 Aloha and welcome to Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We broadcast live from the downtown studios of Think Tech Hawaii and the Pioneer Plaza in Halalulu, Hawaii. We broadcast every Thursday from 2 to 2.30 and we focus on success stories in Hawaii of business individuals and or their companies. We've heard a lot of negativity over the years. Yes, it is challenging. It's challenging anywhere, but we do have success stories and we have found that we have a lot of success stories. We also have groups that ensure the success of the people and their businesses. And today we've got Halalulu Community College that is developed in a lot of different ways over the years. Full disclosure, I went to HCC. My oldest son went to HCC. Both of us graduated. And so we've got some history there and that's two perspectives of us going through HCC at different times and it's amazing how much they actually contribute to what's going on in the business community here in Hawaii. I've got a guest host today, Ray Tsuchiyama, who has his own show and has agreed to go host today with me because we have so much to talk about. And then Erica Lacroix is the Chancellor of Halalulu Community College and we'll be talking a little bit about what she's doing over there and how she has made this such a great institution. And she's also brought a guest with her that I'm going to let her introduce in a few minutes. But Erica, welcome to the show. It's good to have you back. Thank you for having us. No, HCC has been around for quite some time. How long has it been around? We're going to be celebrating, we're in the 90s now. So we'll be celebrating our 93rd anniversary. And we're looking forward to gearing up to 100. I was just going to say, that's a big one. We are one of the oldest institutions. All right, well congratulations. And you've not been there that whole time, have you? No, no, just ten. Just ten years. That's still a long, that's a good longevity. So how has it changed over the years? I mean, what did it start out as and what is it now that you've been able to make it? Sure. So we actually started out as part of the Department of Education for the public school system and we did all the industrial education. And over time as the community colleges develop within our state, we became our own institution. We really focus traditionally on a lot of the harder trades, a lot of the construction career trades that are out there working with a lot of the labor unions. We still do that very heavily. We run the apprenticeship training program for those areas. But we've morphed over those years and instead of just focusing on those trades, we now have a very robust, comprehensive institution. So whether you're there to do your associate of arts and transfer on or finish with the associate of arts, we also do what we call the softer trades. So things like cosmetology, we're the only program in the state within the community college system for the University of Hawaii that has cosmetology. Early childhood education, we have a melee program. So we have a whole sort of things. We've got 25 different programs and it's nice because the faculty within those programs really overlap because the ones teaching in our construction and trades come from a very different background than those that may have come with PhDs and so it meshes nicely. Nice balance and essentially what I'm hearing is you've got something for everybody. I mean, if they want, if somebody wanted to come in and get into the trades a little bit and within a shorter period of time be able to get engaged in the business community and start working, they can do that. Or they can move on to the more academic side of things and move into either terminated associates or move into the bachelors or masters. Right and typically the associate of arts would be that transfer path, but we've been able to work very closely with other colleges within the University of Hawaii. So now West Oahu has a transfer path for cyber security, which typically is a career and technical ed program, also with our administration of justice and our early childhood education. So there's a bachelors path there for those folks too. Very good and how big is the student body now? I mean, if you look at both the trades and the, what do you call the other one? Well, the apprenticeship is really run very different because they're not earning a degree with us, right? They're working for their employer during the day and then they're coming in and doing all of their training in the evenings. And so we usually have and that really depends on where construction sits. So anywhere between, I would say the average hovers around 3000 apprenticeship students and they don't run on a semester to semester. So their courses are a little bit different. And then our student body is about 4000 credit students that are with us. Is that on top of the three? Yes. So wow. So the campus does a really strange switch. So during the day you're out on campus and it looks like a typical credit, credit campus or transfer path and you see students all over studying. And then at night, you see all of the construction trades folks come in. And so it's a very different feel. You walk into a meeting and then you walk out and you're like a whole different student body here. So just a way in, I think in the United States, the community college system is the envy of the world. I think because it really provides an avenue for a whole range of students. I