Embedded Files
July 11, 2024, 11:30am-6:00pm (HST)
The Council of Academic Advisors (CAA) at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa is hosting its 14th annual Summer Conference as a Pacific Area Conference to incorporate our colleagues through the Pacific who are doing academic advising work. The Pacific Ocean, with its vast expanse and diverse islands, serves as a powerful metaphor for the ever-expanding world of academic advising. Just as the Pacific Islands are unique and diverse, so too are the students we advise and the challenges we face in higher education. The Pacific Area Academic Advising Conference: Bridging Islands of Knowledge invites you to embark on a journey that unites us across the vast educational landscape, bringing together academic advisors and educators from across the Pacific area and beyond to share insights, strategies, and best practices in academic advising.
History
The Council of Academic Advisors (CAA) at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa has run an annual summer conference for over a decade. The conference provides an opportunity for professional development within the academic advising community. The conference has previously been limited only to members of the UH Mānoa academic advising community.
In 2022, upon being elected as the Pacific Area liaison for NACADA Region 9, Derek Furukawa wanted to put together a conference similar to a state drive-in conference. Understanding that the ability to have a drive-in conference was impossible in the state of Hawai’i, but even more of a challenge within the Pacific Area, the format would need to be virtual. Coming out of an era where online conferences and professional development were commonplace, the idea of holding a Pacific Area Conference online seemed like a good fit to meet the needs of the area and help provide some unity amongst the islands in the Pacific. Since Furukawa was slated to be in charge of planning an annual summer conference for the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in 2024, it made sense to combine efforts and aim for summer 2024 to hold the inaugural Pacific Area Academic Advising Conference.
After deciding to expand the conference, one of the key factors was to try to be inclusive of those who could attend the conference. The factor of access played a role in the decision to have the conference hosted by UH Mānoa with as minimal cost as possible to colleagues in the state and beyond. Seeing that the Pacific Area spanned 20 hours of time difference, the planning of the conference would need to be careful as to accommodate as many participants as possible. The result is a conference that was able to include academic advisors from Hawai'i, American American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and many other colleagues in the Pacific.
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Mary Therese Perez Hattori
Director, Pacific Islands Development Program, East-West Center
Dr. Mary Therese Perez Hattori is Director of the Pacific Islands Developmetn Program. Prior to this, she was a Scholarship Program Specialist in the East-West Center's Education Program, Director of the Center for Teaching & Learning and Associate Professor of Education at Chaminade University; Outreach Director of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at UHM; and Associate Professor of Information Technology and Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology at Kapiʻolani Community College.
A native Chamoru of Guåhan (Guam), she is a community organizer and advocate for Pacific islanders in Hawaiʻi, co-organizer of cultural events such as the Annual Cultural Animation Film Festival, the Annual Celebrate Micronesia Festival, Micronesian Women’s Summit, and Oceania on the Reel, and teacher/mentor of students in Pacific Studies, Learning Design & Technology, and the UHM & San Francisco State University Educational Doctorate programs which are part of the Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate. She is Affiliate Graduate Faculty of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the USC Rossier School of Education. Dr. Hattori is also an author, poet, public speaker, and philanthropist.
Conference Committee
Derek Furukawa, UH Mānoa (chair)
Patrick Agullana, UH Mānoa
Erica Balbag-Gerard, Honolulu Community College
Rebecca Carino, UH West Oahu
Leilani Harjati, UH Mānoa
Kenny Ka'aiakamanu-Quibilan, UH Mānoa
Keiko Knudson, UH Mānoa
April Legaspi, UH Mānoa
Arline Leon Guerrero, University of Guam
Megumi Makino-Kanehiro, UH Mānoa
Joseph Mareko, UH West Oahu
Mark Nakamoto, UH Mānoa
Laura Nakasato, UH Mānoa
Siobhan Ni Dhonacha, UH Mānoa
Raezheen Pascua,UH Mānoa
Ross Peterman, UH Mānoa
Kamana Seymour,UH Mānoa
Shauna Sibonga, UH Mānoa
Sallie Sumilhig Sablan, University of Guam
Jill Sur, UH Mānoa
Courtney Tsumoto, UH Mānoa
Page updated
Report abuse