PUHI — Umbrellas were the order of the day as students and staff members of Kaua‘i Community College ushered in the first day of instruction for the spring semester yesterday.
Chancellor Peggy Cha’s umbrella had seen better days as she stopped off at the KCC Bookstore to get a replacement.
She was pleased with the number of students who braved the weather to get to their first classes, or stopped at the bookstore to make purchases, or caught a meal at the dining room of either hot stew or lasagna.
Cha said there are a growing number of opportunities for students at KCC.
“The West O‘ahu campus (of the University of Hawai‘i) is really pushing the baccalaureate programs,” Cha said. “There are a growing number of fields where students can earn a bachelor’s degree and pretty soon we’ll be able to offer that same program for education.”
KCC is an extension campus of the University of Hawai‘i.
Additionally, Cha said, there is a bill before the state legislature requesting funds to expand the college’s nursing programs.
Riza Andres, a second year student, is a pre-nursing student. She was busy with her mom, Sally, purchasing her semester’s textbook’s at the KCC Bookstore.
“You should have been here earlier,” bookstore manager Jolynne Uyesono said. “It was real busy.”
In addition to helping students fill their textbook requirements, Uyesono said the store clerks help steer students to discounts on needed goods.
Additionally, she said, logowear celebrating the centennial of the University of Hawai‘i should be arriving shortly.
“This is the 100th anniversary of the university and they’ve already held some celebrations in Manoa,” Uyesono said.
“There will be a whole line of hats and clothes to celebrate this centennial.”
The Student Services office was its usual center of activity on the first day of instruction as late registration commanded the scene while other students worked on trying to change some of their classes due to personal commitments.
“It’s been two years, but I think it’s time to come back to school,” one student said while patiently waiting for one of the college counselors.
Earl Nishiguchi, Dean of Students at KCC, said preliminary figures indicate about the same number of students for this semester as there was during the fall semester.
“It’s still too early to tell,” Nishiguchi said.
“But we’re having late registration this week until Friday, and based on experience, we always pick up about a hundred or more students during this period. We should end about the same level as the fall semester.”
To accommodate some of the potential student needs, Nishiguchi said the student services staff will be keeping the offices open until 6 p.m. this evening to enable working students to take advantage of the office’s services.
Normally, the office closes at 4:30 p.m. and the normal closing will resume Wednesday.
“We always try to accommodate the students,” Nishiguchi said. “There is a sign on the door that tells students they can set up special appointments to see the counselors.”
One of the situations Nishiguchi and his office encountered during the last semester is the modified school calendar from the Department of Education.
“We have about 20 or more students who are signed up from high school and have their counselors’ signatures for the Early Admit or the Running Start programs,” Nishiguchi said.
“But there are more students who don’t have the required signatures and the counselors won’t be back in the offices until Thursday at the earliest. If they get the signatures then, they have only one day before late registration closes, but we’ll try to help them out.”
Currently, the DOE schools are on the winter break of their modified school year calendar.
Nishiguchi said the rains were more of an inconvenience as many students braved the weather to get to classes.
The spring semester ends on May 2 with commencement exercises scheduled for May 11.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.
com.