mean, the older students, younger students, people wanting to study police, become a policeman or a fireman or going to or into other trades or make that leap into a four year degree in various other colleges here in Hawaii or on the mainland. So I think this is a very flexible kind of educational organization that we have set up. And this is quite unusual in the world. And it's nice because I think also we're seeing a shift where people are more comfortable with the trade type of focus so that they can get to work quicker and get out into the workforce a little bit. But there's also, I guess, some real savings that can be generated by going the community college route rather than just jumping right into a four year university. Very true. You know, and that's, you know, I enjoy the savings personally as well as with my children. You know, my three boys all went that route. And it was a significant cost savings, which was helpful. It allows people to really explore, really explore. You don't know where to go sometimes when you're 18, 19 years old, but the community college system is flexible. I think that's the word I would use. And I myself went to HCC after Farrington High School and really got into a course in Asian studies that opened up my eyes and that allowed me to really go out and live in Asia for 20 years. You know, and that's a good point, Erica. And maybe you can speak to that, but a lot of the students that come to you, I mean, do they have a clear direction of where they want to go? Or are they really kind of just checking things out a little bit? Some do. And then others are taking the courses, trying to fulfill those first two years, looking around at transfer options. Many will come in and start a CTE path and then realize maybe that's not what they want to do. Maybe fire science is not exactly what I was looking for. Maybe automotive is more my cup of tea. So you have all types. But with what Ray mentioned, also another population we're working with are those returning adults. So those who may have done a little bit of college, whether it was with a community college or Manoa or wherever, and just never finished. Life got in the way, right? Never finished. And so they're able to come back and get that done and on their own flexible schedules so they can still be working and that kind of thing. One of the success stories that we talk about a lot is a student who went to the College of Business and worked in the marketing field for several years and then came to us and started doing carpentry and realized that carpentry was her passion. And now she not only practices, but she also teaches in our apprenticeship program. So it's just a total, you know, total turnaround for her, but she loves it. And she's happy. Yes, very much so. Very good. Now, I know you brought a guest with you today and we've been having a good conversation, but Chris hasn't had an opportunity to speak yet. So could you introduce Chris and let us know a little? Christopher is one of our students, but he branches more than that. He's one of our student government leaders. And so I get to work with him on that level. And then I get to work with him on another level of he works with us as a student employee, casual hire. And so he's actually working in our records office at the same time. So he can give you feedback on all different types of things of the college as an employee, as a student leader, as a student. So Christopher is here with us today. So Chris, you've been going to HCC for a while and obviously you've been having a good career. I'll use that term over there. How do you see HCC? Do you see a lot of diversification in the student body? And do you see the trades and the credit courses? There is a lot of diversity at Honolulu Community College. It's similar to the Army. You see students from other countries such as Indonesia, Japan, Philippines. They bring culture in which Hawaii is already full of. But they connect to you even more because now you're sitting down with them hand in hand in the classroom doing projects, working on assignments. Very good. And you used as a point of reference the Army. I guess you've had some experience in the Army. I do have some experience in the Army. It was a very short experience. I expected to make the Army a career. First in high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was ready to graduate Farrington High School, class of 2013. I really, really didn't want to go to school. Our mentality in Kalihi or in Farrington was, I can't get accepted to the college. From where I'm at in Kalihi, I can't get accepted. I decided to enlist in the Army. Soon as graduation came around, I was sent off to initial entry training, or also known as bootcamp or basic training. After that, an unforeseen circumstance came up. I was discharged from the Army, came back home, and decided, what am I going to do with my life now? Well, and that's where HCC comes in, is that you were able to kind of get engaged with HCC and kind of check it out and see what the opportunities were. That is correct. And do they have people there that helped you go through that process? Well, I went back to high school, not returned as a student at high school, but I went back to Farrington, talked to instructors, talked to counselors, asked, what should I do now, since there's nothing else for me to do. I don't want to go straight to work. The pay isn't nice when you're stuck with a high school diploma. No, it's