faculty research projects until they develop their own ideas for independent research, having learned the tools to conduct that research.
Given the type of university we are, our faculty do a lot of research that has public impact. This is most obvious in the sciences, where we have faculty student conservation, marine ecosystems, native species, climate change, geological phenomenon, and myriad other things that help us know more about this island on which we live. Our social scientists and humanities experts study local populations, cultures and art. And, of course, faculty also research things that are not locally based. That research brings the world and the cosmos here to our campus and community in meaningful ways, thus giving students who stay here on island exposure not only to people from other places, but also to ideas.
We have seen over the years how beneficial research skills are for undergraduate students to acquire, and so they, too, work alongside faculty on research projects at UH-Hilo, one of the things that makes our university distinctive. That experience is valuable, no matter what the subject matter.
As a humanities scholar, I was often asked about the relevance of my research. How could the study of storytelling in the Middle Ages have an impact on anyone’s life today? The stories in “The Arabian Nights,” which I studied, told a tale of a city where Christians, Jews and Arabs lived together. Sure, there were tensions. Certainly, each group poked fun of the others. But they also were able to live in the same city and establish relationships. Centuries have passed, but there is still some resonance to the ideas and stories that came from that multicultural city.
I was also asked once by a university president how I used my research and scholarship in my role as an administrator. That one stumped me for a minute, but then I realized that having spent many years studying the way stories are told and understood, I knew how to use storytelling to get ideas across to people in a different way, and all that study so many years ago helps me to tell the story of UH-Hilo.
On this Father’s Day, I also remember the personal value of my research. My father, who wanted to be a geologist, but who worked as an auditor, did not pretend to understand all of my research, nor why I found it so fascinating. But he read every word of my nearly 300-page dissertation, definitely an act of love, love which sustains me in my current role every day.
Bonnie D. Irwin is chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Her column appears monthly in the Tribune-Herald.