The two finalists for the top job at the University of Hawaiʻi wrapped up their public meetings across the state and will be interviewed by the Board of Regents on Wednesday. HPR talked to both candidates: Julian Vasquez Heilig and Wendy Hensel.
Vasquez Heilig, a Stanford University Ph.D. graduate, is currently the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Western Michigan University.
HPR first raised questions about whether the interview and deliberation process ought to be more transparent. The issue has been raised at the UH Board of Regents level and in other executive searches, and some attorneys are calling on the board not to keep this part of the process behind closed doors.
Interview Highlights
On how transparent the interview process has been
JULIAN VASQUEZ HEILIG: I think one of the things I have noticed about the search process at Hawaiʻi is how open it has been to this point, in terms of having a website completely dedicated to this — all of the forums online, extensive requests for feedback. I, quite frankly, I don't think I've ever seen a presidential search with this much community engagement, which quite frankly, is what really attracts me to the job in general is this opportunity for community engagement. Now, I'm not aware of what the specific statute is regarding open meetings related to interviews like this. I've read a little bit about what the precedents are and those types of things. So quite frankly, I will just leave that to the lawyers, but I do appreciate how much interaction I've been able to have with the community, even though there's so many more conversations that need to be had.
On his vision for diversity at the University of Hawai'i
VASQUEZ HEILIG: I think that work has to be driven by community. So what we've been able to do in my past roles, and I'll talk specifically about the role here, it's difficult for me to go to a community and say, 'Here are my best ideas for you.' For example at the Pūko'a Council, when we had our conversation my question to them was, 'Where are the opportunities? Where are the challenges that you see and how can we work together around initiatives, approaches, data, data dives?' I think that's really important work — is going to the communities and getting the best ideas. We've done that here with the Indigenous and native community, with the African American community, with the veteran community, and quite a few other groups. And that's, if you could see me, if we were on Zoom right now behind me, I have a wall of ideas that are community generated, because I always say that 90% of the best ideas come from community, and it's very important for those ideas to have champions in the community. I focus on community-engaged, community-based leadership because that is how you get that work.
In response to those who might think he does not have enough experience
VASQUEZ HEILIG: I've served as a provost and a dean at very large research universities for the last five years. But I think what, I suspect, what attracted the committee to our work [at Western Michigan University] is the fact that we delivered results. So I think it's important to be a steady leader, but I also think it's important to deliver spectacular results. We in just two years, have set a graduation record here on our campus. We also set a retention record, and we did that in just two years. I fully expect that the recipe that we have for student success, which is using big data and people power to make sure that we can address the challenges that students have, life happens to students, that weʻll be able to set records for graduation and enrollment and retention at Hawaiʻi in two to three years. I fully expect that we'll be able to do that.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Oct. 14, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