tough. It's challenging for sure. And so they kind of guided you through the process. And I guess they had some connections at HCC. And you've got counselors there that can help the students and I guess also the high school counselors to go through and get the students accepted. Yeah, so our counseling office, as well as our administrative staff and our faculty, have strong connections with all of the high schools. But Farrington, by far, is our biggest feeder school with the students coming in from our geographical area or backyard. But we host the counselors every year on campus. We want them to know more about the programs. I invite the principals in. We usually try to do that once a year. But we invite the principals in to let them know what's happening, what's changing, how can we work better together. So we have that conversation going all the time. Good. And I guess they're motivated. I mean, they want their students to go on to higher education. And HCC is a good way to allow that to happen, particularly in that neighborhood, because they're only a few miles away. Exactly. So that's a great service to the community. One of the things we're doing to really get high school students involved, because as you heard Chris say, college can be scary for folks. I mean, you may have that feeling that I just can't do this, right? And so going on, part of the barrier is just going on to the campus to ask for help. And what we've been working on, and this is all of the community colleges across our state, is an early college model. So we're actually sending our faculty to different high schools. And having them deliver, whether it's a speech 151 course or an English 100 course, and offering that course on the high school campus with our faculty. And they earn that college credit. So by the time they finish that three credit class, they feel, this isn't that bad. And you make connections. And they've got a running start on their college credits. Right. So even if they're going to go on to Manoa, they've already got college credit done, right? Yeah, that's a fantastic program. I think it's kind of like a bridge from high school, very smooth transition into college. And so they learn how to really study, how to interact with a faculty or professor. And it gives them, like I said, a running start on their lives and education. Yeah, no, it's good. And there is a transition process. I mean, college is a little bit different than high school. But I think with the proper orientation, that isn't too difficult to bridge. It can be done easily. That's right. What do you think, Chris, is that was it an easy transition for you to go from Farrington to HCC? Or was there a challenge in there? It is surprisingly changing my mindset from not wanting to go to college, then going to college. It was easy as submitting an application, submitting documents that was needed, and getting accepted. That's all I was. You make it sound so easy. Good for you. I guess maybe we can talk a little bit about that. Samora, when we come back from break, we can talk a little bit about the application process and how people would go through that. But we need to take a quick one minute break. This is Business at Hawaii with Reg Baker. I'm here today interviewing the chancellor of Huller Community College with my guest host, Ray Tsuchiyama. And we'll be right back in about 60 seconds. Aloha. My name is Justine Espiritu. This is my co-host, Matthew Johnson. Every Thursday at 4 p.m. on Sintek, we host the Hawaii Food and Farmers series. We like to bring in folks from the whole realm of the local food supply and agriculture, anyone working on these issues, any organization or individual that has plans or projects. What kind of people have we had on? We've had farmers. We've had chefs. We've had people from government, larger institutions. Everyone who's working to help make Hawaii's local food system that much better. So you can see us every Thursday and join the conversation on Twitter. And we hope to see you there. Aloha, and welcome back to Business at Hawaii with Reg Baker. Today, we're interviewing the chancellor of the Hulleroo Community College. And she was gracious enough to bring a student with her. It's going to share some of his experience in the application process in this second half. And my co-host today, Ray Tsuchiyama, is going to help keep this conversation going. So Erica, how does somebody apply and get accepted to HCC? How does that work? There's numerous ways. It can happen in person. We have online applications. But our student here, Chris, actually worked in our admissions office. And so maybe you can give us an idea of how you think the majority of students are applying. Well, to apply to Hulleroo Community College, simply just visit honolulu.hawaii.edu slash admissions. You click on online application, or you can directly visit apply.hawaii.edu. It'll bring you to the University of Hawaii System universal application. So it's the same application page that you go to if you would apply for our sister colleges, like Kapiolani, Leeward, Winwick Community College, as well as our outer island campuses. You just go ahead and fill out the online application. There is no application fee for residents of Hawaii, a $25 non-refundable non-transferable application fee for non-residents. When you do the application, here's the best part. With the application, there's no essay. We do not require SAT, ACT test scores to be submitted. We just need your