Forum planned on Kauaʻi to get public involved in search for next UH system president

Six county forums, including one on Kauaʻi, will be conducted by the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents to involve the public in helping inform the search for the 10-campus university system’s next president.

Each forum will be 90 minutes long and people can attend in person and via Zoom. All six are slated for the week of April 30 through May 7. Two also are scheduled on Oʻahu, two on the Big Island and one more on Maui.

Here is the information, including site and Zoom link, for the Kauaʻi forum:

• 9:30 a.m. May 6, Kauaʻi Community College, Fine Arts Auditorium (Building 5): The community college campus is located at 3-1901 Kaumuali‘i Highway in Līhuʻe. If you plan to attend via Zoom, click here and use Meeting ID 986 5755 9996 and passcode 629812. You can also dial in by calling 669-444-9171.

The forums are part of the listening phase promised by the regents, which included a public survey completed in February. More than 2,000 responses were received.

WittKieffer, the Chicago-based firm hired to assist in the search, is using the feedback from the forums and surveys, along with input from interviews with the regents and the Presidential Search Advisory Group, to develop the position description and leadership profile.

Regents are expected to review both during their May 16 monthly board meeting. If approved, WittKieffer will begin the recruitment process.

The Presidential Search Advisory Group consists of UH stakeholders. It will make candidate recommendations to the search committee, which consists of all 11 regents.

The board announced during its March 21 meeting that it plans to name finalists in September and announce the next president in October.

The new president will begin their term in January 2025 and be successor to UH President David Lassner, who announced in September 2023 that he will retire by December of this year.