demographics about yourself, where you live, what address, what email address, your residency status. You just click submit, and just wait to hear back from us. Wow, and how long does it usually take for a response? Turn around point, we ask students to give us two to three weeks. Our goal is try to get it out within two weeks. Wow, that's impressive. And that allows you to make an application for any program that's within HCC's umbrella, credit, non-credit, trade, all of that. For the application, the application is more for students who are getting the credit. We do also have a non-credit department for those who want to learn on computers, but they don't plan on getting a degree. We actually have a department called the Pacific Center for Advanced Technology Training, who handles a non-credit side of the house. As well as for the apprenticeship programs, you would just simply talk to the program coordinator, ask them how can they get enrolled into an apprenticeship program. And then from there, they'll coordinate with our apprenticeship office and get the appropriate documents and paperwork to be filled out. And is it about as easy as the credit is, or is there a little extra hurdles you have to take? The apprenticeship program runs a bit differently because you're employed, right? So your employer is really getting you through this training. So those relationships tend to be a little bit different. But we utilize the same facilities, skills that they're gonna need on that construction site. And the PCAT, what we talked about at our non-credit arm, we may come in for an organization that needs some cybersecurity training for their IT folks. So it could be a one-off, one-day class. It could be a three-week certification. So we can really customize things to whatever folks' needs are. And is that information all on the website as well? Yes. All right, so there's a lot of information there that people can tap into and get access. Super. What else is going on at HCC? Is there any big events? Every once in a while, I'll see something pop up. There's some kind of activity going on over there almost all the time. Right, so we have our celebrate event where we get to celebrate alumni, such as yourself. And that event will be coming up in February, February 22nd. And then our fashion program, we have the- Up next year, 2018. And then our fashion program, every year, the seniors put together this awesome fashion show. And that's big, big show. And that's gonna be on April 29th, Saturday. And so we're really excited about those two events. We also are home and co-partners with PBS on the Hokulea. And they're working with the Hokulea. And they're actually housed out at our Marine Education Training Center. And so we've got them coming home soon. So we've got a lot going on. They are. We're excited. That's in the next month or so, isn't it? You know, it's- I think we're on a Tahiti the last time, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, when they arrive home, there's gonna be a lot of celebration. It's gonna be a week or two long. We're really looking forward to welcoming them back. That's great. Our instructors actually are on the Hokulea bringing her home. So we have staff there as train navigators as well. Wow. So you guys really get into all kinds of stuff. All kinds. Very comprehensive. Yeah. Now, what about for the older students that wanna come back and kinda get refreshed a little bit or get some skills that maybe they didn't have before that could help them advance in their job? Do you have those types of classes as well? We do. Students could piecemeal. So they could identify what groups of classes are gonna be best for them in areas where they want more short-term training. Our PCAT division would take care of that for them. But we also have what we call an emeritus college and that's really aimed at our senior population. So for our seniors who wanna learn how to use Photoshop or wanna learn how to use Facebook. Ray, that's something you and I can take. We can just jump in there. What is Pinterest? How do you use it? So we'll offer things for them in that area too. Ray, that sounds exciting. And do you have a lot of seniors that come out? We do. We have a pretty steady population and so we like to keep that program going for them and it's part of our community service. And again, that goes back to my earlier statement about the community college idea or network. It's always about lifelong learning when you think about it. We can begin and kind of really come back to what you really wanted to do in your life. Like the carpentry example is fantastic. And again, it's there and it's not that difficult to get in and get going. And that's some of the real advantages of community colleges in Hawaii and in the US. One of the interests that I've always had and I had a couple classes in psychology as I was going through the university and I think it helped me be a little bit better manager to understand the thought process. But getting back and taking some more classes in the psychology area or sociology would be interesting to me. And when that day comes that I retire, I'll have time on my hands to do that. So it'd be fun. I'm looking forward to that. Is there a virtual capacity at each season? We do online teaching too. That kind of varies by discipline because the faculty members need to be trained on the resources that we use. There needs to be that communication between the student and the faculty member. And so not everybody teaches online but those that are very comfortable with technology have embraced it. And the nice thing about what Chris said about the application is the same for all the community colleges. We have a very fluid student population. So a student may be accepted to Kauai Community College and find that they want to take an online psychology class and we're offering it. So they can jump in and register for our class without any hassles or other apps. They're able to register if you're accepted to one community college, you can register at any community college. Very transparent. I have a question for Chris. Now that you've really gotten into HEC and the college life, and what can you bring back to Farrington? If you went back to Farrington and saw your younger students there, what would you tell them about your experiences? I will tell them applying to college is easy. It does not require you to get your high school diploma to put in an application, but it's easy. Don't think that you're just a number in the classroom because the class ratio from students to faculty members are so small. The instructors will actually get to know you if you need help. That's nice. That's different than UH Mono and many larger ones. I know. There's been some classes at UH that I went to that had two and 300 students in it. At varsity theater, but let's not go there. But you're right, and how about skill sets? If you wanted to tell them what you could do now at Farrington, kind of prepare you for college, what kind of skills or what kind of things that they would need to sharpen up that would make them succeed? I think the only skill that they would need to sharpen up would be motivation. That's the only thing that I would tell younger underclassmen. Don't be intimidated. Don't be intimidated, that's true. Be motivated and don't be intimidated because it's there, it's available, you just have to go for it. Most of the classes that I've been to, they're not worried about quality. They want progression. They want to see that you start off at square one and you're at square 10 by improving. They're all about improvement, not quality. Well, and it goes back to the old cliche that you get out of it what you put into it. So, you really got to be motivated and be focused and continue to improve and work at it and it'll pay off. That's good. Erica, what is the most popular program that you've got right now over at HCC? Well, our largest program is our liberal arts program, so our associate of arts. And that's because the other 24 of them are all sliced up, so about 40% of our students are in our liberal arts fields and then about 60% are in their career and technical ed. But the largest one right below our liberal arts would be our cyber security program, our computer engineering network technology. That one is probably the largest one. You're looking at the future. I mean, where the jobs are in the future. That's where community college and your leadership really are taking it to another level where the economy is going, the global economy. Well, cyber security, of course, it crosses all industry lines. I mean, it's something that every company, regardless of size, has to be aware of. Yeah, that's important. If there was somebody who wanted to get into cyber security and maybe they were coming from Farrington or some other high school and they should work, they don't have the family resources, is there financial aid to help them get through this? There is, so there's federal financial aid that students are able to apply for, but we also have a number of scholarships for students. So if they apply, those are available. And that requires that you continue to do well in your academics, but there's a lot of resources out there. And as you mentioned before, the price point, there's really a lot of savings that goes into coming to a community college. Yeah, I don't know what the current difference is, but I know that when I was looking at it for my boys and they graduated four or five years ago, going through a community college process might cost a few thousand a year, assuming that they live at home, as opposed to 10,000 or more a year. And it's a huge difference, and it helped me. We are gonna start wrapping up here pretty soon. Any final words, Erica, before we go? Just that if anyone's interested in enrolling at Honolulu or learning about all of our different programs that we have, whether it be credit or non-credit, to visit our website, it's a very comprehensive website. What is that website again? Honolulu.Hawaii.edu. All right, so just go online and it's got all kinds of information there. And if they have any problems, they can just pick up the phone and call Chris. Oh, yes, sir. All right, very good. Well, thank you very much for being on the show today, Chris. It's a pleasure to meet with you and good luck in your career. And Erica, great job, it's great to see such a success there. Thank you for having us. Thank you so much. And Ray, thank you for helping me out today. I feel wonderfully at home with another person from Kaleighi, Fern Kalakaua, and Farrington High School. There you go, all right. The alums are succeeding every day. They are. All right, this is Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We broadcast live every Thursday from 2 to 2.30. We focus on success stories in Hawaii and we prove that success is possible. You just have to try. All right, aloha, until next Thursday. We'll see you then.